Getty Image / Rich Fury
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has been the most popular annual music festival in this country for years but comedian/musician Reggie Watts wants people to know the cold hard truth about Coachella: it’s just “curated vibes for influencer culture.”
He’s not wrong and honestly, there is no way to argue that he is. Coachella’s appeal has always been built on the backs of celebrities and influencers receiving unprecedented access and experiences at Coachella. Meanwhile, the average attendee is stuck breathing in a dust storm for days.
Reggie Watts has been around for years. This was not his first rodeo. Nor his first Coachella. That featured image above is him performing at Coachella in 2017. Between Music and Comedy, TV and Film, Reggie Watts knows the music festival scene as well as anyone which makes his decision to take to Instagram and post the notes below all the more intriguing. The Comedy Bang! Bang! star’s Instagram post went viral in a hurry and here’s what he had to say:
In the first slide, Reggie Watts makes sure to mention that this was NOT his first time at Coachella. He’s been there “a handful of times now.” So these are not the thoughts of someone who had a one-off bad weekend and needed to vent. But he starts with pointing out how the “confusing and impersonal” aspects of Coachella begin at the door:
My first music festival was the very first Bonnaroo back in 2002. For the lack of a better phrase, it was a life-changing and transformative experience for me that set me down a lifelong path of following jam bands around the country.
“Just vibes curated for influencer culture” — Reggie Watts on Coachella”
The love at that 2002 Bonnaroo, artist’s appreciation for the fans, and fans love for the artists was palpable. Every single one of the tens of thousands of attendees could feel the love. Coachella? There’s no love and it is just “vibes curated for influencer culture.”
A Festival Full Of Trash
Every music festival deals with an unimaginable amount of waste… Human waste, food waste, littering, destruction of the grounds. It’s all part of the logistics when putting on a music festival but according to Reggie Watts the Coachella music festival is “especially grim.”
Reggie Watts On How To Fix Coachella
It is somewhat interesting that in his final slide, Reggie Watts’ suggestions on the ‘better ways to do’ Coachella are primarily focused on the artists. He says “that’s where the magic is” when referring to smaller, independent festivals that treat artists with more care.
Ultimately, Reggie Watts’ message about Coachella will fall on deaf ears for a huge percentage of people who attend Coachella because those people are, in fact, there for the curated influencer vibes. They don’t care about the music. It’s all about recording a 30-second video that can go viral on TikTok or Instagram.
Coachella still boasts some incredible musical performances every single year, across both weeks, but the reality is it’s more of an ‘influencer scene’ than an actual music festival. The music is secondary for so many people hoping to catch a glimpse of celebrities or chase clout. That’s sad.
Content shared from brobible.com.