COACHELLA AND REVOLVE FEST

JULIET: Can you please tell the people what is Coachella and how it started?

JULIA: So Coachella is a music festival. It’s about 3-4 days long and it’s arguably the biggest festival in America. They get the biggest headliners, it’s huge in the influencer world and it takes place in the desert of California. People describe it as “The Influencer Olympics” and it’s really just the biggest deal in live music today.

Coachella USED to be a super glamorous event. You’d see these HUGE celebrities going, like not just influencers, but like musicians, actors, everyone. Since it takes place in April, the styles the celebs would wear at Coachella would HEAVILY influence what everyone would wear all summer long. But it was all celebrities so major magazines would cover it and they’d help, you know, regular people buy those clothes. It had a lot more glitz and glam.

JULIET: Okay thank you, that’s very helpful. Now, can you please describe to me in your personal Gen Z opinion what Coachella is TODAY?

JULIA: It’s a way bigger deal for influencers to show off their wealth to their followers. I like to equate it to The Met Gala. It used to be this huge event for celebrities but the allure of the event is kind of gone now that it’s open to influencers. In the case of Coachella, it’s an influencer circus. No one is going to actually listen to the music nor do they care about it. There are TikToks of influencers talking about how much they hate live music and how they’re just going to be seen. And that’s sad because that’s what it’s all about! Influencers have turned it into a display of who can get the best photo.

JULIET: What is your personal perception of Coachella on social media? Is it something you would want to go to and be involved in?

JULIA: I go to a lot of festivals and I went to Lollapolooza last year and I just think the energy around Coachella has a very specific mentality where everything is so transactional. Everyone seems like they’re there to get something… else from the festival. And that’s not at other festivals. Even if you’re in General Admission at Coachella… I don’t know, that energy really sits heavy on your shoulders while you’re there. For me, it would be all about the line up. Frank Ocean doesn’t tour and he only ever performs at Coachella but he’s essentially the only reason I would go. Coachella just has this influencer-tainted air around it.

JULIET: Do your friends like Coachella?

JULIA: I do know a few people who went. I think if you’re very into taking pix of yourself and very into social media, yes, it would be fun to go. I don’t even like to take pictures of myself and I don’t post them on my feed when I do. I don’t think Coachella is really appealing to the general public anymore.

JULIET: Is Coachella ever a verb, Julia?

JULIA: Ummm…..no? Like what, Juliet? You’re Coachelling? I guess people say “We’re going to DO Coachella” because there’s so much involved like camping in the tents and stuff. So in that sense… sure? 🤨

JULIET: Understood, I won’t embarrass you again. Now that that’s out OF the way, can you tell me what happened with Revolve?

JULIA: Yes. I will give you a bulleted timeline:

• Influencers get invited to #RevolveFest. You have to be invited. And tickets were $2,000. I don’t know if everyone invited had to pay but there’s a $2,000 price tag on that ticket. 

• #RevolveFest is run in tandem with Coachella with the idea that influencers go to #RevolveFest during the day and then they go to Coachella at night to see the last 3 sets (so this just shows how much influencers do not care about the music… they’re skipping the music fest all day).

• Revolve gave all the influencers a location where they had to meet so they could get to #RevolveFest. It was literally a location not even an address so it’s something like “the corner of Smith St and Main St.”

• Influencers had to wait in line to get on the busses to take them to #RevolveFest.

• Influencers complained of having to wait 2-3 hours to even get on a bus to get to #RevolveFest so they’re literally waiting in a parking lot in the desert blazing sun before they even get on a bus to get in.

• A lot of the celebs and mega influencers were cutting the lines and disregarding the lines so they could get on the busses first. There were influencers CHASING busses, hopping barricades, stuff like that.

• Once all the celebs and mega influencers got in, it was full and there was no more room for the other influencers who had been invited to get in.

• So busses stopped coming and they told everyone who followed the rules and waited in line to “go home.”

• So the only people who really got to enjoy #RevolveFest were the mega influencers who cut the lines and thought they were more special and thought they were more deserving of getting in first.

JULIET: What was Revolve’s response?

JULIA: I honestly don’t even know if they’ve said anything yet. But the influencers were PISSED.

JULIET: OK, so Julia,
if I, an adult with no social media following wanted to get a ticket to #RevolveFest what would I have to do?

JULIA: You’d have to be an influencer.

JULIET: But like what if I really wanted to go?

JULIA: You’d have to be friends with an influencer.

JULIET: Are you an influencer?

JULIA: No. I have gotten DMs from dropship clothing stores and they want to give me free clothes. But that’s about it.

JULIET: Do you want to be an influencer?

JULIA: Definitely not. Unless it’s for like being a music critic and I get to go to concerts and film the concerts and talk to the artists. That’s it though.

JULIET: Is there anything else you want the people to know about these events?

JULIA: I guess what I want people to know about #RevolveFest is that they set up all these amazing events with vendors, pool parties - it was supposed to be a party! All these people were doing all day was taking pictures of themselves. No one really enjoyed any of the amenities and they just used it as an opportunity to take pix all day. When you think about what a music festival is, it’s this visceral, in the moment, can’t-believe-I’m-really-witnessing-this-with-all-these-people-kind-of-experience. It’s such a stark contrast to what actually happens nowadays and it feels like music is somehow morphing into an Instagrammable opportunity versus the opportunity to make a real memory rooted in art.