‘Coachella Fest’ Set To Kick Off Tonight
Jay Z will be the headliner tonight for the opening of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a three-day rock concert at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
The rapper will perform on the Coachella Stage at 10:50 p.m.
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The Cribs 4:30 p.m. performance was canceled when they were stranded in Europe, following the eruption of a volcano in Iceland.
Airports in England may be closed two days, as the volcanic pall dissipates. The interruption in air traffic is believed to be the biggest since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Click here for a list of roads affected by Coachella Fest
“We were really looking forward to playing this year, the slot sounded perfect, outdoor at dusk, and the last time we played Coachella was really fun,” the band posted on its MySpace.
Other performers stranded in Europe include Gary Numan, Frightened Rabbit, Los Campesinos and Bad Lieutenant, according to the groups’ Web sites.
Frightened Rabbits tweeted, “Baddy baddy bumdrops: our flight to Coachella is supposed to leave tomorrow & there’s plane-thwarting volcanic ash all over the place.”
Most of the headliners are in the country, and organizers were working to fill in the empty slots.
The British alternative band Muse will play at 10 p.m. Saturday, and Gorillaz will cap off the 11th annual festival with a 10:30 p.m. Sunday performance.
The festival is a sell-out, with about 75,000 attendees expected each day, according to Marcee Rondan, senior vice president at Goldenvoice.
No single or three-day passes will be sold at the box office for the festival, which runs through Sunday.
