Coachella Lands AC/DC

Boom goes the dynamite! No further comment needed.

Comments

[Metalboy!]

Since there's "no further comment needed", of course that's when I have to give one...

Gotta love it... AC/DC will blow the roof off of the joint, leaving all the young punks jaw-dropped forever!

p.s. Steely Dan? How cool is that. No matter what can be said about some of the clowns on this bill (Drake, anyone?), ya gotta hand it it to the Coachella promoters for their undying quest for extreme variety when it comes to a line-up.

[bkallday]

The lame ass hipsters will not be pleased with the kings, AC/DC
DC, headlining! Oh well...eff em.

[Metalboy!]

You'd be surprised how many "Hipsters" like AC/DC, dude. How do I know this living amongst them in NYC and now, Orlando, of all places.

And those hipsters who profess not to like 'em, well, I think they'll change their tune once they have their faces melted off by them.

[Bob]

I stay as far away from hipsters as possible, (San Diego is full of them), so I don't know if they like ACDC or not. what I do know is that, in general, they're full of crap. Check out this hilarious Jimmy Kimmel bit from last year's Coachella Festival as evidence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_IzYUJANfk

[Kixchix]

Bob.

That Kimmel bit was hilarious!!! So true. Kids so "true"& "real"& full of "good energy".

Poseurs them all!!!

Fun was a poison show in 1986. That was fun

[Him]

People, we are starting to sound like old folks poking sticks at the youngins' on the front lawn (though Metalboy! is regaining some balance with a nod to the past in Steely).

I hate to make this observation so pointed, so I will frame it as a series of questions: do any of you recall a moment in time (say the 80s) when people adopted a pose that was decidedly fashionable for no other reason than it was? That was dangerous but oh so marketable? That inspired legions of followers, and musical copycats, to strike a pose . . . several years after the pose was actually more individualistic and edgy and unique?

I know, I know. True fans hate poseurs. None of us jumped on and off a sub-genre bandwagon because others were doing it. Hot Topic isn't what Tower became and skinny jeans and beards aren't leather pants and feathered hair. We stayed pure and strong and dedicated.

Well, you know what? That can also turn into being arrogant, egotistical, and stuck-up (pardon the old term). Oh wait. We don't like hipsters for those very same reasons.

I would never attend Coachella (and not because of the music really). I don't begrudge those that do (or M3, or whatever). Their money; their call. I might criticize a line-up or two, make a flabby comment about several bands. But I appreciate a consistent attempt to blur lines if that is the stated objective. And, with this concert, it is. A brand like Coachella can't sell-out if the whole purpose is to bring-in a diverse bunch of bands and fans (look back at that inaugural line-up, hot on the heels of the hot mess that was Woodstock).

Good for AC/DC, way past their prime but still keeping it fairly real, bringing a bit of old school rock--not metal or glam for the purists--to the masses. Will they play the hits? Sure. Will everyone bounce along to "Play Ball"? Probably not. But I bet Johnson's easy charm and good pipes, alongside Young's spastic antics, will gain a few more Pandora lists and a couple of Spotify searches. Heck, iTunes might see a spike in AC/DC purchases. All's well that rocks well.

Those darn hipsters? Who really cares? Their food carts will get flats, their sculpting wax will finally seize, and their dreams and aspirations will eventually slam up against the very same thing that hit us: reality, jobs, marriages, divorces, baldness, menopause, aches and pains, and . . . wait for it . . . nostalgia for what they loved years earlier. And then we/they will see the ghosts. Just like in metal, a person holding on to that look way past the time when it worked, talking about things long after they mattered to others, trying--really trying--to conjure up reality out of figments of their lost youth. Yet others, like many of us here, will still hold on but temper it with an understanding, born of experience, of what it means to love deeply while knowing we aren't "us" any longer. We won't like it (kudos to you Rita), but we know it to be true. And we will still rock out every chance we get.

Metal fans don't have a trademark on memories. And I don't presume to speak for other fans. But when I poke at hipsters (I do, often, based on where I live), I am only poking at the embers of my younger self, albeit with a different set of clothes, of musical likes and dislikes, and special codes to make them feel important.

It is simple really: at one point in time, everyone was/is a hipster of a sort. That is the easy label that outsiders throw on insiders until the script flips, when what is true and what is affected is difficult to distinguish. Then, for whatever reason, the label loses its grip and something else comes along to take its place . . . at least for those who didn't really care--I mean, really care--in the first place.

Why the labels? Because it is easy, obviously. Punks, goths, emos, headbangers, grunge rockers, rap fans and pop lovers have all dealt with variation on the same. You wear the badge proud and you wear it like a curse. What would a friend think if they knew that you had Depeche Mode sitting next to Deep Purple or Def Leppard or Dwight Yoakham, a bit Charlie Pride nestled next to White Lion's album of the same? Now, who cares? Then (that youth thing again), hmmm? Might give you pause or it might mean you missed out on what those others had to offer until you were different (that older thing again).

I went on way too long, based on scant postings thus far. I apologize for hijacking this. And I mean no disrespect to the four others who posted before me.

[Metalboy!]

Well done, HIM. Fantastic comment, as usual!

There are poseurs in every faction and some who wear it well. I indulge all those in conversation who are genuinely intriguing, regardless of age or what culturally defines them, and never stop being amazed at how interesting different folks can be.

Thus, my comment about Hipsters diggin' on AC/DC, and I don't mean "dig" in the derogatory way. I mean like, lovin' 'em, man.

AC/DC will Rock and the crowd will look like any other (okay, maybe a few more ear gauges and pierced up faces), Rocking like any other, fists and lighters in the air... Well, wait... The new lighter... cellphones in the air, most of them filming rather than experiencing.

Just picture all those young know-it-alls having AC/DC showin' 'em how to Rock, some witnessing the sheer volumatic velocity of such an event for the first time.

Talk about a mass conversion.

Ready the G5, Bigsby!

[Him]

I like the attitude, Metalboy! Music bringing people together is what it is all about. A few on-site conversions wouldn't surprise me, even if I am always surprised (in a good way) when a bit of music from another genre slays me. Just have to be receptive, I guess.

Say hi to Bigsby for me!