Coachella Fest Lineup Has Been Released…Are You Excited? I Am…Sort of.

I have been to every Coachella Fest since 2003 and this year's lineup has just been released this morning. And to be honest, I am not that impressed Coachella.

The first year I went to Coachella I got to see the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers rock the stage. The next year? Radiohead and The Cure soothed my soul on the grassy knoll.  Every year there have been amazing headliners like Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Coldplay, Tool, Depeche Mode, Bjork, Rage Against the Machine, Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Jack Johnson, Paul McCartney, The Killers, The Cure, Jay-Z, Muse, Gorillaz, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, and Kanye West. I didn't go last year due to my lack of finances and annoyance at the concert the previous year.

I started going to this concert to enjoy being around my friends since I grew up in the Coachella Valley. Its the only concert where I can get blacked out drunk and someone I know will find me and take me where I am supposed to be.This concert is my home.

The past few years I've gone, I've seen my hometown festival concert go from a hidden hipster secret to a huge Disneyland. I basically go through a cavity search every time and have to wait in huge lines to do every from get a burger, grab a beer, to take a pee. This is why I usually pop a squat behind the porter potties. Security doesn't mind, they usually keep watch for me. Not to mention I tried camping, which led to me calling my best friend Sarianne in tears to come pick me up. She did, and even took me home, washed my clothes and made me dinner. Then, I went back after the sun went down.

But this year the lineup is different. Instead of the huge names we all assumed like The Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath, Kevin Lyman went the indie route. My hope is that this will deter the huge amount of celebrities and wannabes from polluting the beautiful polo grounds I have the honor of calling home.

Am I upset at the lineup? I can't help but be a little bit butt hurt. I wanted to see some huge names come and blow away last year. Who knows? Maybe a hologram of Jimi Hendrix will show up with Janis Joplin and they can smoke weed with JFK and he'll tell us who really shot him. But I think that may be a fantasy of mine.

I still want to go to Coachella Fest this year though. Not because I want to buy a Coachella shirt and Instagram all the bands I've never heard of playing, but because this is what we do. My hometown friends, and a lot of my new friends here in El Paso. There is a huge Coachella following out here and the people that I have met are true Coachella fans. They enjoy it in the way you should. For the music.

Every year we get older but the true Coachella fans meet under the purple mountains of the valley to enjoy each other's company every single time. It's the experience of Coachella we go for. To be able to pass out from dehydration and wake up in someone's arms who is pouring water into my mouth, while asking me how many drugs I'm on. That's the family atmosphere I love and miss about it.

So I will see you this year Coachella fans and we can eat a funnel cake and ride the ferris wheel together. Lets just hope its not as crowded and we can lay down in peace to enjoy some good music. Like it used to be.

Here is a few photos of my favorite friends to spend my Coachella weekend with. I'll see you all in the beer garden this year.