Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones reportedly lined up for historic mega-concert
The festival could also mark a final appearance for The Who, whose members have hinted at imminent retirement.
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The most legendary names in rock music, including The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, are reportedly being lined up for a historic mega-festival.
The Los Angeles Times reported organisers of Coachella, the lucrative rock festival that opened on Friday, were making arrangements for the event to take place at the same venue in the California desert in October.
A representative from Coachella’s Los Angeles-based promoter GoldenVoice did not respond to a request for comment.
The newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported that the concert would include six of the biggest acts of their generation.
They included The Rolling Stones, former Beatle McCartney, Dylan, The Who, Neil Young and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame.
All of the artists, except the Stones’ 68-year-old guitarist Ronnie Wood, are in their 70s. The concert would mark the first time McCartney and Dylan, contemporaries who went in different musical directions, have played at the same venue, the report said.
It’s so special in so many ways, because you won’t get a chance to see a bill like this, perhaps ever again
But some of the show’s participants have performed together before, with Dylan and The Rolling Stones having shared bills in South America in 1998.
McCartney, Waters, The Who and Young have all previously appeared alongside each other over the years at large-scale benefit concerts or gigs.
The festival, which was also reported by Billboard magazine, would be in line to generate massive amounts of money. The Rolling Stones and Waters are behind the second and third highest-earning concert tours in history, trailing only U2.
Coachella, which takes place over two successive weekends every April, is known for seeking high-profile headliners. Guns N’ Roses were set to play yesterday evening, having reunited in their original form after more than two decades apart.
Before each year’s line-up announcement, rumours often circulate of an appearance by the Stones but they have never played Coachella – partly because of their massive fee.
McCartney and Waters have both played Coachella before.
The new festival could also mark a final appearance for The Who, whose members have hinted at imminent retirement.
The group was scheduled to end their tour next month, but have already added June dates to appear at festivals in Europe.
It could rank as the classic rock concert of the century, featuring six bands and performers who revolutionised popular music in the 1960s.
The newspaper reported representatives of the acts indicated plans were nearing completion.
Young’s manager, Elliot Roberts, told the paper: “It’s so special in so many ways, because you won’t get a chance to see a bill like this, perhaps ever again. It’s a show I look forward to more than any show in a long time.”
The plan is reportedly for Dylan and The Rolling Stones to play one after the other on October 7. Young and McCartney would play the next day, along with their touring bands.
Goldenvoice began in the early 1980s as a small-time grass-roots promoter of punk shows in small Los Angeles venues. Coachella festival has become the best-attended and highest-grossing music festival in the world with 594,000 in attendance last year.
Additional reporting Tribune News Service
