Destination: Palm Springs. The countdown to Coachella has officially begun but not without a few hiccups.
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The biggest music festival of the year is set to make its epic post-pandemic return starting next weekend! It’s CHELLAA Season. The biggest names in music including Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd are set to hit the stage next weekend. Two years later, are the vibes still top-tier?
ANSH TALIM: I heard that from previous concerts, quote unquote like the “vibes, were off” because like people who usually don’t go to these concerts, like I started to go now and they’re kind of not used to, I guess, concert etiquette of like not pushing and stuff like that. So maybe something will be off there. But other than that, I think everybody will still have a good time.
With less than two weeks notice, Sunday headliner Kanye West has backed out with no official statement as to why. Concertgoers such as freshmen Momo Messerschmidt are left with no explanation.
MOMO MESSERSCHMIDT: I just want to know why. Like what ticked him off so bad that he didn’t want to do it anymore? I want to know if something happened, like, behind the scenes.
Many like Senior Nicole Antounian wonder if West’s decision to leave the Coachella stage is related to the steady stream of jarring headlines about his personal life.
NICOLE ANTOUNIAN: You know, I’m like mixed because it’s it’s getting kind of hard to protect him. I feel like it’s like a full time job at this point. But I do understand, like he’s not really in like the mental, the right mental health area, if that makes sense. He’s not really, like he needs time to himself. He needs time out of the public sphere, I feel like to just spend time on himself and feel better for himself.
However, some Coachella attendees are not upset about Kanye dropping out at all. Business Administration student Ansh Talim is still optimistic and excited for his replacement, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia.
TALIM: So when I saw that this morning, I was actually pretty excited and when I saw that tickets were like 300 on like vivid seats. So that’s I’m honestly like part of the reason that I was considering going.
Starting April 15th, Coachella weekend one begins, and it is expected to bring in 250,000 attendees. With Kanye’s last minute drop we’ll see if that remains true.