The lineup for the 2023 Stagecoach Festival includes one very familiar veteran of the festivities, Luke Bryan, who will be making his fourth headlining appearance in the California desert, along with two stars who have made regular appearances at the festival but have moved up into headliner slots for the first time, Kane Brown and Chris Stapleton.
Goldenvoice announced the performers and dates for the ’23 gathering Monday morning, just a little more than four months after the 2022 festival took place. The next fest will take place April 28 – 30, 2023, with passes going on sale Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
More from Variety
Prices for passes range from $389 for advance general admission to $1,499 for the GA standing pit and $1,999 for prime reserved seating.
Among the other top-billed artists are Jon Pardi, Brooks & Dunn, Old Dominion, Riley Green, Gabby Barrett and Parker McCollum.
One thing that’s not immediately apparent, looking at the uppermost lines of type in the lineup: women. Among the nine top-billed acts, there’s just one female: Barrett. That’s surprising, given Stagecoach’s historic attempts at inclusion — and indeed, there’s a plethora of female acts further down the bill. The dearth at the top may reflect disinterest less than it does the realities of the country landscape, where only Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris are currently considered at that top level. Underwood was already a headliner at this year’s Stagecoach, and Musgraves just headlined another Cali country festival for Goldenvoice, the Palomino Festival; with very recent albums and tours under their belt, it’s possible all these women will be off-cycle in 2023, limiting the top-font choices at Stagecoach’s disposal.
The festival does promise a strong lineup of women further into the fine print, including Morgan Wade, Elle King, Priscilla Block, Madeline Edwards, Valerie June, Sierra Ferrell and returning festival favorite Nikki Lane, who will again curate a marketplace area as well as performing. The bill also has a possible first this year in including a drag artist, Trixie Mattel.
Stagecoach is famous for booking a few veterans and/or mainstream rock acts that may be considered roots-adjacent to fill key slots in the Palomino tent. For 2023, there are several artists that fit the visiting-genre-outsider bill, including ZZ Top, Melissa Etheridge, Nelly and Bryan Adams. As far as veterans of country music go, besides Brooks & Dunn, the festival has Mary Chapin Carpenter, Sammy Kershaw and Marty Stuart.
Stagecoach traditionally announces its lineup so early that the relative importance of headliners vs. up-and-comers has already shifted by the time the festival takes place. You can already see that in the low placement on the lineup of Lainey Wilson, who is only on the fourth line of the billing for Sunday, even though she’s one of the highest-profile artists in country at the moment, thanks to having just racked up more nominations for the upcoming CMA Awards (with six nods) than any other artist.
An Americana lean to the Palomino tent offerings remains evident, even though Goldenvoice made strides to cover more of that ground by starting up a Palomino Festival in Pasadena this year. Among the Americana-style artists on the bill are the aforementioned Lane, June and Farrell as well as Tyler Childers, American Aquarium, Logan Ledger and more. The veteran band the Flamin’ Groovies, meanwhile, may count as the most quizzically unexpected act on the bill, but certainly not in a bad way.
Annual returnees include country-favoring EDM artist Diplo, who this year is curating the DJ sets in the dance hall, and celebrity foodie Guy Fieri, whose smokehouse sessions with artists on the bill are a top draw.
The festival takes place as always at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., directly following two weekends of the pop-based Coachella Festival on the same grounds.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
