Coachella Festival’s organizers announced that Prince would
headline the ninth edition of the popular musical event, making his first appearance
at a United States festival.
Prince confirmed he would headline the April 26 lineup,
joining previously announced and much expected headliners: Jack Johnson, who
will perform on April 25 and Roger Waters, who will be on the festival’s stage
on April 27.
In 2006, Madonna also joined the lineup of the festival only
a few weeks before the event. But while she then performed only a few songs,
Prince is expected to play a full concert.
“In this year of a lot of festivals, we think we’ve dug
pretty deep,” said Coachella booker Paul Tollett, according to Chicago
Sun-Times. “We’re in our ninth year and this is a really great addition to
the whole story. It’s exciting to add another artist into the mix that hasn’t
played festivals.”
The 2008 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will
spread over three days in late April in the desert town of Indio, in southern
California and tickets to the event went on sale on January 25.
Performers include The Verve, Raconteurs and Fatboy Slim,
along with Madness, The Swell Season, The National and Does it Offend you,
Yeah?, among others.
Other bands that will be present are reunited electronica
band Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Cafe Tacuba, Rilo Kiley,
Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Dredg and Grand Ole Party,
as well as many more.
Legendary singer and songwriter Roger Waters, former lead vocalist
and bassist with famous psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, is one of the
festival’s main attractions. He is supposed to perform his band's opus “Dark
Side of the Moon” in its entirety on Sunday, April 27, followed by artists such
as Gogol Bordello, Autolux, Dmitri from Paris, The Cool Kids, Sons &
Daughters, Sia, Morning Jacket, Spiritualized and Plastiscines.
The first Coachella festival was held in October 1999. Over
the years, the event has attracted huge acts, such as The Cure, Depeche Mode,
Radiohead, Iggy Pop, The Beastie Boys, The Chemical Brothers, Coldplay and Nine
Inch Nails.
