Breaking the Sound Barrier

United Kingdom artists Calvin Harris and Thom Yorke were to return in supporting roles after once headlining some of Coachella’s biggest crowds. Yorke fronted Radiohead in three headline sets and was to make his second solo appearance after earning three Grammy nominations this year, including best alternative music album for Anima.

Tollett has drifted in the same international current as his longtime friend and collaborator Pasquale Rotella, who has expanded his Electric Daisyland Carnival to Japan, Mexico, China, and South Korea. Tollett is providing insights into his international artists by telling their stories on the YouTube series “Coachella Curated.”

“It seems to be happening right now,” Tollett says. “People all around the world are watching it on live stream, so it would make sense that we would bring some artists from around the world.”

Tollett’s juxtaposition of related acts, revealing where music has come from and where it’s going, is key to why Leiweke calls him “something special.”

“You want somebody who goes to the show to see a lot more than just this year’s pop,” Tollett says. “It’s important, but if you can go and see some things you thought you’d never seen before, see some history, it’s incredible.”

A pivotal band in the festival’s history is the politically charged rap-rock group Rage Against the Machine, who were to return for their third headlining shows this month. Their 2007 set, featuring incendiary songs such as “Bulls On Parade,” “Bullet in the Head,” and “Killing in the Name,” transmitted so much energy in that early presidential campaign season that bonfires broke out on the grounds. But the crowd dispersed in orderly fashion when the music stopped.

“That was something special,” Tollett says. “I think their crowd is positive. Just because you have a hard sound, you can still be positive.”

The band’s 1999 show helped launch Coachella.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LANCE GERBER

They came into the inaugural festival after being part of a day at Woodstock that tarnished the upstate New York event’s peace-and-love brand. Frontman Zach de la Rosa burned the American flag and Limp Bizkit leader Fred Durst threatened to take a chainsaw and “skin your ass raw.” Durst was blamed for inciting a gang rape and multiple acts of destruction. Festivals were suddenly seen as dangerous environments for youths.

“[Coachella] went on sale the Monday after Woodstock — one day after Woodstock — which was crazy,” Tollett recalls. “It was all pre-set. Bad timing.”

De la Rosa was in ill health at Coachella, but he and the band were so dynamic, the crowd went home buzzing about the whole festival. Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn dubbed it “the anti-Woodstock ’99.”

“He went for it,” Tollett said about De la Rosa. “It’s easy to forget these are humans that have human things happen to them. There’s always that chance that, like an athlete, you’re not at your physical peak that day. But still, sometimes people go for it.”

Rage, Tollett says, is as important to America’s political process as it is to the festival.

“They’re such an important artist at this time in history,” he says. “They’re a voice that many look toward, so that’s super important to me. They really helped build the festival. They were there from day one.”

This month’s lineup was set to feature several 2020 Grammy nominees and winners, including Lil Nas X, Lana Del Ray, 21 Savage, DaBaby, FKA twigs, Steve Lacy, and Lewis Capaldi.

Goldenvoice has a permit from the city of Indio to produce five music festival weekends per year. The city is eager for Tollett to produce another fall event like Desert Trip, which became the highest-grossing festival of all time in 2016 with acts including the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan. Tollett’s polo club landlord, Alex Haagen III, would like him to produce another Desert Trip and “a Latino Coachella.” If Tollett declines the latter, Haagen says he’ll create one at his Empire Grand Oasis.

Tollett isn’t saying no to any new ideas. But he says he prefers to stay “in the moment” to be able to actualize the next waves of inspiration. “You have to decide,” he says. “Are you going to stick to your guns and do what you started out with and only do that, or are you going to keep your eyes open and be able to drift to things that interest you? We chose that [the latter].”

Meanwhile, Billboard regularly includes Tollett on its Power List of promoters while naming Coachella the Best Music Festival.

“I never thought it would get to this level,” he says. “I don’t think anyone could have thought something this far out of Los Angeles would have worked so well. But it never gets old when you see [a reference to] it in a new place — a film or a TV show or just a bumper sticker when I’m in another state. You’re in a national park and you see a Coachella sticker. Like, right on!”