Festies

Ep. 31 Coachella 2026 Lineup Reaction With Kevin

• Sunny Balopole, Vanessa Gutierrez, Clark Lawson • Episode 31

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Coachella shocked fans by dropping its 2026 lineup on September 15th—months earlier than usual. Many thought it was a prank, but the surprise timing lined up perfectly with our interview with Kevin, a six-time Coachella veteran.

Headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G sparked big debates about the festival’s direction, while electronic fans are buzzing over Nine Inch Noise (Nine Inch Nails x Boys Noize), Major Lazer, and Moby. With legends like Iggy Pop and David Byrne alongside modern stars, the lineup carries a distinctly mature vibe.

Kevin shares his perspective as a longtime attendee and introduces his new vintage fashion project, Vintage Revival Forever. We also cover ticket details for Coachella 2026, happening in April, with sales starting September 19th.

Sunny:

Hey Vanessa

Vanessa:

yeah Sunny?

Sunny:

What do you call two best friends that love music festivals?

Vanessa:

Hmm.

Vanessa:

I guess you'd call them Festies.

Clark:

Music. Festivals. Friendship. Festies

Vanessa:

welcome back, festies.

Vanessa:

we've got a great episode for you guys. Today we have another guest and we're actually interrupting our Austin City Limits content because we got some breaking news this week. The Coachella lineup was randomly announced this past Monday, september 15th, so obviously we had to talk about it, and this was the day before we were scheduled to interview a good friend of mine named Kevin, who's been to Coachella many times. He's worked Coachella as an employee, so this was just perfect timing. So today you're going to hear us discuss the Coachella 2026 lineup and we also talked to him about all his behind the scenes work with Coachella. So stay tuned for that and another episode coming soon, and we hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed recording it. Big welcome to our longtime festie. Please give it up for our good friend Kevin.

Sunny:

Yay

Vanessa:

Thank you so much for joining us.

Vanessa:

you so excited to have you.

Kevin:

Thank you for having me. This is exciting. Congrats on your full production,

Sunny:

oh thank you,

Kevin:

I wasn't expecting professional microphones and a production guy on payroll.

Kevin:

So if you're hiring let me know,

Vanessa:

yeah, if you don't want to eat, we'll hire you, because we're not making any money right now.

Sunny:

I mean kind of making money, because otherwise we'd be paying to go to Portola Music Festival, we would have paid to go to Mill Valley.

Vanessa:

That's true. That's true. We're getting different forms of payment, so that's exciting.

Kevin:

You're getting compensated.

Vanessa:

Yes, exactly,

Kevin:

that's a big deal

Kevin:

, right.

Vanessa:

Yeah.

Kevin:

Portola is fucking. I mean it's really expensive.

Vanessa:

Yes, it really is, and it's getting really big. So I'm sad I'm not going, but I'm excited that you guys have the opportunity to go. By you guys, I mean Sunny and Clark.

Sunny:

Yeah, it'll be fun. I'm really excited because we weren't aware that the Coachella lineup or I wasn't aware that the Coachella lineup was gonna drop-

Vanessa:

I was not either.

Vanessa:

That took me completely by surprise.

Kevin:

I thought it was a joke,

Vanessa:

me too, and then I was like I had to like look.

Vanessa:

I was like who's posting this? Oh, coachella is. Oh, okay, it's real?

Sunny:

yeah, we all went through the same circle. Is this a mock?

Vanessa:

And

Vanessa:

and I swear to you it was at the exact same time because, like I went through all that. I opened it, read maybe three names and then I got a text from Sunny with a screenshot of the lineup. I was like I'm looking at it right now too. I sent it to RJ and Penny and their response was we're looking at it right now too.

Kevin:

That's so crazy.

Kevin:

Like how are you supposed to go to bed after seeing that?

Sunny:

I didn't,

Vanessa:

I texted Kevin.

Vanessa:

I was like we're going to talk about Coachella tomorrow, so he's like I've been staring at it all night

Sunny:

and Kevin is the best person to talk about Coachella with, because he has been a total of six times, whether it's as a fan, attendee or actually as an employee working. I feel like it was like meant to be for you to be here today.

Sunny:

What are the odds?

Vanessa:

Have they always dropped it this early?

Kevin:

No, I think that this is the earliest. I don't know if this is the earliest in the inception of the festival, but it's the earliest that it's been recently.

Kevin:

I don't know

Vanessa:

Right.

Vanessa:

Usually doesn't it drop in January or something

Kevin:

yeah like after the first round

Sunny:

in the same year.

Vanessa:

Yeah, because they sell the pre-sale without the lineup being out and then they drop the lineup and they release more tickets or they do the normal

Sunny:

regular sale.

Sunny:

Yeah, I feel like I wasn't emotionally ready for it to come

Vanessa:

no

Sunny:

to come out

Kevin:

over the weekend too, there was like the rumor that Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G and maybe Dua Lipa are gonna headline

Vanessa:

oh, Dua Lipa would have been awesome

Kevin:

I'm like this is so, it's so random, right, and then they release it and I'm like wait, Justin Bieber too, like what is going on?

Vanessa:

yeah,

Kevin:

but

Vanessa:

that's what made me think it wasn't real the justin bieber

Kevin:

I'm so mad because I want miley cyrus to headline.

Kevin:

I've been telling you for a year.

Sunny:

I would love that

Kevin:

Miley Cyrus needs to headline Justice for Miley,

Vanessa:

justice for Miley.

Sunny:

I think she doesn't want to do it.

Sunny:

But can we just take it back? I just want to real quick for the listeners, say who is headlining Coachella this year. Friday we have Sabrina Carpenter, saturday we have Justin Bieber and then Sunday we have Karol G. Those are the big headliners.

Vanessa:

And this is taking place Friday April 10th through Sunday April 12th. It's weekend one, and then weekend two is Friday April 17th through Sunday April 19th 2026.

Sunny:

Do you want to list off random other artists that are on the lineup?

Vanessa:

Yeah, okay so.

Vanessa:

I really quickly want to talk about Nine Inch Noize. Were you going to

Sunny:

yeah,

Vanessa:

oh, okay.

Sunny:

No, no, no, Talk about it.

Vanessa:

No, I'll let you do it

Vanessa:

Okay.

Vanessa:

Well, all I know is that I looked them up on Spotify and there is no nine inch noize, so what it is is the combination of nine inch nails and boys noize. And I'll let Sunny, take that over, because I didn't. If you're interested, go on Spotify, type in Nine Inch Noize. You'll see like a two minute little like synopsis of what Nine Inch Noize is. But Sunny can

Sunny:

I mean, I don't really know much more than that. I just I feel like Coachella at least in my experience they do a really good job of having one thing that I feel like I need to go all the way out there for, and this is it Nine Inch Noize. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, you know, he's like a real pioneer within electronic music. So I think having this combination of Nine Inch Nails and Boyz Noize is something that's going to be really special to see

Vanessa:

From what I heard Boyz Noize has been doing like remixes of their songs.

Sunny:

Yeah,

Vanessa:

and they've been doing that on tour, or some. Go listen to that clip, it's two minutes yeah and so they're bringing that experience that they've been giving to people on tour to Coachella. And so that's what Nine Inch Noize wa s. People were saying that it was like a typo or something. I saw Nine Inch N and I got so excited for you, sunny, because I know you love Nine Inch Nails and then I was like wait, noize, what is that?

Sunny:

WeIl I went through like a roller coaster because I saw nine inch and I was like they're not headlining? That was my first reaction. And then saw nine inch noize and was like same thing as you, vanessa. Just what? What is that? But then after looking it up, I was like I should have known that it was still something involving nine inch nails, like that's silly. I don't know.

Vanessa:

So I only know like seven to nine people each day. The big names that pop out to me is obviously disclosure, teddy swims, blood orange I'm really freaking excited for

Kevin:

insane

Vanessa:

yeah right, duke dumont. I haven't seen since like 2016, so I would love to see duke dumont again. Rezz would be sick. Green velvet boys noize.

Kevin:

Green Velvet is gonna kill it.

Vanessa:

Yeah, sabrina Carpenter is cool, but I would be more excited if we weren't gonna see her at Austin City Limits next month. Justin Bieber obviously I would love to see. I saw him at Coachella walking around One time

Kevin:

I was watching TikToks they were saying they released the Coachella lineup because they're expecting Justin Bieber to drop.

Vanessa:

Yeah, so. I was going to make that same point actually, because I hear that I just I've seen things. He doesn't seem good right now, so I just hope that he gets better and healthy and actually goes.

Vanessa:

But

Sunny:

yeah, I was like he needs a win.

Vanessa:

He does. But I also am like it's kind of fucked up if they expect him to play coachella and he's still not good.

Vanessa:

I don't know

Sunny:

I can't believe the strokes are still on there, not headlining. I could see them being like, nope, we're gonna pull out then. they're like that. I think they gave coachella problems the last time they were there and then they landed on like giving them a bigger font on the poster.

Sunny:

But you, you skipped

Vanessa:

no major lazer, I know I

Kevin:

big major lazer

Vanessa:

Yes, I'm so excited to see major lazer, probably the most excited one I am to see. I don't know why I didn't say them first

Sunny:

devo and foster the people and iggy pop.

Kevin:

Moby.

Sunny:

David Byrne.

Kevin:

Röyksopp, oh, and also too Los Hermanos Flores.

Vanessa:

Oh yeah,

Sunny:

who sticks out to you, Kevin? Anyone else we didn't name.

Kevin:

Moby and Roy Scott.

Kevin:

I feel like I'm in this 80s 90s wave of music right now I'm creating this throwback playlist for the Vintage Revival Forever project that I'm working on, and so a lot of it draws from like music and stuff and I'm like, what do you put? What were people listening to like in those eras? And so Moby is so dreamy and you know just electronic and soft and stuff, but it still sounds really good today. So I'm excited to see them. And then also Roy Scott, pretty eclectic EDM group too. I don't even know where they're from, but I mean somewhere in Europe. Oh, adam Beyer, armin Van Buren, I think Coachella's done a really good job of like curating, like really good electronic music.

Sunny:

So you like it?

Kevin:

Yeah, I like it a hundred percent. I think it's my favorite.

Vanessa:

Are you gonna go?

Kevin:

Maybe, yes, no, I don't know. Hold on, give me one second.

Kevin:

Sorry, definitely going

Vanessa:

oh, now you are. What just happened between

Vanessa:

I don't know and did you just go check your calendar?

Kevin:

it's because I want to tell myself that, like I retired, you know like

Vanessa:

yeah that's literally how I was feeling before we started doing festies

Kevin:

yeah, I retired and also, too, like my first festival was uh insomniacs escape back in 2012 you know what I mean?

Vanessa:

Oh, my gosh,

Kevin:

I'm like okay, I did my circuit. I tried many. I'm obviously not as seasoned as you two, because you've traveled for festivals and now you're getting paid, or at least about to get paid for them.

Kevin:

But also I mean like going to coachella for so long, you're just kind of like, okay, it's really exhausting, dude, like getting dropped off and then walking and then you're like holy shit, I have to do this tomorrow too and then you walk into the venue you're like charlie xcx is insulting me, but I'm here because of that, but it's fun.

Kevin:

I think this coachella is more of a mature vibe. It has a lot of like green velvets there, you know. I mean like it's just if you know. You know type of lineup and major lazer dude.

Vanessa:

I was at the gym this morning and they were dropping all this old school diplo and major lazer and I was like what the heck is happening? I haven't heard this shit since, like 2015

Kevin:

I think I've like taken a little bit of a break from festivals right now. I want to go back into it next year, coachella next year.

Vanessa:

Yeah, sign up and register so you can get tickets on friday

Kevin:

yes, oh my gosh,already?

Vanessa:

listen, listen, and this is for you and for our followers.

Vanessa:

Passes for Coachella go on sale this Friday, September 19th, at 11 am Pacific time. But you can do the payment plan and you only have to put down $49. So general admission for weekend one it's starting at $649. Weekend Two is $549. Ga plus Shuttle is $779 for Weekend 1 and $679 for Weekend 2. They've got like a four pack option which makes it like $10 cheaper per ticket, and VIP is starting at $1299 for Weekend 1 and $1199 for Weekend 2.

Sunny:

I want to talk about uhm. You brought it up earlier. Why is it leaving my brain? What's the new project you're doing?

Vanessa:

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Kevin:

So I love fashion, I love vintage. I'm a throwback kind of person and I've been working on this project called Vintage Revival Forever and it's basically I'm working on the website, but you know, to sell apparel and everything is vintage, vintage revival inspired. If it's not, vintage is inspired by vintage and inspired by my travels and there's a little element of you know, just Of everywhere that I've been in the clothing and also something that I would wear and something that you know you kind of haven't seen before. Everyone says that, but it's unique to where I've been and what I've seen and you know, kind of like being a little bit of a fashion nerd on the side, and so I'm excited to release it.

Kevin:

Some hats are out now. They're really cool and then also releasing some T-shirts once the website drops week of September 26th. So thank you to everyone that's bought one or interacted with the content on Instagram, and so I'm really excited for it. I'm really proud of the project and everyone that's been helping me with it and I think it's actually gonna do really well and I hope that we can maybe have some sort of activation at Coachella one day, because that's a dream.

Vanessa:

That's awesome,

Kevin:

but yeah, it's something that you know working on it and you know kind of being an entrepreneur and seeing all the licensing and you've done all this with the podcast. So I'm sure you guys know and how much work goes into it. But working full time and just putting together some T-shirts just sounds like a drag, but it's so much fun.

Kevin:

but yeah, I'm really excited for it. Thanks for letting me plug it.

Vanessa:

Of course we'll definitely add a link in our show notes so people can check it out.

Kevin:

Yeah, yeah, thank you so much

Sunny:

thank you for making our very first festies merch.

Vanessa:

Yeah,

Kevin:

oh yeah the hats

Vanessa:

yes, we got our hats through, kevin.

Kevin:

Yeah my side quest right now is, uh, learning how to embroider and do some screen printing with Victor. It's his company and so I was like, hey, my friends have this podcast. Is it okay if I kind of reach out to them and see if we can work on something? And so I'm glad that you guys like the hats.

Vanessa:

Oh, we love them.

Vanessa:

You, Sunny, Vanessa Clark, are taking them everywhere. And seeing your pictures is really cool, so if you need more hats, let me know.

Sunny:

Yeah yeah, super excited for you and that project. That's awesome, sounds like you're super passionate about it. That's exciting

Vanessa:

yeah.

Kevin:

Yeah, I love it, it's going to be cool and it's just it keeps your mind off things like off the internet with everything going in the world. Like,

Vanessa:

yeah,

Kevin:

I've reached that point where, uh, I've been really going to techno shows and seeing like these like underground djs play and I'm like I just want to go on a friday night just listen to the dj, really hard music next to the speaker, and then go home and be like, oh, that was relaxing

Vanessa:

make sure you wear your earplugs when you

Kevin:

I know you guys were plugging some what is, what are they?

Vanessa:

your eargasm?

Kevin:

Okay,

Vanessa:

make sure you use festies10 for 10 percent off

Kevin:

okay, I need that because after almost 12 years of raving and festivals, right, my ears are shot so,

Vanessa:

yeah, that's how I feel too.

Vanessa:

I love mine um they.

Vanessa:

Yeah, they're awesome they

Kevin:

can you still hear the music?

Vanessa:

Yes,

Sunny:

yes, yes,

Vanessa:

yes.

Kevin:

Does it amplify it?

Vanessa:

it doesn't it does the opposite. It kind of just lowers the volume, so it doesn't muffle it like regular earplugs do it just like kind of lowers the decibels so you're not like hurting your ears and it just kind of cuts out all the extra noise from like all of the equipment uh, it's really nice.

Kevin:

Yeah, you don't think about that.

Vanessa:

No, you don't, I never did.

Sunny:

Clark made a good point. He was like, when your power goes out, you ever realize, like, how loud your refrigerator is?

Vanessa:

That's like the same thing as like

Sunny:

the amps Like they're so loud without any music coming out.

Vanessa:

Thank you so much for joining us, kevin. We will definitely have you on again. Yeah, I would love to keep talking about festivals with you. Thank you so much for listening festies. Please follow us on instagram, tiktok and youtube at festies podcast and give us a five star rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts, and we hope you enjoyed this episode with our good friend kevin and we'll catch you on the next one. Bye

Kevin:

Bye

Sunny:

thank you.