Gentleman and ladies, start your circling. Roughly 72 hours out from the beginning of weekend 1, the Coachella festival has released a full schedule for the Aug. 12-14 and 19-21 gatherings.
Billie Eilish, the musical meme and bestselling artist of the moment, plays at the Outdoor Theatre Saturday at 9:35. That’ll create a crush, so expect a lot of attendees to stake out a place in that field during Christine and the Queens’ preceding set, whether or not they’ve heard of the band. Her set falls between the cracks of the Weezer and Tame Impala shows over on the main stage.
Also off the main stage, K-pop phenomenon Blackpink have been booked into the massive and roomy Sahara Tent on Friday night at 8, five nights before they headline the Forum. Their competition on the main stage at that time is rock band the 1975, which probably counts as reasonable counterprogramming.
Rest assured that the fest has pretty much cleared out all competition for Ariana Grande’s closing headlining set Sunday night. She’ll only be up against a couple of acts in the dance tents… eliminating a rerun of the unfortunate conflict last year when X Japan made what was supposed to be a historic appearance, only to play to a near-empty tent when they were scheduled against Beyonce.
For anyone counting on catching Blackpink’s Times Square simulcast (for which we’ve been assured there will be audio, and not a silent big-screen appearance), their Friday night appearance at 8 means they’ll be on at 11 in the heart of Manhattan, just in time to regale unaware exiting theater-goers as well as what could be throngs of K-pop enthusiasts.
Performances begin at noon each day on small-ish stages and 2-3 hours after that on the main stage. As headliners go, Childish Gambino makes a truly late night of it beginning at 11:25 p.m. Friday, Tame Impala is at 10:35 Saturday and Grande performs at 10:30 Sunday.
Recent Variety cover subject Kacey Musgraves, winner of the album of the year Grammy, is playing at a perhaps unexpectedly early time — a pre-“Golden Hour” slot Friday at 5:50 — so drivers interested in this very zeitgeist-y performer are advised to time their departures accordingly.
Not everyone is going to have their minds completely on the music this weekend. Asked one commenter on Coachella’s Instagram page: “What stage is showing GoT?”
Find the full schedule for both weekends here.