Update: Tool Joins Depeche Mode As Coachella Headliner
Tool will join Depeche Mode as the headliners for the 2006 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, which will be held April 29-30 at Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif. Tool performed at the first Coachella in 1999 but has not played live in the United States since late 2002. The band is expected to release a new album at some point this spring.
Other acts confirmed to appear at this year's festival are Paul Oakenfold, Franz Ferdinand, My Morning Jacket, Bloc Party, TV On The Radio, Sigur Ros, Scissor Sisters, Cat Power, Damian Marley and Tricky. Representing the hip-hop world will be Common, Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu, Lyrics Born, Atmosphere, Lady Sovereign, Digable Planets and Gnarls Barkley, a collaboration between producer Danger Mouse and rapper Cee-Lo.
The lineup has been the subject of intense speculation on the Internet in recent weeks, with fake, fan-created show posters spreading like wildfire. At least one major media outlet was duped by a particularly professional-looking fake, going so far as to announce that Smashing Pumpkins would be reforming for Coachella.
"That's not going to happen," Paul Tollett, president of concert promoter Goldenvoice said. "I don't know the story on Smashing Pumpkins. From what I can tell, they're not available." Another rumored reunion that isn't in the cards this year is legendary noise rock band My Bloody Valentine, which has not released a new album since 1991.
"With all the fake lineups out there, it makes it hard when you actually do put a lineup out," Tollett admits with a laugh, "especially when people are saying things like the Beatles and the pre-1965 Rolling Stones!"
Still, Tollett says he's thrilled with the 2006 roster of bands, which will be announced in full later today. He's particularly excited about some of the lesser-known acts, comparing their ranks to last year's crop of Arcade Fire, Keane and M.I.A.
"When the ad came out last year, maybe those bands weren't so big, but when the day came around, they'd blown up," he says. "People will be surprised when they sift through all the band names this year."
Among the up-and-comers set for this year are a host of British acts, including Nine Black Alps, Hard-Fi, Editors, the Zutons, Art Brut, the Magic Numbers and the Subways. The bill is rounded out by the likes of the Walkmen, the Dears, Carl Cox, Wolf Parade, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Phoenix, Deerhoof, Derrick Carter, Devendra Banhart, the Like, Sleater-Kinney, Mogwai, Coheed & Cambria, Mylo, Jamie Lidell, the Go! Team and Coldcut.
Tollett and his colleagues have been confirming acts up until the very last minute for the show, tickets for which go on sale Saturday. "I have the worst flu I've ever had in my life," he says, adding that he spent most of yesterday sleeping in his office. "On Friday, I started to feel sick and I wound up not leaving my couch until this afternoon. But the show must go on."
