Coachella: 7 surprise acts we’re hoping to see
With a lineup of nearly 160 performing artists, the list of speculated surprise acts from festival go-ers, like us, can be endless. This year’s hopes and dreams can range from the more obvious “surprises” - catching Paul McCartney hanging out onstage with the newest and coolest EDM DJ – to the completely unexpected - Mick Jagger joining Mavin Staples for a duet of a Staples song the Rolling Stones once adapted, “This May Be the Last Time.” It can really go on and on. But thanks to our entertaining string of #HowtoCoachella, we have our very own list of plausible and wishful surprise acts condensed down to a sweet top seven. Enjoy.
1. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros + Nora Kirkpatrick reunion:
It’s a little known fact that Nora Kirkpatrick, one of the founding members and former accordion player of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, is a 2003 graduate of La Quinta High School. After five years of playing with the folk band, she played her last show in the summer of 2014 in Los Angeles to pursue her rising acting career, which consists of roles in The Office, Greek, and Jennifer Falls.
Knowing the festival is right in the valley that Kirkpatrick was raised, and no acting gigs this year (yet), we’re hopeful they will reunite and give us one more great show.
2. The Arcs + Lana Del Rey mashup:
The Arcs’ front man, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, is no stranger when it comes to collaborations. His genius music credits range from various artists and music genres, producing for artists such as Bob Dylan, The Arctic Monkeys, and even hip hop rapper A$AP Rocky.
But one project he produced that really took off, was Lana Del Rey’s 2014 breakthrough album Ultraviolence. The album hit No. 1 in its first week of sales on the Billboard Top 200.
Although they are not currently working together on her new coming album, it would still be astounding to see Lana join Auerbach with The Arcs’ experimental garage band sound, in a mashup performance of “Ultraviolence” and The Arcs' “Put a Flower in Your Pocket.”
3. Miike Snow + Run the Jewels make our “Heart’s Full”:
Miike Snow is back for another year of Coachella with a new album titled iii. Not new to guest appearances, Miike Snow surprised the 2012 crowd by bringing out indie pop singer, Lykke Li to perform "Tin Black Box" off their then new album, Happy to You. This time around with iii, it is very (and we mean VERY) likely that the group has locked in another secret weapon for their Coachella return – Run the Jewels.
Why? Well, performing just one day before Miike Snow at Coachella, hip hop group Run the Jewels is one of only two featured artists on iii, with their remix to the first released single, “Heart is Full.” So it doesn’t seem to be a question of whether or not they’re going to perform together, but a question of whose set it’s going to happen on.
Regardless, we’re looking forward to it and we’re there.
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4.Chris Stapleton + Justin Timberlake encore:
If you watched the 2015 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, then you watched magic happen when Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake collaborated on a two-part performance on stage. They performed Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Timberlake’s “Drink You Away,” and headlines went crazy.
In a post interview with EW.com, Stapleton gave insight on the two’s friendship saying they keep in touch and converse about “dad-stuff.” He also mentioned that they had been pursuing a reason to work together for a while and the CMA Awards was the place. Now, being the only artist to perform in all three festival weekends in Indio (Coachella and Stagecoach), we’re crossing our fingers this is enough of a reason for Stapleton to gift his fans with an epic CMA encore.
5.Jack U + Arcade Fire album preview:
EDM DJ’s, Diplo and Skrillex, who make up the dance duo Jack U, and Arcade Fire are familiar to the Coachella scene. Therefore, they all pretty much know the key ingredients to an engaging Coachella show.
If you’re wondering how any of this connects the two for a possible surprise act, it doesn’t. But it only further uplifts our hopes for a first look into the Jack U + Arcade Fire album Jack U has been teasing since summer 2015. According to an interview with PBS in August 2015, Jack U took a pit stop to Arcade Fire’s Montreal Sonovox Studios during their tour and had a brief jam session with Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. They made loops of the session which they claimed yielded an entire album worth of material, and at the time, had plans to return to Montreal to record vocals with Butler.
Being one of the top acts for the opening day of both Coachellas, a big event like this would be the ideal platform to premiere new music for the excited one hundred thousand people crowd. What they’ve told us is the music is coming, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for a possible Arcade Fire and Jack U show.
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6. Disclosure + Lorde + Sam Smith SNL rerun:
If you Google search Disclosure you’ll quickly notice their career is majorly based on making brilliant collaborations. It only makes sense, being an EDM duo that produces catchy, smooth beats ready for a harmonized vocal track. While searching you’ll also notice that in their top hits, there are two that individually feature singers Sam Smith and Lorde. Disclosure featured both artists in their 2015 album Calacas – Sam Smith in “Omen,” and Lorde in “Magnets” – and also featured them in their two-part, November 2015 Saturday Night Live (SNL) performance. The mix of their feel-good sound, Sam Smith’s smoky voice, and Lorde’s eccentric dance moves made a captivating performance worth reliving again.
Yes, we do remember Disclosure already welcoming Sam Smith at their Coachella 2014 set for a surprise act of their first collaboration hit, “Latch,” but with “Omen” set on repeat by fans, combined with an expectation of something new, a rerun of the SNL trio would make an invigorating performance.
7. Ice Cube + NWA resurrection:
Contrary to previous reports in July 2015 by RollingStone.com that a future N.W.A reunion was unlikely, Ice Cube more recently gave the public a huge announcement in January.
“I've got some tricks up my sleeves. I'm gonna try to bring the members of N.W.A together. Give everybody a little history lesson on Ice Cube and N.W.A, [and] West Side Connection," Ice Cube teased during his January interview with The Talk to promote his new film Ride Along 2. As if that wasn't exciting enough, he continued, “We got some great visuals… It’s gonna be a great night.”
He said “great visuals.” Now if we know a thing or two about great visuals at Coachella, it’s that the bar was set pretty high when the massive 2012 crowd witnessed Tupac rise from the grave thanks to Dr. Dre – conveniently an N.W.A member- and Snoop Dogg’s jaw-dropping hologram stunt. Now that’s a surprise act.
So if you’re Ice Cube and teasing an N.W.A reunion with “great visuals,” the world can only imagine another history-making show with the resurrection of Eazy E at Coachella. Possibly even out-do Dr. Dre’s show, and also bring back the late Nate Dogg for a West Side Connection performance of “Gangsta Nation.”
Regardless, if Coachella fulfills our wishful list or not, like every year, there will be surprise acts and they will be amazing.