Ranking the Coachella Poster Disrespect

Since I live on the opposite coast as Coachella, my favorite part about America's greatest annual music festival is the poster and deciding which of the bands got the most disrespected by their location and relative font size on it. After the jump, we'll take a look at this year's poster and sort things out.

Here's a link to their site so that you can actually see it.

Let's break it down day by day.

Friday

Most Disrespected: Wale

Being the biggest blog rapper on Earth should be enough to get you third tier billing; burying Wale on the final line of the bottom tier is inexcusable, especially considering the general lack of hip-hop acts receiving high billing (Jay-Z notwithstanding). She & Him and the Avett Brothers also make strong cases for third tier inclusion. All of these snubs are symptomatic of Coachella's two great but occasionally confounding loves: DJs and reunions. This is why relative nonentities like Benny Benassi, Tiesto, and Kaskade and way past their prime bands like Public Image Ltd. and Faith No More receive such high billing. I'm all for electronic music and don't disagree with LCD Soundsystem's second tier day one billing, but these lesser known DJs simply are not deserving of their high billing in the face of such an exceptional lineup. I'm more likely to forgive the reunion issue because a reunion is such an event. Finally, while the prospect of seeing Them Crooked Vultures doesn't do much for me, I can see how one would be excited for them and anytime a former Led Zeppelin member shows up to something, he deserves his due. They get a pass.

Saturday

Most Disrespected: MGMT

Logically speaking, music festivals should put their best foot forward on Saturday. People have to work on Friday and Monday so they will be late to the venue on Friday and leave early/not party as much on Sunday. All bets are off on Saturday. For some reason, Saturday is clearly Coachella's weakest day, as evidenced by the underwhelming headliner. I'm not trying to take anything away from Muse, they are a solid band, but not headlining a day on Coachella solid. Still, I don't think there's another act on this day that deserves the spot more than them. MGMT clearly should've been on tier two in lieu of Tiesto. With Them Crooked Vultures receiving second tier billing on Friday, Jack White probably feels that his Dead Weather side project has a fair argument for second tier billing, but the reunited Faith No More has to take precedence. Still, that will be a tough pill to swallow for anyone who has seen The Dead Weather live.

Sunday

Most Disrespected: Yo La Tengo

YLT is unquestionably by far the most disrespected band on the entire poster; somebody should be fired over their receiving fourth tier billing. In fact, if this hadn't been the first time in 11 years that Pavement has played a live show on American soil, I would say that Yo La Tengo should get top billing on Sunday. Taking the Pavement reunion into consideration, the poster should look like this:

Pavement
Yo La Tengo, Gorillaz
Thom Yorke ????, Phoenix, Spoon, et al

I'm not trying to take anything away from Gorillaz, I'm a big fan of theirs, but there is no way that they are a bigger act than Yo La Tengo or a Pavement reunion show. That's absurd. I think tier three is a fair spot for a solo performance by the lead singer of a beloved band, although I certainly would've given Yorke (but not Julian Casablancas) second tier billing on Saturday.

Whew. I'm glad we got all of that sorted out. All in all, this is a pretty great lineup, especially the murderer's row on Friday. Since I'm going to be relocating to the west soon, I think I'm going to try and go. The mere thought of hearing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros play "Home" in front of that many people is exhilarating.

***Update: In the hour since I posted this, Wale has been upgraded from last line on the fifth tier of day one to second to the last line on the fifth tier of day one. You're welcome.