Grab your water bottle, some glow sticks, and one of those battery-operated personal misting fans, because Hackney-born Hollywood superstar Idris Elba is trading in his fedora and bespoke suits for a set of headphones, a turntable, and some breathable threads for his Coachella Music and Arts Festival debut.
Late Wednesday evening, Goldenvoice announced the lineup for this year's Coachella event, a celebration of music, art, and as many drugs as you can sneak through the event's lax security measures. This year's celebration of sights, sound, and psychedelics is set to be headlined by Childish Gambino (ATLANTA's Donald Glover), the Austrailian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala, and chart-topping songstress Ariana Grande. Other acts set to play under a blazing Indio, California sun are Janelle Monáe, Solange, Weezer, Aphex Twin, Bassnectar, Four Tet, Wiz Khalifa, Khalid, Bad Bunny, CHVRCHES, Blood Orange, among many, many others.
For those of you who are unaware of Elba's talents behind the tables, the FAST & FURIOUS presents: HOBBS & SHAW villain has been moonlighting as a DJ for years. In that time, he's played a wedding reception for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle prior to their royal nuptials. When asked about the illustrious event, Idris referred as a "beautiful experience." He then continued by saying, “I try not to talk too much about it, because it was a private day, but it remains one of the highlights of my life, for sure.”
Woof! Cochella lineups certainly have changed since I last attended the event in 2006 when both Tool and Depeche Mode headlined the festival. Highlights from that year were bands the likes of Daft Punk (who performed while inside a working, spinning UFO), Animal Collective, Deerhoof, Sigur Rós, Massive Attack, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, Mogwai, The Eagles of Death Metal, Coheed and Cambria, and Digable Planets. Madonna also played the festival, but she totally bombed her set. She was 45 minutes late, performed for roughly 25 minutes, then left the stage. It was a disaster.
While DJ sets are often hit and miss for me personally, I've heard tale that Elba knows how to work a room, and I'd jump at the chance to boogie down with him in a hot minute. Oh, and speaking of hot, if you plan to attend this year's festival, make sure that you stay hydrated. I'm not kidding. It's fucking HOT in the Indio desert, and the lines for the air-conditioned Corona tents are long AF. Make sure that you leave yourself enough time to walk between sets as well, as it can often take up to a half hour of navigating your way through an ocean of drug-addled hipsters just to make it to a neighboring stage.
Passes for Coachells 2019 go on sale this Friday at 11 am PT. If you're interested, make certain that you are on that shit, because those passes will sell out faster than you can say "I'm so relieved that Kanye West dropped out of this year's show."