The Jarvis Lounge

With weekend 1 starting a week from today, organizers are hopefully facing the last major change of the season. On Monday, Ye (Kanye) bowed out of the third headlining spot. He was replaced on Wednesday by Swedish House Mafia (SHM) and The Weeknd. Since SHM was already on the lineup, previously without an assigned day, some people speculate that they were the back up plan in case Ye was no longer on the lineup. Adding The Weeknd, who most likely would have been their guest anyway, brings up questions of what sort of performance this will turn out to be. He apparently requested the amount of money that Ye was going to get paid. Hopefully this is the last snag with what has been one of the most challenging lineups in recent memory (just for reference, the original pre-Covid 2020 lineup featured headliners Rage Against The Machine, Travis Scott, and Frank Ocean).

The good news is that most of us music festival veterans are excited for the undercard. And Coachella has one of the largest. There are a lot of artists I’m excited to see. Given that I’ve seen roughly 30 of them already, I want to highlight some I haven’t seen yet:

1. Phoebe Bridgers (I did see her with Conor Oberst, but this will be my first time seeing her solo).
2. Still Woozy – I probably should have seen him by now.
3. Lane 8 – He was part of the soundtrack for my work-from-home electronic music.
4. Black Coffee – One of the albums I was spinning last year. He’s also playing Primavera Sound in Barcelona in June.
5. Danny Elfman – this is one of those badass Coachella gets that you won’t see at any other festival. Here for the “Dead Man’s Party” and the soundtracks.
6. Stromae – this is another rare get.
7. Brockhampton – since I’m going weekend 2, this will be their last performance. Historical.
8. Doja Cat – she moved up quite a bit since the start of the pandemic. Still pissed I missed her free set back in 2014 in LA.
9. Fred again… – Another artist who’s shot up over the last year. Will also be at Primavera
10. Arlo Parks – She popped up on an indie playlist recently, and now I have to check her out live.

The good thing about this lineup is that with each viewing, I find other artists that I want to see for the first time (Freddie Gibbs, the Avalanches, Daphni, etc). Over the coming weeks, I’ll be posting more about Coachella and my time out in the desert.

The JarFIVE

1. Wet Leg – self-titled debut – This is one group I’d wished I’d seen live in the fall, since they’re only getting bigger. They played at the Echo in the fall, and have continued to grow since. This album just came out today – give it a spin.

2. Liv Slingerland – “An Entire Lifetime” – The new track from Liv Slingerland (for her on Insta here), who has an album coming out later this year. I’ve been following Liv for a while now (there’s a previous blog on her a few years back), and recently she’s been touring with Halsey. Love the sound in her new cut, and I’m looking forward to that album. Here’s the video, along with a playlist she made, featuring artists she’s played with. Aside from her own performances, I’ve seen her perform with Paper Pilots (way back!), Lauren Ruth Ward, Alex Lahey, and Suki Waterhouse.

3. Jack White – Fear of the Dawn – The new album from Jack White is out today. The album rocks out more than his recent solo output, and yet ventures somewhere new. I’ve got it spinning as I write this. If you prefer the more raucous Jack White, as well as an unlikely duet with Q-Tip, give it a listen. He also stopped in for a performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” earlier today in his hometown of Detroit.

4. Pink Floyd featuring Andriy Khlyvnyuk – “Hey Hey Rise Up” – If it felt weird to read that Pink Floyd has a new song out, it felt even weirder to write it. But this is for a cause, to raise funds for Ukraine. There’s a link on the YouTube clip below. While Pink Floyd these days means having two members from the legendary lineup, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, it’s still powerful to hear Gilmour’s guitar soaring through the vocals from Andrew Khlyvnyuk. The video is below, along with with the story here.

5. Wallice – “90’s American Superstar” – Speaking of Still Woozy, one act I’ve been keeping an eye over the last year is Wallice; she recently opened for Still Woozy on his last tour. She first caught my ear with her single “Hey Michael.” Here she is with her latest cut, “90’s American Superstar.” Give her song a listen below, and her page a follow on Instagram. As a bonus, follow the talented Nicole Busch, a rad photographer who provided the footage for the video, and took amazing pics of her tour.

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos of artists performing were taken by me. Here is a playlist of new music I have on rotation, along with a playlist of groove music (house/lounge/chill).