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Click to the next image to see all the LA bands performing at the Coachella 2013 festival.
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: 2003, 2007
Recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Red Hot Chili Peppers have changed quite a bit since the funky rap-punk hybrid of their eponymous 1984 debut, releasing radio-friendly and borderline-bland pop-rock on 2011's I'm With You. No matter how you feel about the new RHCP, who are currently prepping a covers EP, there's no denying singing along when classics like "Give It Away" and "Dani California" come on.
Download I'm With You on Amazon Download Greatest Hits on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
This little dude (full name Thebe Neruda Kgositsile) was discovered in 2009 by Tyler the Creator through his MySpace account. Now, at just 19, he's already billed as a rapper, songwriter, producer and one of the youngest members of LA-based hip hop collective Odd Future.
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
How to Destroy Angels—Trent Reznor, Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross—released its self-titled six-song debut EP in 2010, and their newest, Welcome Oblivion, in March. They have an eerie tone with a heavy industrial sound reminiscent of NIN, only now with a female vocalist, and percussion sequences that are sure to get stuck in your head. Listen now or save yourself for their Friday sets.
Download Welcome oblivion on Amazon Download How To Destroy Angels on Amazon
Saturdays April 13 and 20
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Ahoy, nostalgic, glasses-wearing romantics! After many years of dormancy, the indie-electro project of Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello is making a return to the limelight. Expect a plentiful helping of tracks from the duo's sole album, the dorm-room staple Give Up, which turns the big 1-0 this year, as well as a sprinkling of new material.
Download new single "A Tattered Line of String" on Amazon Download Give Up on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: 1999, 2002
The alt hip-hop group—originally formed in 1993 from two previous groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee—reunites for this year's festival, after parting ways in 2007 due to "musical differences." Here's hoping their set won't be an awkward one, or a lackluster nod to the group's glory days.
Download Quality Control on Amazon Download Power in Numbers on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Fullerton, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
All the punks who got Social D tats back in the early ’80s like to crow about how the band ain't what it used to be. Well, yes, times indeed change, and even if the band's old fans haven't faced up to it, Social D is no longer a punk band—just a kick-ass rock band.
Download Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes on Amazon Download Greatest Hits on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: 2010
Local Natives’ debut, Gorilla Manor, features three-part melodies that portend chlorine on sweat-soaked skin. Lyrical metaphors skew toward psychedelic freak folk and Halloween on uppers, an addictive combination. Expect more of the same as they hit up Coachella in support of Hummingbird, which dropped in January.
Download Hummingbird on Amazon Download Gorilla Manor on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
This female rock duo met in a needlework class in Silver Lake, hit it off, and now produce bluesy, alt garage rock that sounds a bit like the music of Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and Jack White of the White Stripes—if Dan and Jack bonded over fiber arts, that is.
Download "Gonna Make My Own Money" on Amazon Download "Ain't Fair" on Amazon
Saturdays April 13 and 20
Origin: Hermosa Beach, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Considered one of the pioneers of modern day punk pop, skate punk and melodic hardcore, the Descendents lose a bit of street cred for playing Coachella. But we have to admit, we're pretty excited to see them, and we're hoping it's a small crowd of old-school punkers in the audience ready to mosh without worrying about their headdresses or furry hoods falling off.
Download Everything Sucks on Amazon Download Milo Goes To College on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
You'll always get hard-charging electronic beats from Mad Decent recording artist and LA producer Dillon Francis. Francis is known as one of the pioneers of moombahton, a fusion genre of house music and reggaeton (and its sub-genre moombacore). Drop by his set on Friday, then drop some knowledge (and funny vocab words) on your friends.
Download "I.D.G.A.F.O.S." on Amazon Download Something, Something, Awesome. on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA + Hamburg, Germany
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Despite the slightly creepy name, this side project and surprisingly equal collaborative effort from Skrillex and Boys Noize (formed in 2012 after the two had a jam sesh in a Berlin recording studio) promises electro house and acid techno for dance-happy festival-goers.
Download "Next Order" on Amazon Download "Middle Finger" on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
One-man band HeK is an LA resident of Filipino-Palestinian parentage whose debut single, a rowdy, punked-up blues take on Funkadelic's "I Got A Thing," soundtracked a recent Nike ad campaign. Expect to hear that, plus cuts from his debut album, Will the Guns Come Out.
Download Will the Guns Come Out on Amazon Download "I Got A Thing" on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: 2009
Whether you consider the Airborne Toxic Event to be LA’s answer to Coldplay or art-rock usurpers of the Killers and Silversun Pickups, frontman Mikel Jollett's voice—an offbeat and weirdly compelling mix of Iggy Pop and Billy Joel—is just too strong to be denied. Expect to hear from the band's upcoming third album, Such Hot Blood.
Download new single "Timeless" on Amazon Download All At Once on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Retro-soul crooner Dam-Funk channels the sexuality of Prince and the thick funk of James Brown, packaging them both inside synth-laden jams. He's even known to some as LA's "Ambassador of Boogie Funk" although we know all the young festival-goers will roll their eyes (and we kind of are, too) at such a moniker.
Download Toeachizown on Amazon Download I Don't Wanna Be a Star! on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Rising LA indie folk band Lord Huron will play songs from their debut LP, Lonesome Dreams. The project began as lead singer Ben Schneider's vision and now involves four additional members, who offer campfire-ready, harmony-laden folk-pop. They were named KCRW's 2012 "band you should have known," but it's not too late! Get to know them during their Friday sets.
Download Lonesome Dreams on Amazon Download "Time To Run" on Amazon
Saturdays April 13 and 20
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: 1999, 2001, 2010
KCRW's electronic music DJ has spun at almost every event in and around LA—he's a Coachella veteran, having taken the stage in 1999, 2001 and 2010. His may not be the most adventurous, mind-blowing set, but he'll play all your favorites and throw in a couple new hits, plus, we're sure, some weird stuff to maintain his cred.
Download the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing [Jason Bentley/Philip Steir Remix]" on Amazon Download the Flaming Lips' "Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell (Ego In Acceleration) (Jason Bentley Remix)" on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
LA-based, shoegazey pop duo IO Echo combine sounds of the Far East with those of the Old West. Think Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo & the Bunnymen or Niki & the Dove. They've opened for Florence & the Machine and will make their debut in Indio as part of Coachella's Friday lineup.
Download IO Echo on Amazon Download "When the Lillies Die" on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Baltimore, MD
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
The buzzy aura surrounding Father John Misty extends beyond his past life as a Fleet Foxes member under his given name, J. Tillman, to the music he is now releasing as a solo artist here in LA: soaring, soulful folk-rock that's spiked with an energy and cleverness that's absent from the Seattle group's milky work. Be sure to check out his Sunday sets.
Download Fear Fun on Amazon Download "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" on Amazon
Saturdays April 13 and 20
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman—not to mention winemaker of note—Maynard James Keenan tries his damnedest to present his theatrical solo project, Puscifer, as a jokey lark, but in recent years the outfit has progressed to the point that it deserves to be taken as seriously as any of his other work. Puscifer's latest, Conditions of My Parole, is a dark, exceedingly crafty art-pop statement.
Download Conditions of My Parole on Amazon Download Donkey Punch the Night on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Think of Angeleno dance music artist Robert DeLong as an electro-singer-songsmith, kind of like an edgier, more fun Owl City. He'll play the festival in support of a bangin' new LP, Just Movement. His nerdy habit of hacking video game controllers into instruments will set his music apart at the festival.
Download Just Movement on Amazon Download Global Concepts - EP on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: 2010, 2011
A collab between Sam XL of Pure Filth and David Harrow formerly of On-U Sound, this project began in 2010 at a series of small club installations in LA called "Screwface." They've since been producing original music and visual content to go along with it, much of which you'll see during their Friday sets.
Download "Pathfinder" on Amazon Download Bass Moves Space on Amazon
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
This American rock/pop band was formed in LA in 1971 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael. Their idiosyncratic stage presence and quirky lyrics garnered them a cult following, and you'll probably become a believer after seeing their set, which could include anything from glam rock to chamber pop.
Download Kimono My House on Amazon Download Angst In My Pants on Amazon
Saturdays April 13 and 20
Origin: Orange County, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
This local pop band offers up a brand of tune perfect for summer festival-goers—it's a little bored, a little subdued, and too similar to the other bands around to be offensive. Check out their single "Little Games"—with cloying, cliché lyrics like "what did I do so wrong? you lied and led me on / was i your hit and run? / left for dead and now you're gone" to hear the band at their most upbeat.
Fridays April 12 and 19
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
This super catchy, young quintet from Thousand Oaks was responsible for last summer's ubiquitous ditty "Sweater Weather." They swing more toward pop than perhaps they'd like, but their tunes are perfect for a summer festival, even if their efforts since last summer have turned a bit broody.
Download "Sweater Weather" on Amazon Download "I'm Sorry..." on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
This alt-rock group is associated with LA's 1980s Paisley Underground scene (think the Bangles or Dream Syndicate). Expect to hear psychedelic pop rock with a punk energy—a sound that may have been more original in the '80s, but is still pretty fun today.
Download Sixteen Tambourines / Baroque Hoedown on Amazon Download Arrive Without Travelling on Amazon
Sundays April 14 and 21
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously played Coachella: First-timer
Dry Land is Not a Myth is the debut album of LA's psychedelic electronic pop outfit White Arrows, and it sweetly melds glitchy synths, pop sensibilities and tribal instrumentation into a potent, gleeful blend (not unlike Givers, with whom the band has toured).
Download Dry Land Is Not A Myth on Amazon Download Fireworks of the Sea on Amazon
Check out our city's very own talent in this list of LA bands playing at the Coachella 2013 festival.
 Let's hear it for the ladies |
 British invasion |
 Blasts from the past |
 New York style |
 Friday |
 Saturday |
 Sunday |
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