In just a week's time, the interns will be going international, following our Aussie artists around the US, discovering a few international artists and covering one of the biggest festivals in the world, Coachella. We're going to the land of the free and because we like ruining surprises we're attempting to guess what's going to happen at Coachella. Coachella is the festival for surprises. We've seen 2Pac appear as a hologram, Daft Punk debut Get Lucky and Beyonce get up to dance with Solange. Never does a year go by where something special doesn't happen so here are our educated guesses as to what the festival will bring us in 2015.
Nicki Minaj Comes Out For Drake
Every year at Coachella there’s a number of acts who jam-pack their set with special guests. Last year it was Pharrell who brought out the likes of Usher, Gwen Stefani and Jay Z. This year, it looks like Drake is the most appropriate artist to bring out a plethora of guests. Of course, Kanye West has been everywhere at the moment and also had a collaboration album in the works with Drake last year, so he is an obvious guess.
Another possibility is Nicki Minaj who is a label-mate of Drake and they each feature on a number of each other's tracks. Drake has made Minaj’s Truffle Butter a staple of his recent sets so a Nicki appearance would make so much sense. The bad news? She’s in the UK during weekend one so weekend two would be the only possibility.
The Weeknd is also on the lineup and could make an appearance for Crew Love. Lil Wayne is a long shot but his tour schedule leaves room for a weekend one appearance so all the fingers and toes are crossed.
We’d also be happy if Rihanna jumped up on stage with him. She stomped around the festival grounds last year and is also building hype for her eighth album and this would be an easy press grab.
Run The Jewels Collaborate With Until The Ribbon Breaks
Run The Jewels feature on Until The Ribbon Breaks’ Revolution Indifference and UTRB feature on RTJ’s Job Well Done so an on-stage collaboration at Coachella wouldn’t be out of the blue. Run The Jewels’ recent shows makes them an early favourite to be one of the best acts of the weekend so an opportunity to see them twice is not one we would pass up.
The Kardashians Dominate The Coachella Headlines
Coachella last year was all about Kendall Jenner. The second youngest of the klan strutted around Palm Springs just when her career as a model was starting to blow up. Kylie was also there last year but all eyes will be on Kim Kardashian this year. If Kanye jumps up on stage with Drake it would be rude of Kim not to make an appearance.
Of course the Kardashians only distract from the main focus of the weekend (music) but Coachella has always encouraged a little celeb spotting.
The Aussies Hold Their Own
We’ve got a pretty impressive contingent this year. Alison Wonderland, Peking Duk and What So Not will be pumping out their tunes over the weekend proving why Aussie electronica is impressing the world right now. Vance Joy, Angus and Julia Stone, Chet Faker, AC/DC and Tame Impala are also playing but we reckon all eyes will be on our electronic artists. Since Flume blew the roof of the festival last year, Americans seem to be keen for more and more of our brand of electronica and these three acts are probably the best representation of where we’re at in 2015.
Also, Wonderland is one of a very small handful of female producers taking to the stage (including Annie Mac!) and she’s got more than enough gusto to take on the boys. Anna Lunoe held her own last year and Wonderland will have no problem this year.
AC/DC Draw The Smallest Headline Crowd Of The Weekend
They may be Aussie but AC/DC is a very confusing choice for Coachella, a festival known for drawing a largely youthful audience. It’s impressive that Aussies Tame Impala and AC/DC will finish-up night one but it’s hard to be sold on the fact that the veterans are a great fit for the festival. Glastonbury has so far announced Foo Fighters and Kanye West. AC/DC would arguably be a must better fit for Glasto while the Foos would’ve been a perfect headliner. Last year Coachella nailed it with Outkast, Muse and Arcade Fire. This year the headliners feel a little flat. It will be interesting to watch but we reckon a lot of people will be looking for alternatives on the first night.
Electronica Rises While EDM Falls
It took a while for EDM to find its way to America but it’s now well and truly established. Last year Calvin Harris broke attendance records on the mainstage at Coachella and it seems this year it will be left up to veterans like David Guetta to do the same. What’s more striking about this years lineup, however, is how many electronic producers features. Bixel Boys, Cashmere Cat, Jon Hopkins, Ryan Hemsworth, Kaytranada, Odesza and Todd Terje (just to name a few) all standout as prominent additions to the lineup in 2015. For the most part, these acts really grew their profile last year (Jon Hopkins is a legend, so maybe not him) and built their own hype. They also have great records to stand on. Cashmere Cat could really make a big impression as he’s the only one here really reaching into the pop-world. With Ariana Grande on side he could really give the EDM acts a run for their money.
On the other hand the EDM lineup seems stale. David Guetta is the biggest name on there and he’s joined by the likes of Martin Solveig, Alesso, Axwell ^ Ingrosso. Bar perhaps Oliver Heldens there are no young guns that are really pushing the boundaries. The highlight, although you’d be hard-pressed to call him EDM anymore will be Porter Robinson who has a vision far beyond playing the Beatport top 10.
It’s our prediction that even if EDM-loving festivalgoers stumble into say Kaytranada or Odesza they will be swayed. Coachella may mark the minute EDM reaches the downward side of the bell-curve. We’ll see.
Vic Mensa Collaborates With Jungle And Kaytranada
We saw it here in Aus with Jungle and now we’re hoping to see it again. Vic Mensa has to be one of the most promising rapper around at the moment and while in Australia on the Laneway Festival tour he made a name for jumping up on stage with other acts most notably Flight Facilities and Jungle. With the pair on the lineup together it’s likely that Mensa will add a verse to Jungle’s Busy Earnin’ live on stage.
It’s also likely that Mensa will jump up during Kaytranada’s set to perform their excellent new track Drive Me Crazy. It may not be quite as exciting as Drake and Kanye but it shows a new wave of artists collaborating with each other and represents an exciting spark in the music community.
Florence + The Machine, Tame Impala Prove They Are Headline-Ready
Florence + The Machine and Tame Impala are both sitting just under the headliners on the bill. Both of them are about to release their third record and seemed poised to be future headliners of major festivals.
Coachella will be their major test. If they can bring the euphoria and climaxes needed to create a memorable Coachella set then we reckon this will be the last time you’ll see them at the festival as a non-headliner.
Each of them have a song that hits all the right accent to create goosebumps - Florence with Dog Days Are Over and Tame Impala with Elephant - so it’s likely that these two will be many people’s highlights. We’re also more than likely to hear tracks from their new albums live at Coachella so keep the camera-phones at the ready.
David Guetta Has A Little Too Much Fun
Oh, please let it happen.
Mac Demarco Gets Naked
It’s happen more times than we care to count but what better occasion to strip down to your birthday suit that the world’s biggest festival. 2014 really introduced Mac Demarco as more than an indie-cult hero. He’s proved himself to be a charismatic, highly-capable performer with a swag of excellent songs to boot and Coachella will hopefully bring a much wider audience to him.
