The fourth annual Stagecoach Festival is a go for 2010, with the two-day event booked for April 24-25 at its usual site at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. Several acts have already been confirmed for the country music festival, which hosted more than 100,000 attendees in 2009.
Keith Urban and Toby Keith will both make their Stagecoach debut as headlining performers, along with up-and-coming duo Sugarland and industry veterans Brooks & Dunn.
The appearance will be a special one for Brooks & Dunn, who played the first festival in 2007. Earlier this year, the pair announced their mutual decision to split after two decades performing and recording together. The Stagecoach appearance will be part of a planned 2010 farewell tour, which has yet to be announced.
Stagecoach, billed as “California’s Country Music Festival,” combines a cross-section of the genre’s many parts, from mainstream country to bluegrass, alt-country and folk. Some of next year’s other confirmed acts include Jamey Johnson, Merle Haggard, The Avett Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys.
The first ticket sales for Stagecoach 2010 will be available to the general public starting October 16. One-day tickets are $79, with two-day passes start at $99. There are also options for reserved seating priced at $499 and $799, as well as camping and RV packages.
Last year, Stagecoach introduced a layaway option for ticket buyers, which allowed payments to be completed in increments. The programs returns this year with two options. Full details are available on the official Stagecoach Web site.
As with last year, the official announcement of Stagecoach dates and acts was coupled with the first details about Indio’s other festival, Coachella. Usually held on the weekend prior to Stagecoach, next year’s event will be no different as Coachella 2010 is set to run April 16-18, Billboard sources confirmed yesterday.
An official announcement from the festival is still forthcoming, along with ticketing information and an initial lineup. However, fans and industry observers are already rampant with speculation about one possible headliner.
Reunited and influential ’90s rock crew Pavement is an early favorite to lead the three-day event. The band was just confirmed as the curators of All Tomorrow’s Parties 2010 in England from May 14 to 16. Later next year, the indie rock crew will also hit the Big Apple for series of four sold-out concerts in New York City, September 21-24. The New York dates were the first confirmed by Pavement when they officially announced their much-ballyhooed reunion last month.
Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg first mentioned the possibility of a stint at Coachella during a mid-September interview with Rolling Stone. According to the musician, the band was in talks with several festivals at that time, including the California-based event.
