I don’t mean to be tasteless, but I think this is a really bad idea and, at the risk of sounding too idealist, kind of the death-knell for indie-rock values. A Coachella cruise sounds like a bit Scharpling and Wurster would come up with to parody the increasingly moneyed alternative music scene. Said bit would definitely culminate with some hilariously gruesome denouement. Hence my headline and photo.
I mean, imagine Woodstock ’99 — but on a boat this time.
And check out some of those prices. I am no Fugazi-style punk-rock purist, to be sure. But this is definitely a step too far in the other direction.
Adding salt to my wounds, one of my favorite bands Pulp — a group that once championed the underdogs, the terminally uncool and underemployed — are headlining. Criminy!
I feel complicit in all this. I too am sometimes easily swayed by nostalgia, by the lure of this or that reunited band. I don’t spend as much time or money as I should on new music. (I’m better than some, not as good as others, in that regard.) I can’t help but wonder if I helped force the music world’s hand. Nobody buys music or goes to shows, so bands are forced to sign up for gimmicks like this.
But on the other hand, I’m really loving the new King Tuff album right now, so thankfully there’s usually someone scrappy and enthusiastic out there to talk me off the ledge and remind me of good things rock music can do.
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