LOS ANGELES — Desert Trip, the two-weekend classic rock festival that was self-mockingly referred to as “old-chella” by some of the performers onstage, will not be a regularly scheduled annual event, according to Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett, in an interview with Billboard magazine.
The 2016 festival, held on the same site as the Coachella festival in Indio, CA, but in the fall, on Oct. 7-9 and 14-16, 2016, included a assembly of 70-something rock legends — Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, The Who, Roger Waters and Neil Young.
The festival drew about 75,000 per weekend, and with tickets priced from $399 to $1,599, the gross take was close to $160 million, according to reports. Some had speculated that Desert Trip might return and feature a reunited Led Zeppelin in 2017.
Even without Desert Trip, Goldenvoice has a busy agenda in 2017. Following Coachella (April 14-16; April 22-30) and Stagecoach (April 28-30), the company will be involved with the Hangout Music Fest (Gulf Shores, AL, May 19-21), Eat Drink Vegan (Pasadena, CA, May 27), Splash House (Palm Springs, CA, June 9-11/Aug. 11-13), the Firefly Music Festival (Dover, DE, June 15-18) and the Arroyo Seco Weekend (Pasadena, CA, June 24-25).
Also on the 2017 calendar: an event tying in with the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, the Monterey International Pop Festival. It’s set for June 16-18 in Monterey, CA. And other big upcoming events include the FYF Fest (Los Angeles, July 22-23), Panorama (NYC, July 28-30), Tyler the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival (Los Angeles, Oct. 28-29) and Tenacious D’s Halloween-themed Festival Supreme (Los Angeles, Oct. 29), according to the Goldenvoice website, www.goldenvoice.com.
