Goldenvoice

Coachella’s Organizer Goldenvoice Has Reportedly Been Hit With A Fine Of $117K Over Several Curfew Violations

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2023 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival
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History was made at weekend one of Coachella. Bad Bunny became the first Latin artist to headline the festival, and Blackpink became the first K-pop act to headline. In addition, Frank Ocean returned to the event, even if it wasn’t up to the standard of festivalgoers. But with a multiday event featuring some of the biggest names in music, there will undoubtedly be some hiccups, including sticking to the event’s end time.

According to TMZ, the festival’s organizer, Goldenvoice, has been charged a $117K fine for violating the City of Indio’s curfew. A representative for the city told the outlet that this high price tag comes after all three days ran over the allotted time.

The source told the platform that the festival went over time by 25 minutes on Friday (April 14), 22 minutes on Saturday (April 15), and 25 minutes yesterday (April 16). In the initial report, TMZ shared that the contract outlined the fine as: “A daily fine of $20,000 for the first 5 minutes past curfew, with another $1,000 tacked on for every minute after.”

During Frank Ocean’s chaotic set, he stated that he would be cutting his set early because of this reason. “Guys, I’m being told it’s a curfew, so that’s the show’s end,” said Frank.

As for the fines, the source shared that the $117,000 will be placed in Indio’s General Fund. The city uses a financial allotment for operating costs, including public works, the police, and fire departments.

A Coachella Tribe Is Free To Sell Tickets To Their NYE Event Despite Goldenvoice’s Efforts To Stop Them

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When one of the biggest music festivals in the world is named after the region where it goes down, there’s bound to be some confusion, and maybe even legal action. This has been the case this past month as Goldenvoice, which operates the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (that we all commonly know as simply “Coachella,”) filed multiple restraining orders against Live Nation and the Day One ’22 NYE concert/fest (fka “Coachella Day One 22”) that they are producing alongside the Coachella Valley-based Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

Goldenvoice’s first effort against Live Nation was successful, thus leading to the name change of the event which now does not include the word “Coachella.” But Rolling Stone reports that on Monday, December 27th, a judge denied a second effort from Goldenvoice (which is owned by AEG) that would have denied Live Nation the ability to sell tickets to the event no matter what the name. Day One 22′ will go down on New Year’s Eve at the Coachella Crossroads venue, which is a couple of miles away from the Empire Polo Field where the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held. The Day One 22′ lineup features Lil Wayne, E-40, DJ Diesel (Shaq), and Getter.

As Rolling Stone further reports, Judge R. Gary Klausner rejected Goldenvoice’s latest restraining order because the naming of the event came from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, who are entitled to sovereign immunity from this type of legal action. The tribe isn’t named in the restraining order and this has allowed them to maintain their promotional material with the current name, and continue to sell tickets leading up to the event. The Chairman of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Darrel Mike, issued a statement on the latest advancement:

“Today’s response from Judge Klausner is a win for the Tribe, the community and our ticketing partners at Live Nation. As a community and nation who reside in Coachella, California — we are equally thrilled that our outdoor venue, Coachella Crossroads will be able to continue operation under its given name. The strongarming of Goldenvoice and its parent company AEG to take reign over a name of a region and businesses who choose to identify with it is disrespectful to small and large business operations, those under their employ and the indigenous people who live within the valley.”

It’s wild to consider how Goldenvoice has essentially proven a justifiable claim on the rights to using the word “Coachella,” based on the ubiquity of their festival. It feels like a slippery slope for other festivals that rise to such notable prominence in small regions that could stake a claim to the use of the name of said region. This is definitely a win for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, but we should not breeze past the fact that in the end, this boils down to a Goldenvoice vs. Live Nation legal tiff.

Goldenvoice Earns A Restraining Order Against Live Nation After Their Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

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Earlier this month, Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit against Live Nation over an event the company is attempting to host which bears a title similar to another well-known showcase. Live Nation was set to hold the Coachella Day One 22 festival in California on New Year’s Eve, but thanks to a new ruling from a judge, some changes will have to be made. According to Rolling Stone, Judge R. Gary Klausner awarded Goldenvoice with a restraining order against Live Nation over the event, which features a name similar to the former’s Coachella festival, which is set to go down in April 2022.

Judge Klausner ruled that Goldenvoice is “likely to succeed” with its copyright infringement argument against Live Nation. While the ruling will require Live Nation to make some changes, it does not stop them from hosting the festival as planned. With the restraining order, Judge Klausner called Live Nation’s argument “simply unpersuasive,” adding it “does not rebut the presumption of irreparable harm.”

The ruling comes after Goldenvoice filed two separate cease-and-desist letters to Live Nation in October and November for promoting and selling tickets for Coachella Day One 22. The original lawsuit was filed against Live Nation instead of the festival’s organizers, Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, because the indigenous tribe that operates the venue Coachella Crossroads — where Coachella Day One 22 was set to be held — is “entitled to sovereign immunity and therefore not subject to suit.”

Twenty-Nine Palms on the other hand previously tried to file a copyright for “Coachella Crossroads” but were denied over confusion with the Coachella festival. After a second application, however, they were approved after saying they would only host community and sports events. Despite this, they’ve promoted music-related events at the venue including a Toby Keith concert that took place in May.

Goldenvoice Sues Live Nation For Copyright Infringement Over A New Festival Planned For New Year’s Eve

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Many festivals plotted a return in either 2021 or 2022 after the pandemic effectively shut down large-scale events, but one festival in particular is facing some legal issues. No, it’s not because of their COVID policy. Rather, it’s because of their name. The upcoming event Coachella Day One 22 is slated to kick off in California on New Year’s Eve, but Live Nation is now being sued by the massive festival promotion company Goldenvoice. The reason? Well, the name “Coachella” has already been copyrighted.

As reported by Billboard and NME, Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement against Live Nation earlier this week. Not only does the upcoming event use the name “Coachella,” but it is also set to take place just miles away from the official Coachella festival site in Indio, California. Live Nation is not acting as the festival organizer, but the actual Coachella Day One 22 organizers are a group of Native American tribe members who are immune from this type of legal action.

Goldenvoice’s lawsuit states that they sent two cease-and-desist letters to Live Nation after the company began selling and promoting the event’s tickets. The lawsuit asks the court to put a temporary order in place that would make it illegal for Live Nation to continue to advertise, promote, market, franchise, or sell any good or service in connection with the Coachella name.

2022’s This Ain’t No Picnic Festival Will Be Led By LCD Soundsystem, The Strokes, And Le Tigre

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James Murphy LCD Soundsystem 2018
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Goldenvoice has a proven track record of putting on killer festivals, as they’re behind events like Coachella, Day N Vegas, and Stagecoach. Now, they’re adding a new fest to that list: This Ain’t No Picnic is going down on August 27 and 28, 2022 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

The two-day, six-stage lineup has a rock and alternative lean to it, as the 2022 headliners are The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, and Le Tigre performing what is currently set to be their first and only reunion show of the year. Also on the bill are Beach House, Caroline Polachek, Courtney Barnett, Dawn Richard, Deafheaven, Earl Sweatshirt, Four Tet + Floating Points, Genesis Owusu, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Idles, Indigo De Souza, Isaiah Rashad, Jorja Smith, Kaytranada, Kelly Lee Owens, Mac DeMarco, Magdalena Bay, Mdou Moctar, Michelle, Phoebe Bridgers, Romy, Slowthai, Tinashe, Turnstile, Wet Leg, Ying Yang Twins, and Yves Tumor, among others.

This Ain't No Picnic Festival 2022 Lineup Poster
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If the festival’s name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a throwback to the original Goldenvoice festival of the same name. The initial This Ain’t No Picnic debuted in 1999, continued in 2000, and after having to skip 2001, came back for the last time in 2002. A fair amount of artists on those lineups actually wouldn’t feel out of place on this year’s bill, by the way: Sleater-Kinney, Beck, Yo La Tengo, Modest Mouse, and El-P were involved.

Learn more about the fest here and check out the poster above.

Coachella And Stagecoach Announce The Dates Of Their 2022 Comeback Festivals

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Coachella is officially happening — next year. The juggernaut festival will occur from April 15 to 17 and April 22 to 24, 2022, according to an announcement from its promoter, Goldenvoice.

“Our desert homecoming is officially set for April 2022,” said the release. “Our advance sale begins this Friday, June 4th at 10 am PT. More time to plan and more time to pay for your passes over time with our flexible payment plan options. Information about flexible payment plans and more at coachella.com.”

Coachella’s sister festival, the country-themed Stagecoach, also announced that it will take place next year, from April 29 to May 1. “Stagecoach is back in the saddle!” said the announcement. “Be the first to find out about the advance sale right around the corner at stagecoachfestival.com.”

Artists playing at the festivals won’t be revealed until the beginning of the new year, per Variety. Coachella’s 2020 headliners included Travis Scott, Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, and Megan Thee Stallion. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 program was rescheduled several times before getting cancelled altogether.

Variety noted that YouTube will partner with Goldenvoice to live stream the festival for the 10th year. “We’re back and thrilled to be partnering with Goldenvoice,” YouTube said in a statement. “As the world’s biggest virtual stage, we are more excited than ever to celebrate live music and to bring two weekends of extraordinary performances to music fans around the world.”

See the announcement below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.