As Coachella was breaking ground as America’s best music festival, one of the elements that made it a must-attend was its ability to reunite bands. Over the years, festival promoter Goldenvoice has shocked many fan bases by making what seemed impossible possible. Or, at a minimum, made Coachella the place to relaunch reunion tours. Though Coachella has become more of a bellwether of what’s hot now and what’s hot in the near future, classic reunions have fallen by the wayside. That said, here are some of the reunions we think are among the fest’s best.
2007 (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE)
By 2007, Rage Against the Machine had been dormant for seven years. At this time, the non-Zack de la Rocha members formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell and were very successful. Yet the allure of reuniting the band amid a troubling time for the U.S. felt right, and fans clamored for the band’s return. Thus, it should come as no surprise that when the reunited Rage took to the Coachella main stage to headline the festival’s final night, it was one of the biggest crowds in the festival’s history. Though it appeared to be a one-off event, the band added seven additional dates that year.
2004 (PIXIES)
In the early 2000s, Coachella was the hip indie festival. One of the first bites of the apple it took when it came to reuniting bands was enlisting indie rock pioneers Pixies. At the time, the band had been broken up for more than a decade, and it felt like the ship had sailed for a possible reunion. So when they reunited for Coachella, all eyes were on the Massachusetts band. Also, it’s important to note that this was one of the first major reunions at Coachella, and it didn’t disappoint. So much so that it was immortalized on a limited Record Store Day release of the set in 2022. The band has been together pretty much ever since.
2016 (LCD Soundsystem and Guns N’ Roses)
Two of the most unlikely reunions took place in 2016. First, there was New York dance-punk outfit LCD Soundsystem. In 2011, the James Murphy-led group called it quits after a triumphant hometown arena show at Madison Square Garden. When news of the reunion broke at the end of 2015, the band vehemently denied it until… it was true. The band’s headlining Friday night set put in motion a reunion that has been ongoing ever since.
Meanwhile, the Guns N’ Roses reunion was more surprising. Though Axl Rose had kept the band going since Slash and Duff McKagan’s mid 1990s departure, the group felt like a zombie version of its old self. It was only four years earlier, when GNR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that Rose wrote that a reunion would take place “not in this lifetime.” Thus, when they started teasing a return, it was both exciting and shocking. Even with three warm-up shows ahead of time, when Guns took the stage (with Axl Rose sitting on Dave Grohl’s throne due to a broken foot), fans couldn’t believe it was finally happening.
2012 (Refused, Mazzy Star, At the Drive-In)
Debatably, 2012 was the peak for Coachella. On top of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s performance that featured a number of longtime pals like Eminem, 50 Cent, and a 2Pac hologram, the festival was noted for its reunions. The combustible Texas band At the Drive-In shocked fans by reforming for Coachella, playing together for the first time in over a decade. As did Paisley Underground stars Mazzy Star and Swedish hardcore band Refused, who previously vowed to never reunite. For fans of these bands that hadn’t been together for years, Coachella was the perfect vehicle for these bands to get back in the spotlight.
The post 4 of Coachella’s Biggest Band Reunions Through the Years appeared first on VICE.
