The first weekend of Coachella kicks off at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Friday, April 12 with headliner Lana Del Rey, along with performances by Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Sabrina Carpenter, Brittany Howard, The Japanese House, The Beths, Deftones, L’Impératrice and Faye Webster.

Saturday, April 13, will feature Sublime, Blur, and No Doubt on the Coachella main stage leading up to headliner Tyler, The Creator’s 11:40 p.m. slot. Vampire Weekend will perform at the Outdoor Theatre at 5:00 p.m. The fest will close out on Sunday, April 14 with Los Angeles popstar Doja Cat taking the main stage at 10:25 p.m. along with performances by Jhené Aiko, Khruangbin, Lil Yachty, Taking Back Sunday, 88RISING, Victoria Monét, Reneé Rapp, Boy Harsher and Hermanos Gutierrez.

Vampire Weekend is a Coachella veteran, having played in 2008, 2010 and 2013. The trio just released its newest fifth studio record, “Only God Was Above Us,” on April 5.

Weekend one is officially sold out, but fans can still purchase weekend two passes at coachella.com/passes

Here is the full lineup of set times for all three days of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio April 12-14. For more festival information, go to coachella.com.

“I think the Inland Empire is the backdrop of this band,” said guitarist and vocalist Kevin Martin in a recent Zoom interview, who says that the group finds ways to incorporate the area “into everything.”

The Inland Empire city of Rialto was home to Martin and his brother, the band’s bassist Tony Martin, and Rialto profoundly influenced the thematic elements of the psychedelic-soul group’s upcoming sophomore album, “Sounds Good,” which will be released on Friday, April 19. The band kicks off its West Coast tour in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 18, and follows up with a second Southern California show at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown on Sunday, April 21, before embarking on the tour’s European leg.

The recording of “Sounds Good” was a bittersweet experience for the Martin brothers. As they wrote the album, their parents decided to sell their childhood home in Rialto. Despite not living there for years, the space held a special place in their hearts. The loss and the inability to return to their childhood sanctuary seeped into the album.

“It was uprooting, and when I was writing some of these lyrics for “Peach Optimo,” I was reminiscing about what it was like to be over there, and a lot of that was on my mind,” Martin said, “I think a lot of the album is tied to loss and the gains that come from loss, starting over, new chapters and new beginnings.”

The Martin brothers’ musical journey began in their childhood home, where they regularly listened to radio DJ Art Laboe’s show. Their father, a gospel soloist, introduced them to the rich sounds of oldies, soul, funk, and R&B. Their Grandpa Juan, a talented saxophone and clarinet player, sparked Tony’s love for blues and jazz.

These diverse influences, combined with the deconstruction of their formal music education and meeting drummer Eric Hagstrom in college, laid the foundation for the unique sound of Brainstory. But like many local Inland Empire bands trying to hit their big break, they were initially confined to a music scene limited to backyards and DIY spaces.

“There are no real venues other than small bars and coffee shops here and there,” Martin said. “I didn’t really grow up playing any ticketed events. I mean, there is the Glass House, which exposes people to some up-and-coming and more established acts, but it’s arguable that Pomona is even in the I.E. But I believe it is, culturally.”

Despite their love for these intimate settings, they yearned for a professional breakthrough. In 2014, they made a necessary move, relocating to Long Beach when Burger Records and Lollipop Records were booming, and garage and surf rock dominated Southern California’s music festival scene.

“We didn’t exactly fit into that mold or that scene, but we definitely entered through there,” Martin said. “We found a home in Long Beach because it was more down to earth and something that we were used to as friends in a community playing music together. Long Beach has a strong sense of musical community.”

In 2019, the band released their first album, “Buck,” produced by Leon Michels, the leader of the soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of Truth & Soul Records and Big Crown Records. The group said that “Buck” was their first time recording in general, let alone in a studio. They were also still getting acquainted with Michels but said they’ve developed more chemistry as a team, built their own studio in Long Beach, took everything the group has learned from crafting their first album, and carried it into the recording of “Sounds Good.”

“It’s been a culminating process,” Martin said. “With ‘Sounds Good,’ we’ve been stepping into our own sound that sets us apart from most of what’s going on right now.”

“Sounds Good” is indeed a step forward for the band, with substantive tracks that illustrate the group’s musical and lyrical growth. The album’s soulful ballad, “Too Yung,” begins with a melancholy acoustic guitar and nostalgic lyrics that yearn for events of the past.

Other standout tracks include “Hanging On,” a groovy melodic soul collaboration with alt-indie singer-songwriter Claire Cottrill (aka Clairo), adding a layer of soft backing vocals that serves as a nod to the oldies but goodies heard on the rest of the album and throughout their music. While these genres help shape their sound, it doesn’t define it. Martin said that part of the mission of their work is to take their influences and modernize them with more depth.

“When you are open to adding different elements to classic styles like R&B and soul, you get a new sound, and we do draw from these old influences, but we’re not doing it to cosplay an older time or even a sound like Motown,” Martin said. “We don’t want just to do the same old ‘Baby Baby, I love you’ type (stuff). There’s a lot more going on in the modern world, and the music has to reflect that. (We’re not) dissing other bands that only do that oldies sound, but we’re trying to move forward and see what’s ahead.”

Brainstory

Where: Lodge Room, 104 North Ave 56, 2nd floor, Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday, April 18.

Tickets: Sold out.

Also: 9 p.m., Sunday, April 21, at Pappy & Harriet’s, 53688 Pioneertown Road., Pioneertown. $30-$35 at pappyandharriets.com.

But at the end of the night, after 32 songs over three hours and 20 minutes, it’s the living that shined brightest through his time on stage, and the joy — of Springsteen, his band, and fans alike — that lingered after the final notes faded.

It’s been eight years since Springsteen last played Southern California. His long run on Broadway took a few years. The pandemic claimed a few more. And then, when he was scheduled to stop here in December, peptic ulcer disease forced the postponement of the Forum shows, and left Springsteen worried whether he’d ever sing again.

Any doubts about his vim and vigor vanished quickly in a show that ran a half hour longer than most on this tour,  which saw Springsteen at 74 as impossibly energized as ever.

“Boom Boom” opened the show with a bang, the bluesy John Lee Hooker cover getting Springsteen and the 17 members of his band revved up for the night to come. Two songs later, the opening notes of “Prove It All Night” got a roar from the crowd for the fan favorite off “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” and from that point, the songs flowed one after another, separated only by Springsteen counting off the tempo before each new number.

The E Street Band remains one of the great bands in rock history, with guitarist Steven Van Zandt, bassist Gerry Tallent, pianist Roy Bittan, and drummer Max Weinberg going back 50 years or so with the Boss. Guitarist Nils Lofgren and singer-guitarist Patti Scialfa, Springsteen’s wife, are the new kids with only 40 years in the band.

Their tight, intuitive playing sets the base for Springsteen to go where he likes. Slow it down for “Trapped.” No problem. Pick up the pace on “Two Hearts”? Van Zandt joins Springsteen on a shared microphone, singing harmonies, their faces inches apart, as they have for half a century.

After “The Promised Land,” the second of three “Darkness” tracks in the show, Springsteen announced Scialfa was in the house, and brought her out to sing a pair of songs with him. “Tougher Than the Rest,” a slow-burning romance, saw them harmonizing closely as Springsteen shifted from a low solo on his blonde Telecaster to harmonica for the finish. “Fire” was playful, fun, and a little bit sexy, Springsteen and Scialfa clearly having a blast with the number.

Each night on tour Springsteen plucks a sign from the audience to play an unexpected request. On Thursday, that arrived on the stage in the form of a white bedsheet spray-painted with black letters so hard to read Springsteen made a joke about it. The song, “Jole Blon,” was gorgeous, a Cajun-inflected traditional number that featured Soozie Tyrell on fiddle and Charles Giordano on accordian.

While “Born To Run” provided the most songs in the show with five — we’ll be getting to those soon, be patient! — the oldest songs often prompted the biggest responses from the crowd. “Spirit in the Night,” from Springsteen’s 1973 debut, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” was the first show-stopper of the night, its jazzy R&B giving Springsteen and the band, including saxophonist Jake Clemons, a chance to stretch and vamp a little.

“My City of Ruins,” from “The Rising,” shifted from the ecstasy of “Spirit” to a slower gospel soul, with Springsteen testifying most directly on thoughts of mortality.

“I know there’s a lot of us out there that are missing somebody special,” he said during a mid-song break to address the crowd. “Now I don’t know where we go when all of this is over. I just know what remains. And the only thing we can guarantee tonight is that if you’re here, and we’re here, then those that we are missing are here with us tonight.”

Two songs later, he finished the somber midpart of the show with a mostly solo acoustic guitar performance of “Last Man Standing,” a song inspired by the death of the last member of his first teenage band. “Death brings a certain clarity of mind,” Springsteen said by way of introduction. “And grieving is the price we pay for love.”

At that point, barely halfway through the show, things shifted toward the light and the living. “Backstreets,” from “Born To Run,” still has a melancholy feel, but its protagonist lives with his memories of young love and the places they used to travel, with Bittan’s piano part the secret sauce to its beauty.

“Because The Night,” which Springsteen gave to Patti Smith to record in the late ’70s, was reclaimed as a hard rocker that wrapped up with glorious guitar solo from Lofgren. “She’s The One” walloped its Bo Diddley beat in a primal rock ‘n’ roll rhythm.

The main set climaxed with “Badlands,” a Springsteen classic from the ’70s about a restless young man with dreams bigger than his life, and “Thunder Road,” one of his greatest numbers, which opened with the crowd singing loudly on the slow first verse before Springsteen and the band launched it to a huge finish.

At this point we’ve reached the encore, which Springsteen fans know means another 50 minutes of music, with one hit dropped after another.

After “Land of Hope and Dreams” opened it up, “Born To Run,” symphonic rock ‘n’roll hymn, exploded from the stage, the arena lights up now for fans to sing along. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” another early favorite, remains a joyful song of desire, and a chance for Springsteen and the band to take flight into extended versions. Here it wrapped up with Springsteen, Van Zandt, Lofgren, Tyrell and Clemons dancing and goofing at the end of a short ramp into the pit.

“Dancing In The Dark” is one of the sweetest simple pop songs that Springsteen’s ever written. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” saw him circle the pit, singing from a ramp at its edge to the fans in the floor seats. And “Twist and Shout” was a rock and roll party.

The 17 musicians walked off the stage then, with Springsteen giving them a pat on the back or handshake, telling them “good job” as if they were punching out at the end of a shift at the factory. He is the Boss, and he’s a good boss, too.

Then, one last encore, solo on stage with his acoustic guitar, singing “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” Or maybe on Sunday night, when he returns to the Kia Forum, as full of life as ever he was.

The Inglewood venue will serve as the 14-time Grammy winner’s first gig in Los Angeles County in more than six years.

“We are thrilled Bruno Mars will open Intuit Dome,” said Gillian Zucker, CEO of Halo Sports and Entertainment. “Bruno, who has a strong connection to Inglewood, will undoubtedly deliver an iconic performance that is worthy of this moment, and will leave a lasting impression on everyone who attends these two shows.”

Tickets for both shows go on sale to the general public starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 11 at Ticketmaster.com. 

The 17,700-capacity arena, nestled in the same area as the Kia Forum and SoFi Stadium, is also set to host acts such as Usher, Weezer, Sebastian Maniscalco, Phil Whickman, and Brandon Lake, Twenty One Pilots, and Billy Joel.

Mars is still set to perform in Los Vegas for his solo 2024 residency and with the R&B project Silk Sonic, featuring Anderson Paak. Silk Sonic released “An Evening With Silk Sonic” in 2021 and snagged record of the year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

The three-day weekend fest, set for April 12-14 and April 19-21, boasts a star-studded lineup with headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, and Doja Cat. Just moments after teasing fans with a sneak peek of a potential reunion on Instagram, it was also revealed that the Anaheim rock group No Doubt would be joining the lineup. Other performers include J Balvin, Blur, Ice Spice, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Justice, Sublime, Jungle, Bleachers and dozens more.

As fans now back their bags for the desert, here’s what you need to know before embarking on the Coachella experience.

Bag policy

In 2022, a revised bag policy was introduced, allowing guests to bring medium-sized backpacks (not exceeding 18 inches by 13 inches by 8.5 inches) in addition to fanny packs, purses, and handbags. Bags were checked by placing their belongings into a box of similar dimensions to ensure compliance.

For added convenience, locker rentals will be available on-site for attendees to secure their belongings. Medium lockers, equipped with a combination lock, are priced at $79; large lockers with a combination lock are $89; and extra-large lockers with a combination lock are $99. Prices include all three days and can be purchased at coachella.com/lockers

New stages

The Quasar stage is the newest addition to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival lineup. This addition promises three-hour extended sets over both weekends, showcasing an array of electronic music artists and DJs. While specifics regarding its location and set times remain undisclosed, anticipation is high among festival-goers.

Weekend one will feature Honey Dijon, Green Velvet, Michael Bibi, Jamie XX, Floating Points and Daphni. Weekend two will have RÜFÜS DU SOL (DJ Set), Eric Prydz, Anyma, Diplo and Mau P.

In February, Los Angeles promoter Goldenvoice announced the expansion and relocation of the iconic Sahara Tent. The new setup, constructed primarily of steel, unlike its aluminum predecessor, spans an impressive 320 feet in length. Positioned between Avenue 51 and Polo Road, south of its previous location and closer to the Blue Path parking area, the revamped Sahara Tent has increased its capacity and enhanced stage production capabilities for artists.

Parking rules

In January, promoters initially introduced a requirement mandating a minimum of four occupants per vehicle, including the driver. However, following a wave of fan outcry regarding the new regulations, there has been a recent revision, and the requirement has been lifted. Despite this change, Coachella continues to advocate for attendees to carpool, promoting sustainable transportation options. Individuals traveling in vehicles with four or more occupants remain eligible to win VIP passes for life, underscoring the festival’s dedication to fostering environmentally friendly travel alternatives.

Parking lots will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. all three days. Everyone in a vehicle must be wearing a festival wristband. Once lots are full, attendees will be directed to a nearby, off-site location. Pick-ups and drop-offs in Day Parking areas are prohibited; select locations will be designated for these purposes. Additionally, motorcycles will have parking privileges in the ADA lot.

Preferred parking passes will also be available, starting at $249, for entry through the north entrance off Ave. 49 and Monroe Street.

Live streams for staying home

For those who prefer to experience Coachella from the comfort of their own homes, YouTube has extended its exclusive live stream and content partnership for the festival through 2026. This means that even if you’re opting for “Couchella” this year, you won’t miss out on any of the action. Tune in to live streams throughout all three days of the festival, soaking in the sights and sounds of each weekend’s performances.

YouTube.com/Coachella will be your go-to destination for live-streaming all six of the festival stages. The streams will also include exclusive merchandise drops, on-the-ground content featuring artists, live chat options for fans and a series of insightful artist interviews between sets.

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

When: 11 a.m. – 1 a.m. April 12-14 and April 19-21

Where: Empire Polo Club, 81-800 Avenue 51, Indio, CA

Tickets: Weekend one is sold out; weekend two passes are still available with general admission three-day passes starting at $499; three-day general admission plus shuttle starts at $619; three-day VIP passes starting at $1,269 at coachella.com/passes

But relax – we’ve got suggestions to help you plan your festival weekend whether you’re on the grounds in Indio or live-streaming from home.

Coachella, especially as it’s transformed from a rock festival into a little-bit-of-something-for-everyone global gathering, is best thought of in terms of a choose-your-own-musical-adventure.

Dance music, hip-hop, Latin grooves, K-pop, rock, jazz – each offer pathways through the festival that runs Friday through Sunday, April 12-14, with a repeat of the same lineup Friday through Sunday, April 19-21.

Heck, you could even optimize your viewing for maximum celebrity sightings potential. Will Suki Waterhouse be accompanied by fiance actor Robert Pattinson just a month after welcoming their first child? Will Taylor Swift appear as a guest with collaborators and friends Lana Del Rey, Jack Antonoff or Ice Spice?

Just don’t linger in the hotel pool too long, because as usual there are tons of cool acts, whether you know them or not. Here are our suggestions, more or less ordered from Friday to Sunday, for the coolest times in the desert this year.

1. Lana, Tyler, Dojo, No Doubt: You don’t need us to tell you not to miss headliners Lana Del Rey on Friday, Tyler, the Creator on Saturday, Doja Cat on Sunday, and the reunion of No Doubt wherever that one ends up in the weekend. But these will be the most talked-about sets of the fest, sure to have big productions, special guests, all the bells and whistles. If you don’t catch these, you won’t keep up the cultural conversation out of Coachella. We’ll see you there.

2. Peso Pluma: At 24, the Mexican singer is the freshest sensation in Latin music, having crossed over to chart success in the United States with multiple singles in the Hot 100 in 2023, including one that reached No. 4. Peso Pluma, who is also most-streamed artist ever in Mexico, performs Friday. See also: Colombian singer-rapper J. Balvin drew a huge crowd the last time he played Coachella, and his Sunday set will be wild.

3. Sabrina Carpenter: The pop singer-actress is the first Disney Channel star ever booked for Coachella, something you’d have thought Miley Cyrus might have beat her to but no. She performs Friday. See also: If actress-singers are your jam, Friday will also feature a set from Suki Waterhouse, while Sunday serves up Reneé Rapp, the star of the “Mean Girls” musical on Broadway, and the movie adaptation of the same.

4. Brittany Howard: The former singer of Alabama Shakes, Howard’s solo career finds her deeper in the soulful blues. Her powerful, emotional vocals should dominate the stage on Friday. See also: Singer-pianist Jon Batiste has a soulful groove, too, though his Saturday set will be a bit jazzier than Howard’s.

5) Cimafunk: The Cuban singer mixes rap with funk over Afro-Caribbean rhythms. It’s a funky, funky party when his band gets cooking. See also: Kokoroko is a female-fronted eight-piece English ensemble that mixes jazz and Afrobeat. Both play Friday.

6) Blur: The Britpop elders return to Coachella behind a strong new album. Take your children to see this on Saturday night so they know what Coachella was like 15 years ago when indie and alternative rock ruled. See also: The British techno duo Orbital, also on Saturday, have been doing their thing since the end of the ’80s, long before all the dance kiddies in the Sahara tent were born. Respect your elders!

7) Ice Spice: One of the hip-hop breakouts of 2023, Ice Spice is also a Taylor Swift collaborator (and part of her squad at the Super Bowl, too). With loads of charisma and a unique laid-back style, she should be big on the Saturday lineup in the desert this year. See also: The Argentinian producer Bizzarap also exploded on the music scene last year in collaborations with stars such as Peso Pluma, Rauw Alejandro, and Shakira. The possibility of big-name guests is high here for his Saturday set.

8. Gesaffelstein: The French DJ should be both visually and sonically fascinating on Saturday, and if he’s joined by any of his big-name collaborators – think Ye, the Weeknd, Haim, Lil Nas X, for instance – this could be a highlight of the weekend. He plays Saturday. See also: The French duo Justice plays Friday and should be a blast as they’ve been here before. Oneohtrix Point Never on Saturday is another of the electronic acts that could deliver something spectacular.

9. Le Sserafim: A year after the girl group BlackPink became the first K-pop headliner at Coachella, the festival brings another rising K-pop girl group act to the desert with Le Sserafim’s Saturday set. See also: Ateez, the K-pop boy band, plays Friday, and the Rose, a South Korean indie rock band, is on Sunday’s bill.

10. Raye: The English singer-songwriter, who performs Saturday, isn’t well known here yet, but at the Brit Awards in March, she set a record for the most wins in one night with six. An R&B-based singer, she’s got a gorgeous voice in that British neo-soul vein. She’s also written songs for a ton of big-name artists, including contributing to Beyonce’s new “Cowboy Carter” album. Just sayin’. See also: Victoria Monet just won the Grammy for best new artist, and her own R&B influences make a nice bookend to Raye. She performs Sunday.

11. The Last Dinner Party: Everyone says there’s no rock at Coachella anymore. Well, check out the Last Dinner Party, an all-female English rock band that put the swagger back where it belongs, on stage with electric guitars and drums on Saturday at the fest. See also: Young Fathers is a Scottish hip-hop/art pop group that also roars on stage. Check them out Saturday.

12. Khruangbin: The Texas trio’s mostly instrumental set is the perfect accompaniment to a chill-out Sunday after the harder stuff earlier in the weekend. Transporting and transformative, this is the groovy stuff you want. See also: The guitar duo Hermanos Gutierrez also focuses on dreamy instrumentals. Find them Sunday, too.

13. Atarashi Gakko!: This Japanese girl group is pure fun, wearing school uniforms while singing and dancing in sharply choreographed performances. You will smile as you watch this on Sunday. See also: Hatsune Miku is a holographic Japanese pop star. Which means when you “see” her on Saturday she won’t be there, just the ones and zeroes that make her “real.” This is the strange stuff that’s always fun to find.

James, who lives in Pasadena, started out as a jazz singer but has diversified his styles throughout his career to include a blend of R&B, hip-hop, rock and funk. This album, the first he’s produced himself, explores the pan-African musical sound that was developing in the 1970s. It is being released on April 5th through Rainbow Blonde Records, which he co-founded with his wife, Talia Billig, who also helped write some of the songs.

James spoke recently by video about this most personal of projects. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q. How did this album come to be? 

The first seed planted was meeting Leon Ware – he wrote so much for Motown, but he also produced and wrote “I Want You” for Marvin Gaye, which is my favorite album of all time. We spent a beautiful day at his house in Marina del Rey. He had such a wealth of ideas and gravitas. He had a huge photo of Marvin on the wall and one of him with Berry Gordy too, and he just talked about this beautiful connection that I didn’t really know between jazz and R&B, saying Marvin, Al Green, Sam Cooke, Bill Withers, all those guys, came from jazz in some way.

There was the Black church music and there was jazz – that’s what you could sing and then they created R&B, so that was a huge lightbulb moment for me. We never released the track we started writing but he gave me so much wisdom. Then I needed to mature a bit to start telling my story and to get my songwriting level and production to this level.

I want music that feels fun and accessible. I spent two years touring with my Bill Withers Project, and watching people dance to “A Lovely Day.” I want my music to tap into that joy, but I also wanted to write songs that you could put under a microscope and nerd out to the jazz harmonies, the way Quincy Jones did for Michael Jackson. 

Most of the writing was done here in Pasadena where I live with Talia. I pre-produced everything on Ableton here in my home. I wanted it to sound like J. Dilla and Leon Ware produced the album for me.

Q. You were born in Minneapolis and lived in New York. How do you think living in Pasadena shaped the album’s vibe?

This is my first real L.A. album. There’s so much space here – I’m looking out my window right now, and I can see the mountain range. It’s just totally different when you’re seeing soaring birds and coyotes running across the street. But also there’s this car culture out here and I pictured somebody listening to this in their car, driving super slow in a late ’70s black Cadillac with a really nice system. 

But my band is all New York musicians, so it’s the best of both coasts. We recorded everything near Woodstock in New York, in one room, the way it was done back then, to two-inch tape. 

Q. How did you find that balance between a 1978 sound and something that felt contemporary?

That’s where J Dilla came in – a lot of his samples were weird seventies Japanese funk and disco and fusion records, so I programmed a lot of his drums in to give it that feeling so the band could hear that this is not really a retro thing, but something that fills up today while referencing the ’70s stuff. 

The years 1976-79 are my sweet spot, and 1978 had “C’est Chic,” Prince’s first album, Billy Joel’s “52nd Street,” and “Saturday Night Fever” [which had been released at the end of 1977]. They were all happening at the time and I pulled different things from them; “Off the Wall” from 1979 was also part of the blueprint – and Marvin Gaye. 

Marvin’s song “Come Live With Me, Angel” has this weird kind of trippy, sexy, drugged-out vibe for three minutes, and it’s kind of jazzy. That space is something I’m interested in getting into – where I put on an LP and I lose myself in the artist’s world and time stops, and hopefully I come out the other side a different person in some way or feeling different. So I wanted you to feel this is if you’re dancing, if you’re vibing, that it’s that ’70s thing. 

Q. Have you moved on to other sounds now or are you still in that ’70s mode?

 I’m deep in that vibe. This album is part of a larger collection of work, the next one is going to be referencing kung fu films, which also came to a peak in the ’70s; I’m going to bring some of the kung fu and Blaxploitation soundtrack feel while keeping the disco funk thing happening. I feel like this is me – Prince and Michael Jackson was the music I first fell in love with and so I feel like I’m going back to my roots.

“It’s mind-boggling to do shows that big,” he said during an interview, ahead of the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1994 album “Smash” on April 8 — which includes the opening and closing songs that the crowds went wild for in South America. The band will celebrate the milestone by playing the record in full at Honda Center in Anaheim on June 1.

ALSO SEE: Anaheim Ducks and The Offspring debut a special merch and beer collaboration at Honda Center

But getting to this point, where hundreds of thousands of concertgoers buy tickets to see you perform, wear your merch and are simultaneously belting out lyrics while dancing along to the music you’ve created, was a slow-going process for the band until “Smash” came along.

A SMASHING SUCCESS

Formed in Garden Grove in 1984, the first decade of the band’s existence was a slow-building grind. Though they’d signed to Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz’s independent label, Epitaph Records, to release their second album, “Ignition,” in 1992, Holland recalls the final show to support that album tour cycle was at Goodies in Fullerton and they sold roughly 120 tickets.

“And that was pretty good for us back then,” guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman said during the same interview.

They did land dates in Europe opening for Los Angeles punk band and label mates, NOFX, on that tour, too, but back home, the guys still all had day jobs and were attending college.

Holland was in grad school studying molecular biology and Noodles was working as a custodian at a Garden Grove elementary school. Though they booked as many shows as possible in between work and school, the balancing act of real-life responsibilities and chasing a dream wasn’t so glamorous at the time.

In 1993, the guys entered Westbeach Recorders in Hollywood and demoed a bunch of tracks with Gurewitz at the helm. Holland remembers the songs “Nitro (Youth Energy),” “Bad Habit” and a rough version of “Self Esteem” being a part of those sessions. When it came time to record the actual album, they were given a $20,000 budget and headed into Track Record Studios in North Hollywood.

“That was twice as much as we got for ‘Ignition’ so we were like, ‘Wow, this is the big time,’” Holland said, also sharing that he crossed paths with Long Beach rapper Snoop Dogg in the lobby of the studio for the first time during those recording sessions. “From start to finish, it was a little less than three weeks, and at the same time, we were going to go on tour with Pennywise and I called Epitaph to say, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t finish the record because we’re doing a tour with Pennywise,’ and they said, ‘Nuh-uh, you need to finish this now because we have a release date on the books and it’s coming out in April.’ So we had to jam in and get it done before the tour, so that last week was really gnarly finishing it up.”

“Smash” came out on April 8, 1994, and with its blistering, fast-paced punk sound, ripping guitar riffs and sing-along lyrics, it landed on the Billboard 200. The songs “Come Out and Play,” “Self Esteem” and “Gotta Get Away” ended up in regular rotation on radio stations across the country and around the world. Though not a single, KROQ 106.7/FM in Los Angeles pushed the hard-hitting song “Bad Habit” — despite the flurry of curse words it was forced to bleep out — when listeners demanded to hear it. “Smash” was also the first album on Epitaph to garner gold and platinum (later multi-platinum) status in several countries.

The first time the guys heard “Come Out and Play” on the radio was just before “Smash” came out as DJ Jed the Fish played the single as his Catch of the Day.

“We knew he was going to play it, so we got on the phone and started calling and had all of our friends call and we told them all to listen,” Noodles recalled. “This was all pre-social media so you actually had to pick up the phone and call the station and it just took off. We were in Alaska when the record came out and I remember friends calling and saying ‘You’re like No. 1 on ‘The Furious 5 at 9′ on KROQ,’ which was a really big deal.”

“When you start a band, the idea of being on the radio, that’s about as exciting as it gets,” Dexter said. “It was really a moment for us. I remember I was in the lab listening to it on a tiny portable radio and I was just wanting to punch walls it was so exciting.”

It wasn’t long before they were able to quit their day jobs to make music a full-time gig and Holland put his studies on hold, though he did eventually obtain his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California in 2017.

THREE DECADES LATER

Holland and Noodles still get excited when they hear these songs on the radio after 30 years. Seeing thousands of fans jump up and down, mosh and squeeze up against the barricade to sing along live aren’t moments lost on these guys, either.

“It’s fun to watch how the crowd reacts every night,” Noodles said, later mentioning that it’s like “the best drug in the world to get feedback like that from an audience; it’s incredible.”

To properly mark the success and the 30th anniversary of “Smash,” the band is playing the entire album, plus other hits and fan-favorites, at a hometown show at Honda Center as part of the venue’s own on-going 30th anniversary celebration.

ALSO SEE: From Green Day’s ‘Dookie’ to Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ready to Die,’ these albums turn 30 in 2024

“It’s super exciting. Hometown shows always feel good because you do really feel that hometown love,” Noodles said. “But it’s a pretty big venue. I’ve seen Shakira there. I also went there to see Gwen (Stefani) when she was doing her solo thing and Marilyn Manson and Hole. I’ve seen a bunch of great bands there, so it’s an honor to play.”

The year 1994 was a big one for music in general as several of The Offspring’s punk rock peers were also breaking into the mainstream with classic albums including Green Day’s “Dookie,” NOFX’s “Punk in Drublic,” Rancid’s “Let’s Go” and Bad Religion’s “Stranger Than Fiction.”

“It felt cool because it felt like the Davids were finally getting the best of the Goliaths, for sure,” Noodles said. “But we also felt a duty and a responsibility to throw back to the bands whose shoulders we were standing on — Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols — and the Orange County bands we loved, T.S.O.L., Adolescents, Social Distortion and the Vandals.”

THE 40th MILESTONE

While the 40th band anniversary crept up on them, Noodles and Holland said they laughed recently when a journalist in South America referred to them as “an iconic duo.”

“It’s like Batman and Robin, and if you want to know which one is Robin, it’s me,” Noodles said, pointing to himself.

The pair are the only original members in the band as others have cycled in and out through the years, but it’s the music that keeps these two together. Though they joked it was actually “a lot of therapy and foot rubs.”

“We love the same kind of music and we love making the music,” Noodles said. “We’re also just really grateful that we still get to do this. Dexter is a really hard worker. When he’s in the studio, he is so focused and he really gets into it and I’m just there cheering him on, really. I’m his hype man.”

The current lineup includes longtime bassist Todd Morse, multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and the latest addition to the band, drummer Brandon Pertzborn, who wasn’t even born when “Smash” was first released.

“Well, he was born in 1994, but not until October,” Noodles adds. “But one of the first songs that made him want to play drums was ‘Hammerhead’ and he was probably 13 at that time, but he said it was one of the songs that he really loved and he said, ‘Man, I want to play drums to that.’ So that’s an honor in and of itself.”

Noodles says the band has been enjoying its time together, warming up before each show with 5-6 songs backstage every night and dusting off some of the tracks from “Smash” that haven’t been played live much. They’ve been rocking through “Something to Believe In” and “Killboy Powerhead,” which is a cover originally by Chicago punk band The Didjits.

“What I really liked about (that song) was that it sounded like it had an Orange County riff to it, like it sounded like a D.I. riff on the guitar,” Holland said about opting to include that cover on the album. “We had a discussion, like should we cover this because they are a a peer band? But we decided to do it because it was a good song and turned out to be a great fit for the album.”

So, how do you know you’ve “made it” as a band? Is it being played on the radio? Having music videos on MTV? Hanging gold and platinum records on your walls? Or is it being parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic?

“Oh, ‘Weird’ Al for sure,” Noodles said without hesitation. When “Smash” was released, Yanovic reached out to see if he could parody “Come Out and Play” and make it “Laundry Day,” since there’s the repeating “you gotta keep ’em separated” line in the song.

“We were like, ‘No, we’re not Coolio; we’re like this punk band’ and we didn’t think it would work,” Noodles continued, referencing Yankovic’s parody of Coolio’s “Gangster Paradise,” which became the hit, “Amish Paradise.” But when The Offspring put out “Americana” in 1998, Yankovic reached out again, this time wanting to turn “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” into “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi.”

“We were like, ‘Yes, please!,” Noodles said with a laugh. “Even my daughter called me and was like ‘Weird Al’ covered your song! Dad, you’re like in a real band now!’”

The Offspring: 30th Anniversary of ‘Smash’

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, June 1

Where: Honda Center, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim

Tickets: $73-$256 at Ticketmaster.com

“Catch more than vibes?” the billboard reads. Beneath it is a bubble listing the freestdcheck.org website and an photo of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which is held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

The ad was paid for by the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a global nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS medical care and other services.

It went up beside the westbound 10 Freeway on Tuesday, March 26, according to a foundation news release. By Thursday, March 28, the foundation had been asked to take it down.

“What are Coachella organizers afraid of?” Michael Weinstein, foundation president and co-founder, said in the release. “Do they really not know how people spend their time during festival weekends?”

“It doesn’t help anyone to bury their heads in the desert sand and pretend people aren’t having sex,” Weinstein said. “We want everyone to use condoms and practice safer sex, but if they don’t, we also want them to know where to get STD tested easily and for free.”

Foundation Vice President of Marketing Jason Farmer said Monday, April 1, that the billboard would remain.

“We don’t feel like we’re in the wrong,” he said.

“We talked to the owners of the billboard, too, and they were against taking it down.”

Farmer said Jason Bernstein, an attorney for AEG Presents — the parent company of Goldenvoice, which organizes and promotes Coachella — contacted the foundation’s media placement company to request the billboard’s removal.

Bernstein and a Goldenvoice representative did not respond to requests for comment this week.

Farmer said “they felt that there was a copyright infringement” and asked that the billboard be taken down within 48 hours.

Farmer said it also seems the company may have “felt it was putting a negative light” on the festival.

The billboard doesn’t name the festival, but features a photo of it, and its style echoes that of the Coachella poster. The photo appears to be from Getty Images and has been used by several media outlets.

Farmer said the foundation has placed billboards along the 10 in previous years to be seen by festivalgoers — or anyone else — headed toward Los Angeles, where the nonprofit group has multiple testing locations.

Attention-grabbing ads are a foundation tradition.

Last month, its ad saying “Just use it.” above a condom-clad banana — echoing Nike’s “Just do it.” and swoosh decal — became a finalist for the OBIE advertisement awards, a foundation news release states. Several advertising companies turned down the artwork before it finally ran, another release states.

Its other billboards have included a warning about drug-resistant gonorrhea that showed a ship sinking after hitting an iceberg, messages about syphilis and homelessness that incorporate the California flag and an STD testing ad that read “Feel the Burn?” in a play on Bernie Sanders’ “Feel the Bern” slogan.

The nonprofit group’s involvement in the Rose Parade also has made waves over the years.

In 2014, a gay marriage took place atop a wedding cake float. It drew support and opposition, including an effort to boycott the parade. Some TV stations cut away rather than broadcast the wedding. The foundation was absent from this year’s Rose Parade, which spokesperson Ged Kenslea said in December was due to design difficulties and a desire to maintain the nonprofit group’s reputation for delivering thought-provoking messages. Tentative float plans involved Steamboat Willie, a precursor to Mickey Mouse that lost its copyright protection Jan. 1.

The foundation isn’t the first to capitalize on the extra traffic near the Coachella concert.

Last year, 10 billboards featuring farmworkers put up by the Perris-based TODEC Legal Center sought to remind festivalgoers who “The Real Coachella” is: the farmworkers who live in the Coachella Valley and make up much of it workforce. The campaign returned again this year, a March news release states.

Though Farmer said the foundation doesn’t have data on the level of STD transmission at Coachella, the location provides an opportunity to spread the word about the available services.

The festival averages 125,000 daily attendees from around the world, but they converge in the Coachella Valley in eastern Riverside County for a weekend and then leave. Symptoms of STDs may not appear for days, weeks or years.

In 2019, there were rumors of a herpes outbreak at the festival. Riverside County health officials said they weren’t aware of a spike, though herpes is not among the diseases that must be reported to public health agencies, nor is it routinely tested for unless someone has symptoms, according to the CDC.

“We wouldn’t get reports about herpes unless there was a big spike at a clinic,” then-county spokesperson Jose Arballo Jr. said at the time.

Whether or not music festivals are a hotbed of disease, some STDs are on the rise.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the U.S. saw an 80% increase in syphilis and an 11% increase in gonorrhea between 2018 and 2022.

In 2022, California ranked 22nd-highest for chlamydia, 18th for gonorrhea and 19th for syphilis, according to the CDC. Preliminary 2023 data show California had the third-highest number of new HIV cases behind Florida and Texas, though those totals are not adjusted by state population, and those are also the three most populous states.

The Coachella festival takes place two consecutive weekends, April 12 through April 14 and April 19 through 21. Each weekend features three days of music and art. Most festivalgoers stay at festival campsites or nearby lodgings.

The billboard will stay up through the end of the month, Farmer said.

This year more than 65 curated restaurants and at least a couple of hidden bars will be spread throughout the festival grounds serving everything from Tijuana-style tacos by beloved Tacos 1986 to the always crowd-pleasing Szechuan garlic noodles from Bang Bang Noodles to seasonal California soul cuisine from award-winning restaurant Post & Beam to higher end pizzas, smash burgers, vegan dishes and even fancy sit-down dinners prepared by celebrity chefs.

“There are so many experiences that are part of Coachella. To me the food is part of the overall experience. Food is part of our everyday life and if we don’t come to the table with that then we’re really missing something. It’s what people expect and what I would want to see as a patron coming to Coachella,” said Adrian Garcia, the food and beverage director for Goldenvoice festivals whose job it is to put together the food and drink lineup for the festival.

Garcia and his team spend a lot of time visiting restaurants, checking social media for what’s hot at the moment and reaching out to established chefs to come up with an eclectic blend of food. And just like the musical lineup is anchored by headliners, there are heavy food hitters on his list.

“You always want to give the fans those festival favorites like the Spicy Pie and stuff like that. But you also want to get those places that people haven’t yet tried around town,” he said.

Here’s a taste of what’s coming to Coachella this year.

The VIP menu

VIP ticket holders will not only get access to their own areas but also their own food with some of the most exciting vendors setting up their kitchens in the exclusive spots. Among the food vendors in the 12 Peaks VIP area will be The Last Pizza, which is a collaboration with Prince Street Pizza and singer Grimes. They’ll be serving a thin spicy pie drizzled with hot honey. This area will also house the widely popular Bang Bang Noodles, Tacos 1986 and people can grab a Banh Mi from modern Vietnamese kitchen My Lai while sipping on Ethiopian coffee from Samra Origins, which is a collaboration between Blue Bottle Coffee and The Weeknd. On the other side of the field some of the vendors at the VIP Rose Garden will include modern Chinese food from MìLà, which will be serving soup dumplings and noodles as well as Love Hour, a burger joint making crispy smash burgers.

Indio Central Market

With its many food vendors, shady grounds, and lots of places to sit, the Indio Central Market is always a busy hub at Coachella. This year it returns with 15 restaurants including Chef Roy Choi’s revolutionary taco truck food Kogi. A must-try here are the Loaded Korean BBQ Fries. The Central Market is also where Chef Kasem Saengsawang of Farmhouse Thai Kitchen will be serving Volcano Cup noodles topped with fried chicken and where people can get Sumo Dogs, which mix Japanese and American flavors in a bun, and sweets from  Happy Ice from Los Angeles. “Not only is it a delicious cold treat but it’s a gorgeous presentation as well. I can’t wait to see those roaming around the site,” Garcia said, referring to Happy Ice. Drinkers who don’t want to get drunk can get a mocktail from The New Bar, which will be coming to the festival for the second time with a large menu of alcohol-free mixed drinks.

The Speakeasies

One of the festival’s most popular pastimes is trying to find the various themed hidden speakeasies  that offer high-end cocktails and a place to chill. “I love the speakeasies because you give people something to search for, you give people something they want to show their friends that they found,” Garcia said. Since the fun part is finding the speakeasies Garcia wasn’t spilling the beans about how many will be there and of course where they would be. But expect to see the return of New York based PDT (Please Don’t Tell) and Sonny’s by Attaboy, an ’80s-themed, Miami Vice-inspired bar. “Finding them is really all about being willing to explore the site. Things move every year, we have to have some fun with it. There may be things in weird corners where you don’t expect anything,” he said.

Fancy sit-downs

Aperol Spritz is returning to Coachella for a second year and creating the Aperol Aperitivo Italiano experience inside the 12 Peaks VIP area. This sit-down table service meal is a collaboration between Chef Samuele Silvestri of Terrazza Aperol in Venice and Carvingblock. Reservations are required for this sit-down dinner between 4 and 7 p.m. each day of the festival during both weekends. “I’m definitely looking forward to what they bring and what they create in this Italian kid of oasis,” Garcia said. But the biggest sit down dinner will once again be the Outstanding In The Field dinners at the Rose Garden VIP are. This is where for $350 per person, about 200 people sit at a long long table for a four-course farm-to-table dinner created by different chefs each day of the festival. This year chefs include Burt Bakman of SLAB barbecue restaurant in Pasadena, Ilan Hall of Ramen Hood at Grand Central Market in Los Angeles and Gabe Kennedy of Checker Hall in Highland Park.