The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has announced it’s 2014 line-up. The bill features a steady diet of stellar rock artists including Muse, Queens of The Stone Age, Motörhead, The Cult, Arcade Fire, Beck, Empire of The Sun, Cage The Elephant, AFI, MGMT, Foster The People, Frank Turner, The Replacements, City and Colour, The 1975, Capital Cities, The Naked and Famous, Crosses †††, Aloe Blacc, Neko Case, Title Fight, and Unlocking The Truth. The festival is set to take place over two weekends in April: April 11-13 and April 18-20 at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, CA.
Muse was formed in 1994 by Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme. Their previous five studio albums have sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The group’s last album, The Resistance, debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200, and hit #1 in 19 countries around the world. The album garnered the band the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, and an American Music Award. In July 2012, Muse’s song “Survival” was adopted as the official song of the 2012 Olympic Games. The band is currently touring in continued support of their latest album, The 2nd Law, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. The album hit #2 on the Billboard Top 200, and it’s first single, “Madness”, set the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Chart. Muse just released their live CD/DVD, Live at Rome Olympic Stadium, back on December 2.
Queens of The Stone Age tapped Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl to play drums on
their sixth studio LP. The album is the long-awaited follow-up to 2007′s Era Vulgaris, on which Grohl did not play. The album still debuted at #14 on the Billboard Top 200, selling over 52,000 copies in it’s first week of sales. Along with 2000′s Rated R, the band’s 2002 masterpiece Songs For The Deaf is one of the best albums of the decade, and the last time Grohl played with Queens of The Stone Age. The disc hit #17 on the Billboard Top 200, and went on to sell over 1 million copies. Throughout their career, Queens of the Stone Age have been nominated for the Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy Award four times. Queens of The Stone Age are touring in support the new album, …Like Clockwork, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 back on June 4. Queens of The Stone Age served as a feature act at the Budweiser Made In America Festival 2013, and will be embarking on a co-headlining tour of Australia with Nine Inch Nails just before Coachella in March.
Arcade Fire quickly rose to prominence with the release of their debt album, Funeral, in 2004. The album garnered massive wide-spread praise from critics and fans alike, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. The band opened a handful of shows for U2 on their Vertigo World Tour, and played several festivals in the summer of 2005 including Coachella, Reading and Leeds, and Lollapalooza. In 2007, the band released their sophomore effort, Neon Bible. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200, and sold over 92,000 copies in it’s first week of sales. The band toured the world, with some North American dates being supported by LCD Soundsystem. The year 2010 brought Arcade Fire their greatest success yet with the release of their third album, The Suburbs. The disc debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and also went #1 in Ireland, Canada, and the U.K. In 2011, the album garnered awards for Album of The Year at the Juno Awards (Canada), Best International Album (BRIT Awards), and Album of The Year at the Grammy Awards. In 2012, Arcade Fire recorded the song “Abraham’s Daughter” for the soundtrack to the blockbuster film, The Hunger Games. The band also contributed original music to the film’s score. The band released their fourth album, Reflektor, in 2013. It gave the band their second-straight #1 debut on the Billboard Top 200. – by Matt Bishop
