LOS ANGELES: The Coachella festival kicks off Friday with performances from Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar and its highest-ever attendance as it weathers growing competition in the live music world.
Taking place over two successive weekends with identical lineups, the festival in the southern California desert has for years been a trend-setting global event for music and fashion — and the envy of rivals with its multimillion-dollar profits.
Indio City Council approved Coachella’s plan to expand to 125,000 fans a day, an increase of 26,000, with the festival this year adding an additional main stage to bring the total to seven.
When it debuted in 1999, Coachella was at the vanguard of a live music boom in the US with new events popping up constantly on the calendar.
In one sign that the sold-out festival has succeeded in preserving its buzz, leading ticket reseller StubHub said that passes for the first weekend were 60 percent more expensive than a year ago.
StubHub said that buyers from 17 foreign countries had bought tickets, led by Canada, Britain, Australia, Mexico and The Netherlands.
In a performance that without doubt would have stirred major attention, Beyonce was scheduled to play her only 2017 show at Coachella both Saturdays — while expecting twins with husband Jay Z.
The increasingly experimental diva bowed out on doctors’ advice but was replaced by another top pop figure — Lady Gaga, who will offer a glimpse of her global tour set to begin in August.
Lady Gaga took a more subdued sound on her latest album “Joanne” but gave an energetic and well-received performance at February’s Super Bowl.
With Lady Gaga, Coachella will ensure it has a female headliner for the first time since Bjork in 2007.
Lamar, whose 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly” was quickly hailed as a hip-hop classic, will headline Coachella on Sunday two days after releasing a new album.
Credits for his album, “DAMN.,” show songs with U2 and Rihanna. Coachella is famous for surprise guests on stage — a sure way to trigger posts on social media.
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