The American music festival season kicks off in earnest this Friday in Southern California when the 2010 Coachella Music Festival begins. Along with Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, Coachella is considered to be among the biggest and best of such festivals that take place in the country.
The headliner on Friday night is Jay-Z, trying to show that hip-hop can work in a rock festival setting (If you'll recall, his appearance at Glastonbury in England in 2008 caused a mini-controversy, at least with one of the dudes in Oasis).
Along with other major headliners like Gorillaz, Muse and the return of 1990's indie rock stars Pavement, the festival will feature the vanguard of alternative bands, many who hit it big in 2009 will be performing, such as Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, MGMT, and Girls.
This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2010.