It had become a parlor game of sorts: Fans would name classic rock bands that would reunite for only the kind of price that the organizers of Desert Trip could afford. Would this be the year that Led Zeppelin made their long-awaited return? Would CSN&Y put aside their festering disdain for one another long enough to play a couple of shows? What about Genesis or the Police?
Or would Desert Trip follow up its 2016 bookings of Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan with guaranteed crowd-pleasing solo artists like Billy Joel and Eric Clapton?
No need to conjecture anymore. The organizers told Billboard yesterday (May 11) that there will be no sequel to last year’s classic rock extravaganza, which also featured Neil Young, the Who, Roger Waters and the Rolling Stones.
“We loved 2016 Desert Trip,” said one of the promoters of last year’s fest, Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett, in a report published in Billboard. “That was a special moment in time. Maybe someday in the future we’ll do something similar.”
Related: BCB’s review of the Stones at last year’s Desert Trip
Last year’s Desert Trip, held over two weekends in October, grossed $160 million, according to the Billboard article. The festival was held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, which also hosts the annual Coachella and Stagecoach festivals. The concerts attracted 75,000 people per weekend with tickets ranging in price from $399 to $1,599.
The announcement puts to rest speculation fueled by a cryptic three-word post on Robert Plant’s website—“Any time now”—that some interpreted to mean a Zeppelin reunion was in the cards.
Related: That mysterious Robert Plant web post
There will be no shortage of rock festival activity this summer, however. The Classic East and Classic West concerts, set for Los Angeles and New York in July, will be headlined by Fleetwood Mac and the returning Eagles (post-Glenn Frey members not yet announced), plus the Doobie Brothers, Journey, Steely Dan and Earth, Wind and Fire.
Watch Roger Waters’ entire Desert Trip 2016 set
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