Will Goldenvoice host another music festival in October? Here's 3 signs that point to no
Now that the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach country music festival, have come and gone, it's only natural to wonder if Goldenvoice will seize on the opportunity to produce another music festival in October.
A 2013 agreement between the City of Indio and Goldenvoice allows the promoter to put on five music festivals each year at the Empire Polo Club. The company most recently seized the opportunity to host a new event last year when it organized Power Trip, a metal and hard rock festival featuring Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Tool and Metallica.
Before that, the October 2016 festival Desert Trip featured legendary classic rock performers such as Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, The Who and Roger Waters. Ever since, there's been a strong desire for another edition of the festival with some of the biggest names in music, including Bruce Springsteen, U2, and even a reunited Led Zeppelin.
Will there be another festival this fall? It doesn't seem likely. Here's our three reasons why we don't think Goldenvoice will host a fall 2024 festival in Indio.
1. The City of Indio says it hasn't been informed of any Goldenvoice plans for a 2024 fall festival
According to City of Indio Marketing and Public Information Officer Jessica Mediano, Goldenvoice has not told the City of Indio it plans to hold another event in 2024.
Mediano said Goldenvoice alerted the city of its intentions to host the Power Trip festival March 2023, so we're already off the traditional timeline that Goldenvoice has used in the past.
2. We're currently several weeks past the date when Power Trip was announced last year
Another sign that makes it doubtful is the timing of the two previous October event announcements. Goldenvoice released the details and lineup for Desert Trip immediately after the 2016 Coachella and Stagecoach festivals on May 3. Power Trip was announced last year on March 30, two weeks before Coachella.
3. Nobody's leaked anything or speculated much online on a potential fall festival, but people are buzzing about another Goldenvoice festival
Although internet rumors are more often false than true, in recent years, many people within — or somehow connected to — the festival industry have seemingly leaked information that spread online and ended up being true about Goldenvoice events (especially related to Coachella guests and set times).
While there's been very little chatter about a fall Indio festival online (unless you count the uber-active Power Trip Festival Group on Facebook), there has been a great deal of chatter about Goldenvoice's Portola festival in San Francisco, which posted on its Instagram page on Monday for the first time since Nov. 2, 2023.
The screen grab for the Instagram video says "Portola is back b****es," and is the first of five posts this week to hint that a lineup announcement is coming soon. We're curious if Goldenvoice has decided to invest more in other events like Portola this year while the polo grounds take a back seat.
Both October festivals were momentous
People came from across the country and from around the world for the two Desert Trip weekends. Dressed in colorful, even outrageous outfits, they sang and reveled in the familiar rock anthems and enjoyed the community of others from different generations who were equally as enthralled.
Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who — literal legends responsible for the songs that have made up the soundtracks of so many lives — took to the stage and made the Coachella Valley the temporary center of the rock 'n' roll universe.
There was speculation at the time that Desert Trip would become a yearly or biennial occurrence. Like the Coachella or Stagecoach festivals, it would be held at a set time of year at the same venue.
Unfortunately, though, as each year passes, the hope for a second Desert Trip festival wanes. Even Goldenvoice President Paul Tollett has said it could never truly happen again.
In many ways, Power Trip was similar and attracted an international crowd. Indio resident Leonard Ortiz collected signatures on a California state flag from Austria, Nepal, Lebanon, Australia and many more countries. Many of the festival's older audience brought their children or other family members, such as 59-year-old Kerri Yingst of Hobe Sound, Florida who attended the festival with her granddaughters.
Another highlight was AC/DC's first show in seven years. The performance came following years of speculation over whether the band would play together again. In their sixth decade making music, lead singer Brian Johnson was losing his hearing and had followed doctor’s orders to stop performing live.
Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 3 reasons why Goldenvoice likely won't host a fall festival in Indio
