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Review: At Desert Trip, Rocking Beyond the Hits With a Vengeance

By Jon Pareles

• Oct. 10, 2016

INDIO, Calif. — The past loomed, long and weighty, over Desert Trip , a three-night festival here with a lineup of baby boomers’ rock heroes. It was simply two sets a night: the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan on Friday, Paul McCartney and Neil Young on Saturday and Roger Waters and the Who on Sunday. That lineup is to be repeated Friday through Sunday and perhaps never again.

The musicians are among the last of a very limited breed. They all got their start in the 1960s, delivered songs that became cultural touchstones, have kept recording into this century and can fill arenas on tour. (They are also all white men; was Aretha Franklin invited?)

Yet the headliners were performing live music, which takes place in the present tense, and they played as if they still have something to prove: not just longevity but a die-hard rock spirit. Although they are in their 70s, they have stayed on the job, fighting physical limitations and the temptations of routine — and at Desert Trip, they are still battling. All of them delved beyond their surefire hits, digging out songs that deserved another airing or, as Mr. Young did, performing a handful of new ones. And none took their songs, no matter how popular, for granted.

Facing a crowd of about 70,000 people (not to mention the other acts on the lineup), they shrugged off the jokey label immediately attached to the festival — “ Oldchella” — and placed their music in the here and now. During the Rolling Stones’ set, Mick Jagger teased that the festival was a “retirement home” for the musicians. Actually, they were still testing themselves in real time, on a stage where every lapse — and inevitably there were a few sour vocals and slapdash guitars — would be very public.

The chance to see all six acts in one weekend brought out tens of thousands of gray-haired fans who haven’t had a major rock festival tailored to them before, along with a younger contingent whose members weren’t all dragged along by their parents. The promoter behind the Coachella Festival, which is held on the same site and is geared to musicians and fans who are decades younger, catered to the mature crowd with a superb but not overbearing sound system — including surround-sound effects for Mr. Waters — along with a lot of reserved (and padded) seating, upscale food and wine, and other comforts.

The songs were almost entirely familiar, but they didn’t aspire to mere comfort. When the headliners first made their mark decades ago, they were heard as disruptive, forever changing the ways listeners would respond to sounds — distorted guitars, untrained voices — and to lyrics that might be startlingly blunt or downright inexplicable. Even the genial Mr. McCartney, in and out of the Beatles, had aggressive songs like “Helter Skelter” and “Live and Let Die,” both part of his far-ranging set on Saturday.

But the headliners’ hits have been played on the radio for decades and mined for musical ideas by countless successors. Their songs are also ingrained in a generation’s nostalgia for both its own youth and for the aesthetics of analog-era rock. To work right, they need at least a little shaking up.

For Mr. Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Mr. Young and the Who, that meant spiking their songs with improvisation. Mr. Dylan has always restlessly rearranged his songs, toying with lyrics and leaving only a few of his recordings’ musical landmarks intact. On Friday night, he recast and zeroed in on some of his most caustic and merciless songs — among them “Masters of War” from 1963, “Ballad of a Thin Man” from 1965 and “Pay in Blood” from 2012 — and sang them with deep cunning and venom coming through his much-weathered voice.

Mr. Young has expansive psychedelic jamming in his DNA — his set included a 22-minute “Down by the River” — while the Stones and the Who are built around guitarists who constantly claw at their songs from within. Keith Richards and Ron Wood, the Stones’ guitarists, played nonstop games of syncopation and suspense amid the band’s well-known riffs, while Mr. Jagger raced all over the stage without missing a note. Pete Townshend of the Who set off countless controlled detonations in his songs — trilling, jabbing rapidly, bending notes, scraping his strings, flinging and windmilling a dozen kinds of power chords — while Roger Daltrey swung his microphone on its cord and flaunted his lung power.

Although he reveled in the stuttering that has always been part of “My Generation,” Mr. Daltrey took care to enunciate one line quite clearly for the Oldchella audience: “Hope I die before I get old.”

For Mr. Waters and Mr. McCartney, whose music is more meticulously controlled, executing old songs anew meant updated spectacle and significance. Mr. Waters did a full set of material from his former band, Pink Floyd, often playing groups of songs to revisit the way the band’s concept albums inexorably build. He has a rare ability to make slow songs majestic rather than tedious; his rock dirges can open like chasms underfoot, accompanied onstage (as they have been through the years) by up-to-the-minute video technology. Mr. Waters placed opposition to Donald J. Trump at the core of his set, showing images of the candidate (in, among other things, a Ku Klux Klan hood) on video and on a flying inflatable pig during the bluesy, condemnatory “Pigs (Three Different Ones).”

The election was on other performers’ minds, too. With British understatement, Mr. Townshend said a weary, wary, “Good luck with your election,” while Mr. Young mockingly suggested his “Welfare Mothers” for a Trump campaign song. Most of Mr. Young’s set — performed on a stage that held tepees and a cigar-store Indian — was devoted to songs with environmental concerns, warning about polluting the earth and exhausting natural resources; it was also a showcase for his current band, Promise of the Real, which can handle both loud, impetuous jamming and folksy ballads.

Desert Trip tacitly raised the question of what keeps a musician in broad demand for a half-century. Skill and longtime productivity are part of the answer; all the headliners have gigantic catalogs, holding far more good songs than they could cram into any one set. Another requirement may well be a combative attitude, a streak of hardheaded resistance.

Mr. McCartney was the exception, radiating aw-shucks kindliness and preaching heartfelt peace and love in many of his songs. Perhaps his musical gifts — his innumerable melodies, his harmonic convolutions, his endearing voice — are so prodigious that they overwhelm any skepticism. But his affability was outnumbered 5 to 1: by the Rolling Stones’ raunch and cynical sass, by Mr. Dylan’s dire visions, by the Who’s fury and self-inquisition, by Mr. Young’s pragmatic bluntness and by Mr. Waters’s sullen, broad-spectrum opposition to authority. The skills of an entertainer may be good for a hit or for a streak of them. But for lifelong companionship, listeners choose songwriters who help them keep up the fight.

Desert Trip continues Friday through Sunday in Indio, Calif.; deserttrip­.com.

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Desert Trip 2016: Paul McCartney, Neil Young perform

Editor at Large for Entertainment Weekly, host of Outlander Live! on EW Radio, and Mark Harmon enthusiast. Yes, I know the guacamole is extra.

Paul McCartney needed a moment.

After firing up the audience in Indio, California Saturday with “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Can’t Buy Me Love,” the rock legend stopped the music to take a look around the colossal stadium that is home to Desert Trip. “This is cool to be here, right?” the 74-year-old giant asked. “I’m going to take a moment here to drink this all in for myself.”

Less than 24 hours after Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones served up the weekend’s first and second course on the grounds where Coachella also takes place each spring, McCartney followed with a spectacular entrée — a two-hour-plus rock fest that was part sing-along and part Beatles music history lesson.

“We are going to have a party here tonight, Liverpool-style,” McCartney said before taking it old school with “In Spite of All the Danger,” “Back in the USSR,” “Day Tripper,” “Eleanor Rigby,” and “Hey Jude.”

Along the way, McCartney introduced his songs with engaging Beatles lore — like how the Civil Rights era inspired “Blackbird,” how he penned solo song “Here Today” after John Lennon’s death in 1980, and what George Martin contributed to the making of “Love Me Do.”

Even as he rollicked through the standards, McCartney called out the boomers for their (no doubt annoying) predictability. “We know what you like because [the oldies] light up your phones,” he quipped. “And when we play one you don’t know it’s like a black hole. So here’s one.” That’s when he performed his 2013 single “Queenie Eye” — and naturally, the place went dark. But the phones lit up again with classics like “Lady Madonna,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” and “Live and Let Die.” It was a terrific show.

Of course, it helps to have a good warm-up guy: Neil Young kicked off the evening with a gorgeous solo performance, purring through “After the Gold Rush,” “Heart of Gold,” and “Mother Earth” before the band joined him onstage. When he wasn’t playing his upright piano or pumping the organ, the 70-year-old free spirit seemed to dig engaging the crowd. “[We] really appreciate the fans,” Young said before getting a little self-effacing about his musical prowess. “Now you all know I can’t tune [a guitar],” he said. “It kind of got in my way for a few years. How does that sound on your young ears?”

The banter didn’t stop there. The singer/environmentalist — whose casual concert attire included a T-shirt that said “Water is Life” — also took a few swipes at the Republican presidential nominee, joking that “Welfare Mothers” was Donald Trump’s new campaign song. Even though he admitted going over his allotted performance time (due in no small part to his explosive and very extended version of “Down by the River”), no one wanted him to leave the stage. That’s why it was a welcome treat when McCartney invited him back to perform “A Day in the Life” and “Give Peace a Chance.”

Desert Trip wraps up its first weekend Sunday with performances by Roger Waters and The Who. Tickets are still available for Oct. 14-16, when the lineup is repeated.

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Desert Trip: 'Oldchella' proves the power of nostalgia is no mirage

The newest festival on the block features rock grandees – think the Stones and Neil Young – alongside luxury camping. But is it more than a blast from the past?

O ver the next two weekends, more than 150,000 fans of classic rock, glamping, and celebrity chefs will arrive in the Coachella Valley for the Desert Trip festival . Only two acts are slated for each of the three nights of Desert Trip, but they present a highlight reel of 20th century rock’n’roll powerhouses: the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Neil Young, Roger Waters and the Who.

The event is Coachella promoter Goldenvoice’s shrewdly planned and profitably made case for offering the ‘Chella experience to a boomer audience. With Goldenvoice’s success – Coachella made $254.4m profit in 2014 – stoking the rise of the 21st century festival phenomenon among young people , why couldn’t it do the same for the generation that coined the format with Woodstock and Monterey Pop?

As the newest addition to Goldenvoice’s roster, Desert Trip is slated to become the granddaddy of them all. If not for its accomplishment in booking a lineup composed of rock’s biggest acts, or for its swift victory in selling out the first weekend in three hours , demonstrating its captive audience, then more literally as a role posed by its tongue-and-cheek nickname – Oldchella. The assumption that classic acts will lure senior fans has proved correct; Goldenvoice is smartly acknowledging the opportunity to tap into golden-years experience seekers with disposable income.

Promotional video spots posted on Desert Trip’s website feature scenes of mature, mostly white couples demonstrating the varieties of entertainment that can be arranged around the entire Desert Trip adventure. You can camp in the lakeside tepees and take a yoga class in the morning, or you can stay at a nearby Palm Springs golf resort and soak up some pool time before you take one of the free charter bus shuttles to the show .

All the sentimentality embedded in the marketing materials suggest that memories can begin even before the attendees arrive and for boomer fans who saw the Stones or Neil Young or the Who at festivals as young adults, this could feel like a reunion with their youth. The aestheticized nostalgia that inflates meaning into young Coachella-goers’ festival experiences, that longing for the sense of a cultural moment that rock festivals gave people like their parents, gets all lassoed up into a very profitable group hug as Desert Trip now reinvents the format.

On-site amenities offer an appealing array of comforts that aim to make a concertgoer’s Desert Trip feel carefree and uncomplicated. Some add-ons to the basic ticket purchase include $500-per-weekend “culinary experiences” featuring notable chefs, a $600 limousine pass for those off-site, and $900 RV camping packages. If you decide to camp at any level, you wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting a toothbrush in the desert when there are free shuttle rides to the grocery store, and you don’t have to stress about missing your fitness plan or salon appointment with pilates classes and a “Beauty Bar” on site. A farmers market is open in the morning, and the arts and crafts tent shoulders up next to a vintage arcade. All things considered, the Desert Trip schedule looks much more like an all-inclusive vacation package for affluent adults, that just so happens to feature live music at night.

Goldenvoice’s capability as a production powerhouse to book some of the world’s biggest – and expensive – talent points to the large market of dedicated rock’n’roll fans who are willing to shell out for their heroes. This might be the only chance to ever see a line-up like this – a bittersweet awareness shared between the producers eager to do something monumental, and the attendees hoping to witness it.

Desert Trip’s success this far has been to sell an experience where nostalgia can be celebrated without cynicism, that’s not at odds for a grown-up desire to spend more for high-quality upgrades and experiences that will mean something to them. It’s easy to take a shot at the inherent irony of the aging rock fan or expired hippie archetypes after perusing a list of the abundant conveniences, or to snark at the premium price tag after viewing promotional videos which mimic Cialis commercials shot at perpetual sunset. But at the end of the day, it’s all done an extremely effective job at upselling festival-goers to premium add-ons, and to create genuine excitement around a truly exciting event for the enduring fans of rock’n’roll.

Festivals, beyond just being musical events, want to be a space for its attendees to craft their own things-to-tell-our-grandchildren-style memories. For many, Desert Trip is the kind of expenditure that retirement fund commercials allude to as that pot of gold at the end of the 401k rainbow to save for. In any case, for the boomers in the audience hoping to create new memories with their old favorite bands, those stories they can’t wait to tell their grandchildren may not be hypothetical or even have to wait; it might just be one phone call, not decades, away.

• Desert Trip starts on Friday 7 October
• Desert Trip festival
• The Rolling Stones
• Paul McCartney
• Roger Waters

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Desert Trip: How Classic Rock Mega-Fest Proved Doubters Wrong

By David Fricke

David Fricke

It was inevitable. Mick Jagger, who coined the phrase “Coachella for old people” last spring to describe Desert Trip, cracked the first jokes about aging rock stars from the stage, during the Rolling Stones ‘ opening-night set on October 7th. The singer dubbed the festival – featuring six of rock’s biggest still-working legends of the Sixties and Seventies – “the Palm Springs retirement home for genteel English musicians.” Then Jagger asked if anyone remembered “the late Eighties” before the Stones jumped into “Mixed Emotions” from 1989’s Steel Wheels .

The Stones were also the first act at Desert Trip to fire up new material. They played “Ride ‘Em on Down,” a Jimmy Reed cover from their forthcoming album, Blue and Lonesome , and debuted an unexpected romp through the Beatles’ “Come Together” that sounded like the Stones had written it instead for 1969’s Let It Bleed . The next night, with his rowdy, young band Promise of the Real, Neil Young mixed crowd-pleasers like “Heart of Gold” and the 22-minute guitar bonfire “Down by the River” with unreleased grenades such as “Terrorist Suicide Hang Gliders.” Also on October 8th, Paul McCartney scored a first when the ex-Beatle jammed with Young on “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” from 1968’s The Beatles , a song McCartney had never before played live.

And right after the second presidential debate on October 9th, former Pink Floyd singer-bassist Roger Waters closed Desert Trip’s inaugural weekend with the U.S. debut of a politically charged visual spectacle of all-Floyd songs that peaked with an explicit hammering of Republican candidate Donald Trump in “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” from 1977’s Animals – across a gargantuan recreation of that LP’s cover image, London’s Battersea Power Station, complete with working chimneys. “We put it together in the last four months,” Waters revealed proudly in his backstage trailer two days before the show. “The professional comes out in you: ‘What if we build Battersea Power Station – in the middle of the desert? How fucking cool would that be?’ And we’ve done it.”

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For all of the judgmental buzz leading up to Desert Trip – mainly about the nostalgic weight of the bill, which also featured Bob Dylan and the Who , and its unprecedented financial scale with three-day tickets as high as $1,599 and a projected gross of $160 million across two weekends – the festival was a celebration of enduring songwriting and vintage zeal in performance: an affirmation of the restless, often competitive edge that produced this generation of rock stars, in rock’s most revolutionary decade. The Who ran through virtually the same set they have taken around the world since 2014 but with virile, renewing force even in the most familiar moments: Roger Daltrey’s epic howls in “Love Reign O’er Me” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”; the instrumental rush of guitarist Pete Townshend and drummer Zak Starkey in the Tommy medley. After watching the Stones pull out their Beatles cover, McCartney returned the favor in his encore, playing the former’s first Top 20 hit in the U.K., “I Wanna Be Your Man” – not before pointing out that he and John Lennon wrote it and gave it to the Stones. 

Dylan was predictably confounding in his kickoff set at sundown on October 7th. He started with a handful of classics – “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35,” “Highway 61 Revisited” – but soon veered into a roundabout tour of his history: going from the Nineties ballad “Make You Feel My Love” to the recent crusty noir of “Pay in Blood,” then turning back to 1965 with a turbulent, electric “Desolation Row.” For most of his set, the crowd could not see Dylan on the giant video screens, just old newsreel footage; the singer reportedly ordered the stage cameras shut off after a few songs because he didn’t like what he saw in the monitors.

Still, backstage the next day, producer Don Was declared it “one of the best Bob Dylan shows I’d ever seen. He didn’t throw a single line away. And the band was crackerjack.” The groove “created a continuity over decades,” Was told Sirius XM, even though the songs weren’t “necessarily linked other than that they come out of Bob’s point of view.” Was, who worked on the Stones’ new album, also mentioned that he saw the band before they took the stage. “They were very relaxed,” Was said. “They played for fun.” But even he was taken aback by that Beatles cover. “I think it was a lark at rehearsal.”

Desert Trip: See Photos of Historic Classic Rock Summit

Desert Trip itself was a more intricate undertaking – and a genuinely unique summit meeting. Of the six acts, only the Who appeared at rock’s first two landmark festivals, Monterey Pop in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969. (Young was at Woodstock with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young but refused to appear in the movie.) In his trailer, Waters recalled that Paul Tollett, president of Coachella promoter Goldenvoice, first approached him last November. “He said, ‘If I could put together a weekend with you, Neil, Dylan, the Stones, Macca and the Who, would you do it?’ He wanted an agreement – not a contract but a letter in principle.” Waters believed that “everyone said yes in principle” early on but that it was harder “getting people to sign contracts.” The average payday for each of the six acts is an estimated $5 million apiece, nearly half of Desert Trip’s total production costs of $100 million. 

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Despite the mocking hype about the performers’ average age, 72, and the more than 1,000 flushing toilets accommodating those ticket buyers not that far behind, Desert Trip was a refreshingly egalitarian experience, based on tours around the grounds. While the best reserved seats on the ground and in the grandstands were padded with cupholders, the audience in the standing-only pit was closest to the stage and skewed much younger. The Desert Trip Culinary Experience was an upper-crust dining facility with an air-conditioned lounge and artisanal desserts. But general admission tickets, at $199 a day, included access to a wide array of chow and drinks (from burgers and craft beers to vegan and Chivas Regal) as well as a extensive rock-photography exhibition. A pop-up vinyl shop operated by the Glass House, an independent music venue in Pomona, California, sold used LPs for as little as $3.00 and 45s at a buck apiece.

Speculation is already running high about the artists that might play Desert Trip 2. Goldenvoice has not publicly confirmed an event for 2017, but names that came up most often during conversations in the crowd were Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Fleetwood Mac. Meanwhile, for the acts at this year’s Trip, it’s business as usual after the second weekend. Dylan is on the road through late November, and the Who have dates booked into next spring. The Stones release their new blues album in a few weeks; Young has an acoustic record coming in December; McCartney is working on new music; and Waters is making his first solo, studio album since 1992 with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

Ultimately, Waters said, Desert Trip was “always somebody with a guitar singing something really heartfelt. When it went on sale, nobody knew how it was going to go. It was a crazy idea. But I’m glad I’m here.”

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Desert Trip 2016: The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney & More Performances

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards at Desert…

By Billboard Staff

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Mick Jagger & Keith Richards at Desert Trip

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Paul McCartney at Desert Trip

Paul McCartney performs onstage during Desert Trip at The Empire Polo Club on Oct. 8, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Desert Trip 2016

Paul McCartney and Neil Young perform onstage during Desert Trip at The Empire Polo Club on Oct. 8, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Roger Daltrey at Desert Trip

Roger Daltrey of The Who performs at Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 9, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Roger Waters

Roger Waters performs at Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 9, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Roger Waters performs during Desert Trip at The Empire Polo Club on Oct. 9, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Paul McCartney & Neil Young

Neil Young performs onstage during Desert Trip at The Empire Polo Club on Oct. 8, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger performs onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones perform onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Paul McCartney & Neil Young at Desert Trip

Keith Richards

Keith Richards performs onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Music fans arrive for the Desert Trip Music Festival in Indio, Calif. on Oct. 7, 2016.

Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards & Charlie Watts

Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones perform onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Ronnie Wood

Ronnie Wood performs onstage during Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Field on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indio, Calif.

Desert Trip Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2016 in Indo, Calif.

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Desert Trip festival 2016 guide

Find out everything you need to know about Desert Trip, the Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones music festival

Though the days of the Beatles vs. the Stones are long behind us, Coachella organizer Goldenvoice's newest music festival is straight out of the late '60s. Desert Trip will put the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, the Who and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters together in one festival. Expect Stagecoach -style seating, Coachella-priced tickets and "an evening with" set times.

What are the Desert Trip dates?

The inaugural Desert Trip fest will be held October 7-9 and 14-16, 2016 . Just like Coachella, the festival will feature two identical weekends.

When do tickets go on sale?

Passes go on sale Monday, May 9, at 10am  on the Desert Trip website .

How much do tickets cost?

A single day general admission ticket costs $199, while a three-day pass is $399 . The festival will also have reserved seating; reserved three-day floor tickets start at $699, with grandstand seats for $999. And if you want to be face-to-face with Bob Dylan's mug? Standing pit tickets cost $1,599. Instead of traditional VIP tickets, the highest priced passes will come with access to a "Platinum Lounge." For car camping, tent camping and Outstanding in the Field prices, check the Desert Trip site.

So how will the lineup work?

The single-stage fest will only feature the six headlining acts, with no openers. Here's the lineup: 

Friday: The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan Saturday: Paul McCartney, Neil Young Sunday: Roger Waters, the Who

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From The Vault: Desert Trip rocked the desert in 2016

Editor's note: As part of our new From The Vault series, this week we look back three years to two epic weekends filled with plenty of nostalgia, phenomenal music and history-making performances ... Desert Trip.

                                                               ***

It was arguably the greatest assemblages of classic rock artists at a single venue in the history of the genre.

For two October weekends in 2016, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who — literal legends responsible for the songs that have made up the soundtracks of so many lives — took to the stage on a polo field in Indio and made the Coachella Valley the temporary center of the rock 'n' roll universe.

Few could have imagined it would ever happen and after it did, few could imagine it would ever happen again.

A newly created Goldenvoice music festival, it was called Desert Trip.

Goldenvoice's concept was simple: take six of the greatest acts of classic rock from the 1960s — artists who were now all in their 70s —  and bring them together for a three-day, weekend festival.

Each day would feature two of the artists — an opener and a closer. Demand for tickets was so high a second weekend was quickly added.

The schedule at the Empire Polo Club went like this:

Oct. 7 and 16, the Fridays, Bob Dylan opened for the Rolling Stones.

Oct. 8 and 17, the Saturdays, Neil Young opened for Paul McCartney .

And, Oct. 9 and 18, the Sundays, The Who opened for Roger Waters.

In addition to the music, there was food, a giant Ferris wheel, a massive merchandise tent and an indoor photo exhibit for the 80,000 fans who attended each day.

Despite all of that, though, Desert Trip was mostly about the music and the memories of good times gone by that it evoked.

Due to the sheer size of the crowds, Goldenvoice set up giant video screens which made it possible for everyone to get a good look at the performers. And fans of all ages saw and heard for themselves that these artists could, indeed, still rock.

Because of its performers' ages, stature and the number of acts involved, Desert Trip was obviously different from Goldenvoice's other successful desert music events, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival.

Still, in many ways, the festivals were very much alike.

People came from across the country and from around the world  for the two Desert Trip weekends . Dressed in colorful, even outrageous outfits, they sang and reveled in the familiar rock anthems and enjoyed the community of others from different generations who were equally as enthralled.

There was speculation at the time that Desert Trip would become a yearly or biennial occurrence. Like the Coachella or Stagecoach festivals, it would be held at a set time of year at the same venue.

Unfortunately, though, as each year passes, the hope for a second Desert Trip festival wanes. Even Goldenvoice President Paul Tollett  has said it could never truly happen again.

So, if you were lucky enough to attend this one-shot musical happening, here's hoping you relived some amazing memories — and made some new ones.

Desert Trip is now a memory — one that may, perhaps, become as precious as the music itself.

South OC Beaches

Dana Point, Laguna Beach, San Clemente: Events, Pictures, News

Desert Trip 2016 Guide: Tickets, Lineup, Getting There and Lodging

Desert Trip Weekend One is October 7, 8 and 9 2016 and Weekend Two October 14, 15, 16 2016.

Both Desert Trip Weekends Features: Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters, The Who.

South OC Beaches has all the info to help you navigate your Desert Trip Music Festival Weekend!

Desert Trip 2016 Lineup

Desert Trip 2016 Fine Print

All ages are welcome.

Show will take place rain or shine.

Lineup is subject to change.

Venue will open at 2:00pm each day.

Wristband activation will be required for entrance into the venue.

You can Activate Your Wristband Online at Desert Trip

Everyone must have a show wristband for access to the venue, parking lots and camping areas.

If you purchase a 3-day pass, you will be issued a single wristband that is valid for all show days.

Wristbands are void when tampered with or removed.

Desert Trip Packing Do’s and Don’ts

Desert Trip Onsite Locker Rental Online Reservations

GETTING YOUR ORDER

Orders unable to be delivered for any reason whatsoever (e.g. lost, stolen, wrong address, returned to sender) will be required to be picked up at will call.

Photo ID and credit card used for purchase are required for any will call pick up.

International orders can be shipped for an additional $25 fee or held at will call.

The box office is located offsite at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden . (This box office is a estimated 15 minute drive from the venue.) The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is located at 78200 Miles Avenue in Indian Wells California.

Box Office/Will call hours for each weekend: Wednesday 1pm – 8pm Thursday 9am – 12am Friday 9am – 11pm Saturday 9am – 9pm Sunday 9am – 7pm

Desert Trip Sustainability Transportation Options

Desert Trip is located at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Grounds at The Empire Polo Club at 81-800 Avenue 51 in Indio California

Desert Trip Parking will open at 12:00pm

Book Your Desert Trip Shuttle Online

Anyline Anytime Shuttle Pass $25.00

LAX Airport Shuttle $50.00*

VIP Parking $150.00*

Camping Companion Parking $50.00*

* indicates plus fees

Desert Trip Culinary Options

Concert-goers will experience exceptional food, wine and craft beer from the best restaurants, chefs, mixologist and world-renowned winemakers.

Desert Trip 2016 Lodging

Desert Trip 2016 Camping Passes

Desert Trip Hotel Options

Desert Trip Information Sites

For up to date information please visit Desert Trip Facebook Page .

Bob Dylan Official Site

The Rolling Stones Official Site

Paul McCartney Official Site

Neil Young Official Site

Roger Waters Official Site

The Who Official Site

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11 thoughts on “ Desert Trip 2016 Guide: Tickets, Lineup, Getting There and Lodging ”

We are travelling from Australia and have bought our 4 tickets from viagogo. What is the “go” with shipment of our tickets as time is of the essence now ? Thanks in advance Tricia Taylor

If you have questions regarding your tickets you can go to Desert Trip online site at https://support.festivalticketing.com/hc/en-us You can also call 855.414.6340 9:00am to 5:00pm (MST). Best Wishes on your trip! Thank You for reading SouthOCBeaches.com

Where will the entrance and exit gates for Desert Trip be located?

It appears that the Drop Off is on Avenue 52 near Madison. There is a walking path that leads to the entrance. The Entrance is in between Avenue 50 and Avenue 51. I have just added a map of the Polo Grounds that details entrances and parking. Thanks for reading SouthOCBeaches.com

your link to transportation is a dead link http://deserttrip.com/getting-here/

So sorry about the bad link. Desert Trip changed all of their links. I reviewed all of the links for this post and they have all been updated. Thank You for Reading SouthOCBeaches.com!

Where can I get a copy of your map detailing the pick up and drop off locations. We are coming in on the VIP side.

Dear Bob, You can go to The Desert Trip Site . Just follow the link that i just gave you. Desert Trip attendees getting dropped off and picked up by friends and family should meet them at the entrance to Lot #13. It appears that the drop off point for all is the same. VIP’s do have their own parking. Best Wishes for you to have a great time at Desert Trip 2016. Thanks for reading SouthOCBeaches.com!

I’m driving my kids there and picking them up. Where is the drop off and pick up location.

You can go to The Desert Trip Site , Just follow the link that i just gave you. Desert Trip attendees getting dropped off and picked up by friends and family should meet them by the camping toll boot at the entrance to Lot #13. Best Wishes for your family to have a great time at Desert Trip 2016. Thanks for reading SouthOCBeaches.com!

After two night of flawless service, I was extremely disappointed with shuttle service to our hotel which was only seven miles away. We waited IN EXCESS OF AN HOURS for a bus. This occurred not at the end of the concert when 75,000 people would be waiting, but when there were ONLY FORTY of us. What poor planning and no explanation or apologies

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Desert Trip’s dream lineup and sky-high prices are making history—and upending rock fest tradition

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There’s a good reason many people are calling the Desert Trip music festival “Oldchella”: The average age of the audience is 51; for the headlining acts, it’s 72.

But if the punchline for the multi-weekend event featuring performances by half a dozen rock titans, including the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney, involves sensible shoes and Viagra, the bottom line is even more complicated: An event aimed specifically at the commune-embracing “Steal this Book” generation will be the most lucrative music festival on record.

For many attendees, it will also be the most expensive, pointing to the evolution of the once-egalitarian ethos of rock and quite possibly a revolution in the price, shape and content of music festivals in the future.

Fans make the Desert Trip for the best that rock ‘n’ roll has to offer.

Desert Trip, which kicks off Friday, is slated to take in $160 million over two consecutive weekends. That’s almost double the previous record of $84 million by the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last year (both are promoted by Los Angeles-based Goldenvoice and take place on the same grounds in Indio).

In an industry struggling to recover revenue in the age of free music-streaming, many see the rise of such a high-grossing festival as cause for celebration.

The Who’s Roger Daltrey, left, and Pete Townshend, right, on stage at Desert Trip.

The Who guitarist Pete Townshend on stage at Desert Trip.

Lynne Kaplan of Irvine dances through a mister in the culinary experience area on the final day of Desert Trip.

The Who drummer Zak Starkey on stage at Desert Trip.

The Who’s Roger Daltrey on stage at Desert Trip.

A giant image of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey is projected during their performance on the final day of Desert Trip.

Fans take in the The Who on stage at Desert Trip.

The Who’s Pete Townshend, right, on stage at Desert Trip.

A closeup of a coconut drink served in the culinary experience area on the final day of Desert Trip.

Neil Young fans take turns posing with Young’s 1970 album cover on the final day of Desert Trip.

Paul McCartney on stage at Desert Trip on the Empire Polo Club grounds.

Paul McCartney on stage Saturday night at Desert Trip on the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.

Fans watch Paul McCartney perform from grandstand suites on the second day of the three-day Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Club grounds.

Neil Young and Paul McCartney on stage at Desert Trip on Saturday at the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.

Fans watch Paul McCartney performs on the big screen on the second day of the three-day Desert Trip.

A view from the grandstand seats as fans cheer and sing along to Paul McCartney’s performance on the second day of the three-day Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.

Fans cheer and sing along as Paul McCartney performs on the second day of the three-day Desert Trip.

Neil Young performs on the second day of the three-day Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Club grounds.

Rhya, 5, left, and Saydee, 3, right, Provensen of Huntington Beach dance to Neil Young.

Neil Young is projected on a big screen performing near a teepee on the second day of the three-day Desert Trip.

The Rolling Stones perform Friday on the first day of Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.

Guitarist Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones performs on the first day of Desert Trip in Indio.

Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones perform on the first day of Desert Trip in Indio.

Guitarist Keith Richards appears on a jumbo video screen while performing with the Rolling Stones on the first day of Desert Trip in Indio.

Mick Jagger appears on a jumbo video screen while performing with the Rolling Stones at Desert Trip in Indio.

Most fans in the general seating area could only see Bob Dylan’s set at Desert Trip on a grainy black and white video screen.

A fan is silhouetted as he watches Bob Dylan perform on the big screen on the first day of Desert Trip in Indio.

A fan is silhouetted as he watches Bob Dylan perform on the big screen on the first day of the three-day Desert Trip at the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio.

Backstage with Roger Waters at Desert Trip.

Fans pose with the Who’s “Kids Are Alright” album cover as a backdrop at Desert Trip in Indio.

“It’s a whole different game,” said Jim Guerinot, a veteran Southland concert promoter, record company executive and talent manager. “If Coachella is the Cadillac of festivals, this is the spaceship.”

Desert Trip is the first of its kind to feature six of classic rock’s most musically and culturally influential acts on one bill. That lineup also includes Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Who and Roger Waters — all of whom have never previously shared the same stage — in an event aimed directly at baby boomers, a demographic often overlooked by the youth-focused music machinery.

If this festival is any indication, the generation that helped popularize rebel music is alive and well and willing to pay for the kind of “good old days” experience they once condemned.

To buy a seat at Desert Trip runs anywhere from $699 to $1,599. Some VIP packages with better access cost more than $3,000. Three-day general admission passes for the standing area behind the seated audience sold out immediately for $399. Entry for a single day is $199.

“Everyone will make a lot of money, minus the fans who give a lot up,” said one veteran industry booking agent who declined to give his name because of business relationships with Goldenvoice.

Everyone will make a lot of money, minus the fans who give a lot up.

— Booking agent

Those fans are not confined to the 50-plus crowd; many younger people have heard these fabled names bandied about since birth and want to see for themselves what all the fuss is about. The show’s broad-based appeal is also reflected in the fact that concert-goers are coming from every continent except Antarctica, Goldenvoice officials say.

“The draw about Desert Trip is the ability to see these huge names,” said Shaun Hunsaker, a 34-year-old fan who dropped more than $3,000 for a pair of tickets admitting him and his business partner into the pit in front of the stage.

Hunsaker said he’s never attended a concert by any of the Desert Trip headliners.

“I’ve been to Coachella for seven or eight consecutive years,” he said. “With Coachella, there’s a ton of bands and ... a lot of lesser-known, up-and-coming acts. These are six of the greatest musicians of the generation. To see all of these guys at that venue — that’s the appeal there.”

But where some see the ultimate classic rock experience, others see the ultimate classic rock rip-off.

Singer David Crosby, who played Woodstock with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Young in 1969, was quoted in the Daily Mail this week saying that Desert Trip is a “scam” that’s all about “merchandising.”

“It’s a gigantic money machine, and I’m not in it for the money,” he said. “You can’t tell who’s on stage because they’re a pinprick — that’s why Jagger waves a scarf around, man: He’s so far away you can’t tell it’s him.”

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour »

Certainly some of rock’s early ideals — namely that it’s egalitarian in nature — may have less of a place at Desert Trip. Get hungry at the festival? Gourmet food packages are available, such as the “wine and food experience” for $179 featuring “a program of wineries crafted by [a] World Renowned sommelier,” or partake in the “Fine Dining Experience” for $225 (Goldenvoice’s other festivals also offer such luxuries).

And there are hints that the pricing may have been overly ambitious.

As of Thursday morning, ticket brokers on the resale market had heavily marked down Desert Trip passes. General admission wristbands, for instance, could be had for $149, a savings of more than 50%. Even some seated options could be snared for less than $200, tickets that initially approached the $1,000 barrier.

Hunsaker himself bought extra top-tier tickets at $1,599 in hopes of reselling them at a profit to recoup some of his own investment in tickets.

“I got totally hosed,” he said. “I just sold them for $400 so I wouldn’t be completely out on them. I posted on Facebook a few days ago that I had extras and six or seven people responded saying they were in the same situation.”

Still, Desert Trip will represent another win for a music industry where physical and digital record sales no longer drive the market. The three-figure price for a single concert ticket had long seemed unimaginable — until the Eagles’ 1994 Hell Freezes Over reunion tour broke that barrier. It’s since become commonplace.

Mick Jagger, left, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones in Boston in March 1999.

David Bakula, vice president of analytics and client development at Nielsen Entertainment, says boomers are a generation that has been “under-indexed” in the concert market. If older festival-goers are drawn to an event, he says, they’re 15% less likely than festivalgoers overall to let a lack of money stop them.

Sixty-seven percent of music listeners in that age group indicated that they love how music helps them remember and relive the past. “They’re going out there to hear the classics, the stuff that they’re familiar with,” Bakula said.

Before Goldenvoice introduced the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 1999 at the Empire Polo Field, music festivals were relatively rare in the U.S. .

After an initially rocky start, Coachella’s success triggered a flurry of new festivals across the country. The biggest of them — Lollapalooza in Chicago and Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn. — carry a sticker shock more regularly associated with, say, the luxury cruise industry than rock ’n’ roll.

Still, none approach Desert Trip, where capacity is around 75,000 per day, and early tickets sold out in about five hours when they went on sale in the spring.

But it isn’t just the cost that could make this a new model.

The structure of Desert Trip provides a significant new addition to the concert festival picture. Its single-stage, two-act-per-day curated lineup is distinctly different from the 12-hour-plus marathons featuring dozens of acts — nearly 160 at Coachella in 2016 — over multiple stages offered at virtually all other festivals.

Part of the attraction of this bill is that it has the aura of an once-in-a-lifetime event.

— Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar

It was the structure, not the artists, that Goldenvoice chief Paul Tollett began thinking about two years ago. “What would it be like to have a really focused rock ’n’ roll show with just six acts,” he says he wondered, quickly followed by: “Who would I want?”

“Part of the attraction of this bill is that it has the aura of an once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, which tracks the touring industry.

“The interesting thing will be whether Goldenvoice will try it again with a different lineup,” Bongiovanni said. “If you hunt hard enough, you can probably find another six acts that merit this kind of excitement. But it’s not the kind of thing you can do a lot of.”

Desert Trip is expected to add upward of $250 million to the Coachella Valley economy with hotel stays and recreational visits to golf courses, spas and shopping, according to Michael Bracken, managing partner and chief economist for Development Management Group, which consults for Desert Trip promoter Goldenvoice.

That’s a lot of money spent for a generation that once was happy to crash in the muddy fields of Woodstock.

If Bob Dylan — the man who advised “mothers and fathers throughout the land … your old road is rapidly agin’/Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand” — once was a controversial figure of the counterculture, for the next two weekends he’s a cornerstone of a family-friendly event.

Guerinot said he bought Desert Trip this weekend for himself, his wife and their four children, ages 9 through 18. “My kids are already sending me food picks: ‘Oh Dad, look at this!’ This is definitely not the same thing I experienced seeing Bachman Turner Overdrive at the Long Beach Arena in 1974.”

Times staff writer Randall Roberts also contributed to this report.

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Lorraine Ali is news and culture critic of the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she was television critic for The Times covering media, breaking news and the onslaught of content across streaming, cable and network TV. Ali is an award-winning journalist and Los Angeles native who has written in publications ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone and GQ. She was formerly senior writer for The Times’ Calendar section where she covered entertainment, culture, and American Arab and Muslim issues. Ali started at The Times in 2011 as music editor after leaving her post as a senior writer and music critic at Newsweek Magazine.

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Desert Trip • Saturday, October 8, 2016

Some songs from this concert appear on:

Desert Trip 2016 1st Show

By Paul McCartney

Spread the love! If you like what you are seeing, share it on social networks and let others know about The Paul McCartney Project.

A Day in the Life

With guest(s)

Give Peace a Chance

Why Don't We Do It in the Road?

First live rendition

From paulmccartney.com , May 3, 2016:

This once-in- a-lifetime concert will take place in Indio, California on October 7, 8 and 9 when six of the world’s most iconic and influential rock and roll artists come together for Desert Trip. This three night concert kicks off Friday night, October 7 with The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan and HIS BAND , followed on Saturday night, October 8 by Paul McCartney and Neil Young + Promise of the Real , with the weekend coming to a close on Sunday night, October 9 with Roger Waters and The Who . With performances starting after sunset, each artist will play a full set, serving up three incomparable nights of rock ‘n roll. Located at the home of the critically acclaimed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this is the only time and place to see this incredible lineup. […]

From RollingStone , May 3, 2016:

[…] The event is the result of a year of secret meetings and careful negotiations by Paul Tollett, the CEO of concert promoter Goldenvoice. For the past 17 years, Tollett has staged the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, also held at the Indio, California, site, which has made its reputation with high-profile reunions like the Pixies, Rage Against the Machine and Guns N’ Roses. […] Two years ago, Tollett made a wish list that he says consisted only of the six acts. He traveled to see each one play, and he sold them on the idea slowly. “If I’d made a financial offer first, I would have been rejected,” he says. “[The Stones] asked what I was working on. I said, ‘I’m working on one of the greatest shows of all time. I don’t know what that means, but I’ll come back to you.’ ” The biggest challenges included getting the first act to sign on (Tollett is not saying who it was). “A couple said, ‘What are you going to do if we don’t do it?’ [I said] ‘If we don’t get these six, we’re not going to do the show.’ They said, ‘OK, that’s kind of interesting.’ ” The only act Tollett has not met with personally is Dylan: “I live out near him, but he’s not the type of guy you run into at 7-Eleven.” It’s been reported that acts are receiving upward of $7 million per set. “They’re all getting what they’re worth,” says Tollett. […]

From RollingStone , October 9, 2016:

Paul McCartney has learned a few important things about his fans, and there were more than 70,000 in front of him Saturday on the second night of the Desert Trip festival in Indio, Calif. He has come to a profound understanding of the Beatles legacy, its connection to his solo career and the emotional resonance it has continued to have for generations of listeners for more than 50 years. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Like his 2009 headlining appearance at Coachella, McCartney arrived at Desert Trip prepared to connect not only with the most hardcore who travel across state lines to see him over and again but with other fans who are deeply connected in other ways. One of night’s emotional peaks came late Saturday when McCartney brought out Neil Young, returning from his own explosive performance earlier the same evening. Their choice of material was the Lennon-McCartney classic “A Day in the Life,” which later shifted into John Lennon’s anthem “Give Peace a Chance.” Both McCartney and Young were all smiles sharing the stage, then tore into the raw Beatles oddity “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” leaving room for Young to set his guitar aflame with a joyfully ragged solo, a searing moment likely to be remembered long after this weekend. […]

From Twitter – Me and Neil Give Peace A Chance. What a Desert Trip! #DesertTrip #OneOnOne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ffShw94CE

Last updated on December 24, 2016

Empire Polo Club

This was the 1st concert played at Empire Polo Club.

A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 2016 • Oct 8th • Oct 15th

Setlist for the concert

A Hard Day's Night

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Album Available on Desert Trip 2016 1st Show

Written by Paul McCartney , Linda McCartney

Can't Buy Me Love

Day Tripper

Let Me Roll It

Written by Jimi Hendrix

I've Got a Feeling

My Valentine

Written by Paul McCartney

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

Maybe I'm Amazed

We Can Work It Out

In Spite Of All The Danger

Written by Paul McCartney , George Harrison

You Won't See Me

And I Love Her

Queenie Eye

Written by Paul McCartney , Paul Epworth

Lady Madonna

FourFiveSeconds

Written by Paul McCartney , Kanye West , Kirby Lauryen , Mike Dean , Tyrone Griffin , Dave Longstreth , Dallas Austin , Elon Rutberg , Noah Goldstein

Eleanor Rigby

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

Written by George Harrison

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Band on the Run

Back in the U.S.S.R.

Live and Let Die

I Wanna Be Your Man

Helter Skelter

Golden Slumbers

Carry That Weight

Going further

http://home.deserttrip.com/

https://twitter.com/PaulMcCartney/status/785048158267019265

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• Consequence

Desert Trip 2016

Oct 07 - Oct 16 2016     Indio, California (Empire Polo Grounds)

A once-in- a-lifetime concert will take place in Indio, California when six of the world’s most iconic and influential rock and roll artists come together for Desert Trip. The three-day festival takes place over two weekends (October 7th – 9th and 14th – 16th).

Ticket Price: $199 - $1,599

Festival lineup

• Neil Young + Promise of the Real
• Paul McCartney
• Roger Waters
• The Rolling Stones

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