Coachella Bands Feel Effects of Iceland Volcano

Posted on Apr 17th 2010 2:15PM by Steve Baltin
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"That's so crazy," DJ Z-Trip said backstage at Coachella as news of the volcanic ash affecting thousands of travelers worldwide reverberated louder than Them Crooked Vultures and Street Social Sweeper Club on the main stage Friday night. That may have been an understatement, but it's about the only statement that sums up the feeling among artists, fans and other music industry members backstage this weekend in the desert of Indio, CA.

If there is one aspect of the natural disaster dominating talk backstage, it's travel between Europe and Coachella. And as the disruptions have gotten more pronounced, the chatter has only gotten louder. Gary Numan, Talvin Singh, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Bad Lieutenant and Delphic are the latest acts to be forced out of the festival, joining the Cribs and Frightened Rabbit on the list of those unable to make it.

And even for those who did make it, the crisis is being felt. Echo and the Bunnymen were in place for their Friday night slot, but frontman Ian McCulloch told Spinner backstage that they were lucky to be there at all. "If we [hadn't had] to do promo on Thursday, I don't know if we would've made it," he said. And even then, the band still had to deal with some adversity. "Our normal sound guy isn't here," he said. "So we have a stand-in. I'm sure he's good, but it's not the guy we normally work with."

And with no end in sight, no one is sure how long the travel issues will be felt beyond this weekend. Echo aren't scheduled to go back to Europe until May 4, and presumably the aftermath of the volcano will be over by then. But the band still has questions. "We're doing a tour," McCulloch told us. "Hopefully our sound guy can make it." Right now, that's a big if.