Coachella 2008: Will Jack Johnson prevent people from attending?

Coachella 2008 seems to be a hot topic this year. I might consider myself a Coachella enthusiast. Coachella could quite possibly be the best music festival in the United States. In fact, I might venture to say Coachella is what the most recent Woodstock festival was trying to be. Coachella generally has a relatively obscure lineup with a few major headliners but even then the headliners are relatively obscure unless of course the band is launching a reunion via Coachella. This year, one artist seems to be getting everyone's panties in a twist and that artist is Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson is a relatively popular Top 40 artist. Born and raised in Hawaii, you can generally find his tunes streaming through soft rock stations nationwide. For some reason, many people have decided that Jack Johnson is not good enough for Coachella, what ever that might mean. Personally I may have also been shocked when I first saw the lineup but then again, it's Coachella, it is not supposed to make sense. Also, I recently found out about Jack Johnson's environmental activism which in turn made me kind of want the guy at Coachella. In fact, I might even say I was happy that Jack Johnson is supposedly polluting the spirit of Coachella when in fact, he could be trying to spread the good for solar power. Jack Johnson is one of the few if any whom records his albums in a solar powered studio, which Johnson had built. If that is not being active in preserving the environment from a musician's perspective, I do not quite know what is. Naturally, I wanted to know what others had to say about the Coachella lineup, so I ventured out into the blogosphere to find some answers. First I stumbled across a blog by a student at UCLA Radio. Here a student rants about the lineup in an article called "Coachella 2008: Utopia or Jack Johnson-ed?" The writer is quite clearly disappointed in the lineup especially due to Jack Johnson. The second blog I found entitled "Coachella? Meh." can be found in a Washington Post blog. This writer is also disappointed with the lineup.

Coachella 2008: Utopia or Jack Johnson-ed?

Comment: I agree with you that Coachella is indeed what dreams are made of. I might say Coachella is the perfect music festival. When I first heard about the Coachella lineup, I too was annoyed by Jack Johnson's inclusion. When setting him next to all the other artists it hardly made sense. However, being a Coachella enthusiast, I decided I would deal with Jack Johnson. Not only would I deal with Jack Johnson, but I would find a reason to accept him. Not that I want to pester you, but perhaps I may convince you to rethink your decision and attend Coachella this year. Yes Jack Johnson is playing, but surely there will be at least four other bands to check out during his set and plenty of art with which to interact. Coachella is more than just the lineup. It resides in a giant polo field with five stages and numerous interactive art exhibits. The crowd is almost always friendly no mater who is involved which you note that hipsters, metal heads and more can congregate to enjoy the music. Perhaps most importantly, Coachella is a fantastic place to find out about new music. Never mind checking out every single MySpace link, see a new band live. Surely an opinion can change based on live performance. I will absolutely agree that $270 is a bit steep but when you think of where all the money is being split up it makes sense. Coachella may be expensive but it is also the cleanest and most sanitary music festival. Portable toilets are constantly cleaned and trash strewn across the festival grounds is almost non existent. Also, the fields that Coachella spans leave plenty of room for people to be and not be watching or listening to music. Perhaps to change you mind about Jack Johnson, I can open your eyes to his environmental activism. Many people do not know that he has built a solar powered recording studio and regularly records there. Yes Jack Johnson may be a little mainstream, but he is on our side and he doing something positive to make change. He may not be your favorite artist, but perhaps you can at least respect him.

Coachella? Meh.

Comment: As you are from the east coast I agree that perhaps this year's Coachella is not worth your travel considering the slough of wonderful festival headed your way. At first, I was suspicious of Jack Johnson, but I am a Coachella enthusiast and attend the festival for much more than the few headlining acts. You did mention all the east coast festivals coming up this year and I would like to point out that Coachella potentially had last draft pick as far as Goldenvoice starting All Point's West this year. Surely, the concert promoter would like people to travel out east to visit the first of their east coast festival. Naturally they would littler the birth of the east coast festival with significantly more attractive bands. On the note of Jack Johnson, you as well as many other people have denounced Goldenvoice for their choice. However, there is more to Jack Johnson than meets the eye. He is, in fact, quite an environmental activist. One many even call him "green". Jack Johnson has built a solar powered recording studio where he regularly records his music. This is certainly a step in the right direction and perhaps enough of a step to land a spot at Coachella. What is so bad about his music anyway? It will be a nice way to relax in the desert after a long and hot day of running between stages. Regardless of Jack Johnson, Coachella exists for many more reasons than the headlining bands and surely you will take that into account when choosing whether or not to attend. Although, many of the same acts are playing one or more of the festivals that will be closer to your home and perhaps Coachella really is not worth the drive. As far as I am concerned, I will be there and hopefully enjoying every minute.