Coachella 2018 Lineup: Review, Hidden Gems, Best Of The Lower Lines
Jan. 2, 2018, 6:49 p.m.
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Festival lineup season is here! The granddaddy of all festivals today, Coachella, released their lineup and as usual it's a doozy. As we mentioned last week, the headliners will be The Weeknd, Beyonce and Eminem. Other notable artists on the billing include Kygo, St. Vincent, Odesza, Migos, Portugal. The Man, A Perfect Circle and an inexplicable placement of Cardi B on the 2nd line - really Coachella?
As usual tickets will go on sale shortly on Friday, January 5th at Noon Pacific. If you are new to Coachella passes I highly suggest checking out our 5 Steps To Getting Coachella passes guide - it goes over all the information you need to get tickets. Some important notes to know for the sale on Friday:
- It will sell out within an hour or two
- Be sure to be punctual, be there 5 minutes to noon
- Have everyone in your group trying to get tickets
- There is no payment plan available - you have to pay the full amount on Friday
For the rest of our tips check out our ticket guide above.
Useful Coachella Planning Guides
Here are our most read Coachella guides that will help you get prepare for Coachella 2018:
- Are Coachella VIP passes worth it?
- Coachella In Palm Springs: Pros and Cons
- Everything You Need To Know About Coachella Shuttles
- Are Coachella Lockers Worth It?
- 17 Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Coachella
Coachella 2018 Lineup Review
Let's get to our thoughts on the 2018 lineup. Keep in mind that the least you ever like the Coachella Lineup is the day it comes out as you still have months of research and discovering ahead of you. That said, this is how I see the lineup as of now.
Coachella 2018 Headliners - C+
A giant ball of meh. Beyonce is undoubtedly a good get and one of the best of the festival season most likely. However, we knew this over a year ago so it's a little less impressive now. That said I'm sure her show will be a spectacle and I don't even like her music. The other two are disappointing. I love Eminem but he is far past his prime. It always struck me as odd that Coachella has never had a artist of his legend headline, so it was only a matter of time, but it is a bit of a letdown coming off his worst album. Still, if you look at Eminem's setlists over the years he plays material from all his albums so it should be a good show. The Weeknd....sigh. It just seems an odd placement with Beyonce. It just doesn't seem that unique with him headlining tons of festivals last year. Last year Coachella had the best rock band, the best rapper and the biggest pop star (before pregnancy). This year we get the same pop star, a washed up rapper who hopefully plays a lot of old material, and a common headliner who as of now has no new material (although hopefully that changess).
Coachella 2018 2nd Liners - A
St. Vincent? Kygo? Odesza? A Perfect Circle? Tyler, The Creator? Vince Staples? Jamiroquai!? No matter what you want the 2nd line at Coachella has it. I will say of the years I have been going to Coachella this is probably the best group of 2nd liners I have seen. I love how diverse it is and it also is catching a lot of artists on their rise (Vince Staples, SZA, The War On Drugs). It's nice to see this year that there are a lot of acts that haven't been at Coachella in a bit, whereas in years past there have been a lot of repeats. There were definitely some surprises on the 2nd line such as Portugal The Man being 3rd and Cardi B being there at all, but overall it's a great set of acts. Conflictchella is looming because there is a ton I want to see on the 2nd line.
Coachella 2018 3rd and 4th Liners - A-
If you suspect a theme of me loving the undercard emerging you are correct. I may not like the headliners of Coachella 2018 but the undercard is amazing. If you want rock the 3rd and 4th lines have King Krule, Angel Olsen, BORNS, FIDLAR, and more. Want EDM? Illenium is a great get on the 3rd line on Sunday. Hip hop you say? 6LACK and Russ should do the trick. The undercard does a great job of being deep and diverse. I have never had so many artists on these lines that I was excited for before I even began researching. I go with a pretty diverse group to Coachella, all with different tastes, and everyone seems pretty content. The headliners get all the glory, but it's really the middle lines that make or break a festival and Coachella 2018 is terrific.
Coachella 2018 Tiny Fonts & Hidden Gems - A
The best part of the Coachella lineup for me is always the last few lines. Last year Klangstof, The Lemon Twigs, Whitney, Ezra Furman and other tiny fonts blew my mind and made my Coachella. There's too many for me to mention fully here and I will write a full write up of all the bands I think are worth seeing, but here's the ones that standout right now:
- Ron Gallo - Good old fashioned rock & roll
- Hannah Wants - Feel good dance EDM that has all the makings of a good feels Coachella show
- Japanese Breakfast - Classic Coachella get of a young, rising Indie artist that is totally worth going to an early, hot show for
- Big Thief - Dark / Indie folk that will have you dancing and crying at the same time
- Magic Giant - Saw them at Coachella's sister festival Arroyo Seco Weekend and this indie rock band's energy is off the charts
- Perfume Genius - Weird indie / electronic music that I expect to make huge leaps in the coming years. Perfume Genius will be a 2nd liner in a couple of Coachella's
- PVRIS - Alt Rock band with two solid albums out and another band likely to rise in coming Coachella's
If you have other bands you know of on the lower lines I would love to hear them - let us all know in the comments below.