Six Classic Rock Legends Will Make History at Coachella's New Fall Festival

Article by: Laura Mason|@masonlazarus

Tue April 19, 2016 | 00:00 AM


Six rock legends, all of which helped change the face of music forever, converging at the same festival in the same weekend? Just the fact that it's even an idea being considered is practically enough to put it in the history books.

AEG Live, the company that produces Coachella every year, is reportedly organizing a new classic rock festival slated for October 2017 in AEG Live's usual stomping grounds, Indio, California.

The Los Angeles Times has, citing unnamed sources, written that six legendary rock gods—Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters—are slated to perform in a three-night music festival, though negotiations have not been finalized.

What's on the table is the possibility that many of these rock acts will be sharing the same stage for the first time in their respective, decades-long careers. The potential festival promises that each will get to perform their sets using their full stage productions, unlike many other festival sets, which are usually abbreviated. It's also interesting to note that, if this comes to fruition, it will likely be one of the costliest festival lineups (for the festivals themselves) ever, with each of said performers regularly commanding $1 million or more per performance.

Neil Young's longtime manager Elliot Roberts told the Los Angeles Times, “It's so special in so many ways. You won't get a chance to see a bill like this, perhaps ever again. It's a show I look forward to more than any show in a long time.”

The current plan is to have Dylan and the Stones play back to back on October 7 to open the festival. They would be followed on October 8 by Young and McCartney and their respective bands. The event would conclude on October 9 with the Who and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.

Plans are nearly complete, and an official announcement is expected in the next couple of weeks.

Why now? It's worth mentioning that Coachella, AEG Live's flagship festival, grossed $84 million in six days last year, so the company has money to spend on a pricey festival endeavor. The company has already poured a lot of money into securing classic rock acts for its recent Coachella lineups, such as AC/DC, Steely Dan, Guns n' Roses, and McCartney. Furthermore, festivals and their lineups continue to be more and more homogenized as they're acquired by conglomerations, which has spawned a new movement of more curated festival offerings. Tapping into a more specific festival offering is a savvy move by AEG Live, as its likely to capture a moneyed, passionate audience that would never otherwise attend Coachella.