music festivals

The Coachella And Stagecoach Festivals Are Reportedly Being Pushed Back To 2022

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Coachella is one of the world’s biggest music festivals, but the last time an iteration of the event was actually hosted was April 2019. Since then, the pandemic has forced the fest — along with its country-oriented counterpart Stagecoach — to be postponed multiple times. Now it appears that is happening again: Variety reports that according to “two industry sources with knowledge of the situation,” that Coachella is moving from April 2021 to April 2022. Additionally, Stagecoach, which traditionally takes place the weekend after Coachella’s two weekends, will be similarly postponed.

As Variety notes, if this move is official, this will be the fourth set of dates the festival has had: First April 2020, then October 2020, then April 2021, and now April 2022. There were previously reports that the festival was pushed back to October 2021, although that news was never confirmed by promoters.

So far, most of the news about music festivals has been regarding cancellations and postponements. Events that have changed plans this year include Glastonbury, Boston Calling, and Primavera Sound. There are some silver linings, though. At the start of the year, Governors Ball declared its intention to host its 2021 festival in September. Life Is Beautiful is also set for September and organizers announced this year’s lineup last week.

Life Is Beautiful Festival’s 2021 Lineup Includes Billie Eilish, ASAP Rocky, Tame Impala, And More

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It’s been over a year since the first music festival canceled in 2020, marking the beginning to the months-long shut down of the live music industry. But with the vaccine roll out ramping up, festivals are confident that they’ll be able to return by the fall. Life Is Beautiful is the latest to announce their 2021 lineup, and they’ve book some big-name acts like Billie Eilish, Tame Impala, ASAP Rocky, and many more.

The downtown Las Vegas festival, which aims to take place the weekend of September 17, unveiled more than 60 acts that have been booked. Along with Eilish, Tame Impala, and ASAP Rocky, the list includes notable musicians like Green Day, Haim, Young Thug, St. Vincent, 6lack, Modest Mouse, Ludacris, Don Toliver, Lany, Brittany Howard, Earthgang, Purity Ring, Ashnikko, Shaed, Trevor Daniel, Still Woozy, Noah Cyrus, Yaeji, Remi Wolf, and Jamila Woods.

The festival’s 2021 lineup differs from their 2019 event, excluding acts like Eilish, and that’s intentional. Life Is Beautiful partner Justin Weniger described what they had in mind while booking the festival. “When curating the lineup for Life is Beautiful this year, we challenged ourselves to stay grounded in the realities of the year that we just lived,” he said. “The way we discover artists changed, the places we listened to music evolved, and the meaning of music deepened as we listened in new ways. This year’s lineup isn’t our 2019 lineup in 2021. It’s our 2021 lineup, and celebrates the artists, both established and emerging, who were the shining lights during our darkest days.”

Echoing Weniger’s statement, Festival Director Lauren DelFrago said that safety is still their top priority: “We have always put the health, safety, and security of our community first. As we prepare to produce the 2021 festival, we feel a heightened sense of responsibility to our staff, partners, performers, and attendees, and continue to work closely with local and state officials to ensure a safe return to live music.”

See the list of artists slated to perform at Life Is Beautiful 2021 above.

Tickets to Life Is Beautiful go on sale 3/12 at 10 am PST. Get them here.

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

Another 2021 Festival Has Been Canceled, And This Time, It’s Primavera Sound

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Last year’s festival season was a total wash thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, it’s starting to look like 2021 may face a similar fate. LiveNation’s CEO seems to think big concerts can return this summer, but others don’t seem as optimistic. Earlier this year, Glastonbury announced that it would not put on a 2021 festival. A week ago, Boston Calling also announced that they were canceling their 2021 event. Now, another festival has closed its doors for 2021: Primavera Sound.

In a post titled “We will dance in 2022,” organizers wrote today:

“It is with great sadness that we must announce that the 20th anniversary of Primavera Sound Barcelona is postponed until 2022 due to force majeure.

We have tried everything, but we have now made this very painful decision due to the uncertainty surrounding the legal framework for large events on the original dates of the festival — from June 2nd to 6th –, which, added to the restrictions that currently exist, mean that we cannot work normally on the preparation of the festival nor ensure that, once the date arrives, it can be celebrated.

Thank you to all the artists, agencies, sponsors, production companies and workers involved in everything necessary to hold Primavera Sound. And to the attendees, our family, thank you for your faith and love. We owe you the best edition of Primavera Sound, and we are already working on it.

Like last year, we are going to offer all ticket holders the possibility to keep their tickets for next year. It will also be possible to request a refund of the ticket from Wednesday, June 2nd, which is when the Primavera Sound Barcelona 2022 line-up will be revealed.

We will make it doubly good next year.

Until then, take good care of yourself. See you soon.”

This year’s lineup was set to include Pavement, The Strokes, Bad Bunny, Tyler The Creator, Charli XCX, Tame Impala, FKA Twigs, Jamie xx, and Gorillaz, among others.

Check out the announcement below.

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

LiveNation’s CEO Thinks Big Outdoor Concerts Will Return To The US This Summer

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It was around mid-March of 2020 that the first shelter-in-place orders were issued in the United States. That was almost a year ago now, and the future of the live music industry is still uncertain. LiveNation seems to think, though, that they will be able to host large, mostly full concerts this summer.

CEO Michael Rapino said during Live Nation’s Q4 2020 earnings call last week that “a clear outline to a 75 percent to 100 percent” is likely to go forward, noting that 75-plus-percent capacity shows in large US markets are “within sight.” He also noted, “We might have certain states that might not be ready, but we have enough states and enough artists willing to play the open slots if we get to that level in the right markets. So as long as these states open up to the right capacities, we can start in midsummer and in the southern US we can go all the way into November.”

As for shows at a lower capacity, that doesn’t seem to be in LiveNation’s plans, as Rapino said, “[We] have not, to date, done a lot of work in the 0-percent to 50-percent capacity business. We don’t see that as a viable model to ramp back up [considering the] fixed cost.”

This news comes just about a week after Boston Calling decided to cancel its event this year for the second year in a row, so it remains to be seen if other events will follow suit or if LiveNation’s optimism is shared by others.

The Boston Calling Festival Has Canceled Its 2021 Event

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2020 was a year mostly without music festivals, and so far, it remains to be seen how 2021 will pan out on that front. Glastonbury has already called off its 2021 event and it looks like Coachella may get the axe as well. Boston Calling canceled its 2020 fest and now it is repeating that this year, as organizers announced today that the 2021 event will not be happening.

In a note shared on social media, organizers wrote:

“After exploring all possible options for hosting Boston Calling this year, we have made the difficult decision in conjunction with local and state authorities to cancel the 2021 festival. The health and safety of our entire community is always out top priority, and there was no appropriate scenario under which we could provide the Boston Calling experience you love and deserve.

While we are sad to go another year without the festival, we have set our sights on 2022 — mark your calendars for Memorial Day weekend. We look forward to sharing more information around headliners, lineup and vendors as we get closer to the 2022 festival. […] Stay safe, we look forward to seeing everyone again soon.”

While Boston Calling was one of the last major 2020 festivals to be called off, they have made the decision early this year. Now, music fans wait to see if this latest cancellation will be indicative of a larger trend for festivals in 2021.

Find Boston Calling’s full note about this year’s cancellation below.