THE CURE, MCCARTNEY, MORRISSEY, WINEHOUSE LEAD COACHELLA

Robert Smith of The Cure shares his thoughts on the significance of headlinging Coachella Music and Arts Festival in 2009

After weeks of delay and an overflow of rumor and speculation, Goldenvoice finally announced the long awaited lineup for 2009’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival and this year’s version features a heavy British influence. With headliners Paul McCartney and The Cure being joined by Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, My Bloody Valentine and Amy Winehouse, British Pop will be a major influence on the weekend which also features Saturday headliner The Killers, who sound like they’re from the U.K., even though they formed in Las Vegas. Former Beatle Paul McCartney’s 2009 Coachella performance will be his first ever U.S. Festival appearance and he was quoted as saying “I have heard that Coachella is one of the greatest festivals in the world. I’m really excited to get out there and rock!”

Artisan News caught up with Robert Smith of The Cure, who has performed at Coachella multiple times, to get his thoughts on why Coachella is so significant.

“It reminds us of what we’re doing it for really. You’re in a group to play music to people, that’s the whole point. Nothing else is really that important. So Coachella has actually taken on a lot of significance really. There’s been this kind of slow build towards it and we’ve all become really aware of it. So for us I expect we’re going to be quite nervous actually on Sunday.”

Robert Smith also talked about the bands approach to playing festivals and why it doesn’t matter who is playing as long as it’s good.

“I mean we approach festivals in a different way. I mean we’ve done a lot of them over the years and we’ve always kind of gone into them with a different mindset. It’s much more about winning people over than entertaining the crowd and actually being a back drop to the event. I always feel that bands at festivals never realize how unimportant they are. People go to festivals, especially something like Coachella for the thing, you know. It’s like what goes on there. Who cares who’s playing as long as it’s reasonably good.”

Also set to perform at Coachella in 2009, which will take place at The Empire Polo Field from April 17th-19th, will be Public Enemy, Lupe Fiasco, Henry Rollins, Mastadon, Silversun Pickups, Ghostland Observatory, Conor Oberst, The Hold Steady, Leonard Cohen, Thievery Corporation, Fleet Foxes, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Dr. Dog, Paolo Nutini and T.V. on the Radio. Just a few performances that should definitely be mentioned will be sets from Patton and Rahzel, which features former Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton and a very special appearance by TRV$DJ-AM which will be the first festival performance by Travis Barker and DJ AM since their tragic plane crash in 2008.