Obviously he’s played almost every other year since he started but he’s never played the main stage. Could this be the year? He doesn’t fit the profile of the type of dance act they put on the main stage usually but given his history with the festival and his ability to draw a huge crowd, perhaps his time has come.
Posted Nov 6, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC
If he’s not here this year then I’m officially giving up on seeing him on the Polo Fields. Thought with him releasing the album last year he was a lock. But nooooo, here’s DJ Snake and Dillon Francis again for the second time in 3 years.
I want to say this is the year but Nova is getting pretty old and he's toured on it pretty extensively. If he has new music I feel like he's got to be back. He was fun at ACL and even without new music I'd like to have him back anyway. His sets in '16 and '14 were great.
His Sable Valley run of shows recently were neat showcases of what he’s trying to push towards in terms of a new experimental direction. If he puts out small EPs or a full compilation off the label he could go that route to lead into a Coachella slot.
Yeah, I totally agree. I saw him on NYE and it looks like he’s been playing a majority of that set all year long. I’d even settle for a 4 song EP of all new music.
He also just announced a show in LA next week with Brownies and Lemonade... I might have to check that out.
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Dillon had a better set in 2017.
I think he's more likely closing out Sahara or Outdoor rather than an early set on Main. He can definitely draw a crowd but don't think his music necessarily has the same mainstream appeal as other EDM acts that have been there that usually also have big pop hits (Jack U, Calvin, etc).
Jack U didn’t play on main as far as I know. Could see RL getting a similar spot to what Floss or Jack U got on Outdoor in 2015 and 2016. Sahara would be good to though.
outdoor yep
My guess is sahara or outdoor. I don't know if he'd pull a bigger crowd than Diplo depending on who else is playing so sahara would probably work. Outdoor is also possible but I don't see him on main. Zedd ended up doing sahara > outdoor > main, so I'd expect the same for RL if he ever plays main at all.
The difference is, Zedd produces and plays more mainstream radio friendly music when compared to RL Grime. Essentially every Main Stage EDM act so far has played music you could hear on the radio. RL Grime, not so much.
For sure, I don't see him playing main stage at all but if he did he'd probably go through outdoor first. With the new size of sahara I don't think he makes it on outdoor since sahara should be able to handle his crowd size.
Yeah, that's what I think as well. He could totally get promoted to Outdoor in 2020, but Sahara would be just fine.
Does something like I Wanna Know fit that mainstream radio friendly sound you speak of? If he releases more songs similar to that (Shrine off of Nova comes to mind as well) in the future do you think he would have a better chance to play on the main stage?
Oh absolutely. I had actually never heard I Wanna Know before, and if he were to put out more material like that, he could 100% wind up on the Main in the future. Does he even play out music like I Wanna Know live? Literally every clip I've seen of him lately has been incredibly heavy bass music.
Yeah, he definitely does! He usually plays out the whole original mix of the song, and then follows it up with the ODEA remix of I Wanna Know (which admittedly is a much bass heavier version that slaps hard). Still, I think he has even more Main stage friendly songs that he also plays in his sets all the time, but I'm not the biggest judge of what fits that sound myself so I could be wrong. Songs like: Stay For It and Light Me Up (both have Miguel as a feature, a radio friendly voice), Undo, Take It Away, UCLA, and Shrine, most off of his latest album Nova. With that many qualifying songs, I think he has at least a possible shot for a main stage slot for next year if he's booked, no?
Madeon and Porter would be the exception here but I think their music translates better to a main stage crowd more than RL would.
That said, it was impossible to see him in the Do Lab in 18 so give him allllllllll the space.
Yeah, while Madeon + Porter had only one song you could potentially hear on the radio, the overall sound of their collab album fits WAY better on the Main compared to RL Grime. And I would argue that they both, (especially when together) draw a bigger crowd than RL Grime does alone.
And yeah, Skrillex also played the Do Lab one time, so not sure that's a valid argument haha
Reaching
Nova is old as fuck. We been hearing the same songs at EDC and Outsidelands and every other place in between even going back to that do lab set. I don't need to see it again only this time with huge screens.
If Pusha T can play main stage... so can RL haha
It seems unlikely BUT... you really never know. Coachella has changed the types of acts they have on their stages all the time over the past 5 years.
RL would have to have a truly new and killer stage show for it to even be a consideration (which it probably isn't). Outdoor is a possibility but he hasn't gotten any bigger since last time he played, so Sahara is probably the stage for him again!
Watching/Listening to his EDC Orlando set. Has Sahara written all over it.
His set I don't think would translate on the main. Very "ADHD" set, nothing really flows. Just build up, drop, rap song, mic, build up, drop, repeat.
He isn’t playing the main stage.
Sahara if anything at all. needs new music.
He hasn't played Coachella since they expanded the Sahara, so he would probably be fine in there these days. He could wind up on the Outdoor too, but his sound is a bit too abrasive for the Main, and I don't think he's quite popular enough to not just wind up on the Outdoor instead.
ya i mean if they put dillon in the sahara im sure they’ll put rl in there as well
I agree
I still have bad flashbacks from his 2016 set, but that clusterfuck wouldn't have happened in New Sahara. Unless he has another mix that goes ridiculously mainstream, he'll be in there if he plays
He played in the new Sahara in 2018
No he didn't.