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Music

Seeing double at Coachella

It can’t be a coincidence that Coachella picks January, the month most susceptible to winter work doldrums, to unveil its yearly spring promise of three days in sun-soaked music bliss.

This year’s lineup at the double Coachella – it’s running over two consecutive weekends for the first time in its history after last year’s speedy sell out – was unleashed to the web Monday night after a long day of speculation, trickling confirmations and reunion rumours.

No big shockers on the reunion front (maybe the Smiths in 2013?), unless you consider post-punk darlings At the Drive In a major coup. Considering how much output there’s been from splinter bands Mars Volta and Sparta over the years since, I would argue it was hard to ever miss ATDI.

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The merit of Black Keys headlining the opening night has been called into question with the announcement today of heavy metal god Tony Iommi undergoing treatment for cancer. Many assume a much heavier band with Black in its name was originally slated for that slot.

On the local front, now we know why the Weeknd sent out a call to audition some new bandmates. Looks like Abel Tesfaye is coming out of his highly-successful R&B batcave to play two shows in the desert on Sunday nights. If not, it will be the first live show since his fabled Toronto debut. Unless he surprises us with another unannounced show, this will be the first show outside Canadian soil.

The Canadian contingent feels a bit down this year with only seven ‘nucks cracking the 125-plus lineup: Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the Sheepdogs, Dragonette and fast-rising local dubstep duo Zeds Dead, who recently sold out their Kool Haus show. A surprise local omission is Austra who had a breakout year in 2011.

Back to reunions. While At the Drive In gets the hype, it should be pointed out influential Swedish hardcore unit Refused, 80s punk pioneers fIREHOSE (minus late founder D. Boon) and 90s smooth-voiced alts Mazzy Star have all reformed.

It would be a stretch to call Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre a reunion. The recently busted D-O-double-G has been churning out their Chronic hits live for years, but this will be a rare appearance by the D-R-E who tends to shy away from the stage. Safe to say a few joints might be lit during their slot.

Weekend passes are to go on sale this Friday (1pm Eastern) and range from $285 for three days to $665 for a VIPer. While websites are reporting that the first weekend passes are already gone, Coachella’s website has been struggling and largely shutdown since the announcement and is currently down as of this writing.

Read a recap of last year’s Coachella festival here.

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