Image Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake/Landov

Skeptics had little faith in Coachella’s plan to stage the festival with identical lineups on consecutive weekends for the first time this year, but the folks putting on the show ended up laughing all the way to the bank.

Coachella 2012 was a wild financial success, and thanks to the specter of a deceased rapper, became the most talked-about weekend in the desert since Roger Waters lost track of his inflatable pig.

It only makes sense, then, that the same plan will be executed in 2013. Next year’s Coachella will run on April 12-14 and again on April 19-21. Advance passes go on sale this Thursday morning for $349, though you can dole that out in installments using their payment plan.

When you consider the additional money you’ll spend on travel, lodging, food, water, and a healthy supply of sun-blocking floppy hats, that’s a not-unserious chunk to invest in a festival that as of now (and most likely, for the at least next six months) has exactly zero confirmed acts.

Luckily, the Coachella lineup tends to follow a pattern every year, which is why there are a few safe assumptions about who you’ll see in Indio next year.

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Sahara Tent heats up during Sebastian Ingrosso’s set

Day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival got underway Saturday. Here’s some of the highlights:

The Sahara Tent: This is Coachella’s electronic music stage (a.k.a. the restlessly chewing gum while applying vapor rub tent). Nothing makes rock music look worse than watching a crowd merely nodding their heads to dour indie chords at the Mojave Tent, then diving into the bouncing scrum of happy rollers in the Sahara Tent. On Saturday, French house music producer and DJ David Guetta took the stage with 1980s video-game-style lighting effects. Though his strobe-filled intro was almost obnoxiously long, Guetta’s fans were delirious as he launched into “Titanium,” dropping the audio so fans could scream the “fire away, fire away” chorus. I had to squeeze through a lot of crowds at Coachella, and Guetta’s audience was so tightly jammed they take the award for Most Impenetrable. But for sheer mindless electronic euphoria, I much preferred Sweedish House Mafia’s Sebastian Ingrosso’s set — a high-energy Red Bull-blast from start to finish.

Though the Sahara Tent had some of the happiest Coachellans, outside the tent were some of the most miserable as the night wore on. What goes up, must come down. Or vice versa.

Praying to the Coachella Dry Heave God

Celebrities. READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

“Coachella — this is the best place to be in the world right now!” declares Grouplove bassist Sean Gadd.

“Let’s bring in the storm!” yells keyboardist Hannah Hooper.

And with that, the chronically upbeat Los Angeles-based rock quintet kicked off their first-ever set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, while the famous annual mega-concert had a few new experiences of its own: This is reportedly the first time in the sun-baked Indio festival’s 13-year history that it’s rained, and the first time organizers have scheduled two weekends of performances since 1999.

While a storm didn’t turn the polo fields into a muddy nightmare like some feared, there was a persistent drizzle, unusually cold temperatures and gusting winds that had many under-dressed concert-goers huddling together for warmth. When Jimmy Cliff took the main stage that afternoon, he probably didn’t expect singing “it’s going to be a bright, bright sunshiny day” during his rendition of “I Can See Clearly Now” to be considered mockingly ironic.

In addition to the festival’s usual assortment of casual-sexy wear (sort of American Apparel meets Burning Man meets Indian casino cocktail waitress), this year’s fest gave rise to an all-new Coachella accessory: the plastic poncho.

Some clearly planned ahead and rocked it:

Others improvised: READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: Getty Images

The busiest dead man in the music business, Tupac Shakur, is reportedly coming to Coachella this weekend — as a hologram.

Los Angeles-based radio station KROQ says holographic technology will help resurrect the rapper for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s set Sunday night. Tupac will join in on the song “California Love.”

But wait, if you’re going to raise the deceased, why stop at only one lost star?

Nate Dogg, who died last year from a stroke, will also appear during the show via hologram, joining on ”The Next Episode” (what, no Notorious B.I.G.?).

Help them, Obi Dre Kenobi, you’re their only hope!

Plus, there’s still reports that Eminem will appear during the Dr. Dre show, presumably in the flesh.

With Coachella being streamed via YouTube for the second year in a row, you can also watch the set without enduring the hipster masses. (Speaking of: Here at the festival, the fabled Coachella Rain of 2012 has just started. The hour of the fashionable poncho has arrived).

NEXT: Coachella Day 1 Review: Rain doesn’t dampen spirits — PHOTOS

Read more:
Coachella 2012: Five questions going into this weekend
Can’t make it to Coachella? Watch the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, and others stream live via YouTube