How to Plan Your Band Schedule at Coachella

The release of the band schedule is something that diehard Coachella fans look forward to the same way little kids anticipate Christmas morning. Once you have that information... knowing exactly when and where each band will be playing, you can start the all-important process of planning your schedule for the weekend. It's not always easy, often you have to negotiate with yourself because inevitably there will conflicts... two or more bands that you really wanted to see will be playing at the same time, and you can only choose one.

Coachella's organizers usually release the schedule a week or two before the festival. That's kinda late compared to many other festivals, but at Coachella there's often some late additions and last minute changes or cancellations.

When you're planning who you want to see, consider the following tips:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A performance schedule (released on the Coachella website about a week before)

1. 

   PACE YOURSELF. You may be tempted to squeeze in as many bands as possible. Don't make that mistake, it's a long day and you'll end up burning yourself out. Allow some time for "pit stops" a few times throughout the day when you can get some food and drink, find some shade, get off your feet and relax. You gotta recharge your batteries every so often.

2. 

   ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THERE WILL BE CONFLICTS. Schedule conflicts are gonna happen, it comes with the territory of going to a big festival. Bitching and moaning about it won't change anything. Get over it.

3. 

   WHEN IN DOUBT, TRY SOMETHING NEW. If you're having trouble deciding between a band you've seen before and one you haven't, go with the latter. The beauty of Coachella is the chance to see new bands. One of them just might unexpectedly blow your mind and you'll have a new favorite.

4. 

   ALLOW EXTRA TIME IF YOU WANT A GOOD VIEW. If there's certain bands you're really excited about and want to be close to the stage for, plan to get to their stage really early, perhaps even plan to see the band (or 2 bands) that precede them on that stage.

5. 

   FLY SOLO. You can cover more ground, see more bands, etc. when you're alone (or part of a duo), as opposed to staying together with a group of friends.