The Re-Opening of Huge Events

Story & Graphic by Emma Brents – Staff Reporter

 

  As the world starts to be brought back to normal, it means the return of huge events such as the Oscars, Met Gala, and Coachella.  Unfortunately, students here won’t be able to attend those events but that doesn’t mean it won’t affect other award shows and music festivals that are closer to home. 

   Mr. Russell, LSN’s school librarian, tells how he used to be a professional DJ and even though the closest thing he’s gotten to Coachella was the festival grounds, he still is able to provide some information and background. After being able to pay his way through college, Russell was able to expand his music career and work with several hundred different people in all different states.  

   “We were doing ten, fifteen shows a night in different locations. And in different cities too, we’d have something going in Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, St. Louis, or Albuquerque.  It was a lot going on,” Russell said. 

   On average, there’s about 250,000 people that show up during the two-weekend festival in California for Coachella. Some of the people playing at Coachella this year are Billie Eilish, who’s going to be the youngest singer in 20 years to play, Doja Cat, Harry Styles, Kanye, Megan Thee Stallion and many more. 

   For Russell, his biggest crowd was only about 15,000 people and even though that’s still a massive show, it puts into perspective how big Coachella can be. For 2022 though, no one really knows how many people will attend, whether it’s going to be more or less people than previous years.

   Something Russell really loved about being a DJ was just being able to manipulate the music and be up on the stage in front of all those people.  

   “When you get those stretches of just everybody out there losing their minds dancing and having fun, that was a lot of fun,” Russell said.  

   Coachella will be happening in Empire Polo Field in Indio, Southern California, first on April 15-17 and then next on April 22-24. Russell says it’s a good place to go if people want to see tons of different popular artists in one place and that if it’s something they’re interested in and if they have money, they definitely should go.