Coachella Influencers Too Busy Influencing To Realize Big-Name Music Duo Was Playing Right In Front Of Them
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was first held in 1999, but has since evolved into something way bigger than what it was. Its origins traced back to a 1993 Pearl Jam concert at the Empire Polo Club while boycotting venues that were controlled by Ticketmaster.
They were fighting the good fight before Zach Bryan!
Anyway, the Pearl Jam concert validated the Polo Club’s ability to host large events, which led to the inaugural Coachella Festival. It was a one-day thing at first, grew to two days in 2002, added a third day in 2007 and then added a second weekend in 2012.
The lineup of 1999 looks very different than it does today.
Coachella 1999 vs. Coachella 2023
In addition to a significant change in the music, the culture has changed quite a bit as well. Although the festival today is still about the music, it has also become a very “seen and be seen” event.
All of the Instagram “influencers” converge on the Palm Springs area to make sure that everybody knows they are there. They spend hours doing their hair and makeup, months planning outfits, and countless hours taking photos to put on social media at the festival. It works for them and that's great!
Coachella today starts on Friday night and goes through Sunday, but a lot of the influencers arrive on Thursday to get a jump start on the content by the pool, with the palm trees, in the desert, or in front of the mountains. There are also a large amount of sponsored events during the day before the festival gets underway at night.
Coachella has changed a lot.
One particular function, the Celsius Oasis Vibe Party, led to a hilarious example of "influencer culture" in today's society, and at Coachella. Bianca Catalina provided an inside look after joining her friend at the party.
While there, Louis The Child was on the ones and twos. The electronic music duo is amongst the most popular names in EDM music with nearly four million monthly listeners on Spotify. They even have a few Platinum songs.
Based on the crowd at the Celsius party, you would have no idea.
There were loads of influencers here and all of them were taking content instead of actually watching the iconic live performances happening lol
Nobody was there.
It was empty.
Louis The Child didn’t play at Coachella this year but their set last year compared to the corporate Celsius event looked… very different!
What a diffefence between the two!
Private events am I right?
At the end of the day, Louis The Child got a big check from Celsius and had a blast. Could be worse!
The influencer effect is real.
This corporate Coachella event is a reflection of not just what a large part of the festival has become today, but a bigger reflection on society. Sometimes, instead of looking down at our phones or focusing on our appearance and how our social media reflects a false reality of our day-to-day life to strangers and friends online, it would serve us better to look up at what's right in front of us!
Thousands upon thousands of people were thrilled to experience the dance party and musicality that is Louis The Child at Coachella in 2022. Some of them only got a glimpse at the screen from a distance.
Those who were in attendance at the Celsius event a year later could have enjoyed that same concert experience on a far more intimate level, but didn't even have the wherewithal to realize what was taking place. They were worried more about their content. Such a miss for the influencers!
(Side note: I had the pleasure of jamming out to LTC before they were as big as they are today in my own backyard, and it led to one of my favorite pictures of the single-camera lens iPhone era. I am no influencer, but I'd be remiss not to take the opportunity to flex my photography. Give ya boi a follow!)