April 3, 2026 • 12 mins
On this week's mini-sode of In Service Of, longtime Coachella and Springsteen concert veteran Steve Baltin, who has been all access at 18 Coachella's and seen Springsteen 60 times, talks about both as they converge on LA next week. Importantly for all of you going to Coachella he talks about the undercard acts, from David Byrne and Iggy Pop to Holly Humberstone, you cannot miss.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It is Steve Balton within Service up and back for
another Friday edition one week from today, well one week
from not Want to Be recorded. April tenth will be
the kickoff of Weekend one of Coachella, So I figured
we'd talked about that. It's a huge concert week in
(00:25):
LA because Springsteen's Land of Hope and Dreams tour is
coming to LA for two nights to the Forum, and
then that same week, as I mentioned, is the kickoff
of Coachella. Now, as someone who has been all access
at eighteen Coachellas and I've seen Springsteen sixty times, I
(00:46):
feel very informed to talk about both of these as
a concert goer. There's no tour in the world like Springsteen.
It's very simply. I mean, I've been to five thousand.
I have seen Zeppelin, i have seen the Who, I've
seen the Stones. I've seen you Too, I've seen Radiohead,
(01:08):
I've seen everyone who ever fucking mattered their music. I've
seen Johnny Cash, I've seen Dolly Parton, I've seen Willie Nelson,
I've seen Stevie Wonder everyone. There's just nothing like a
Springsteen show, and especially this type of tour where it
is so politically charged, and he's so motivated and has
(01:28):
so much to say. I would say this is a
tour you absolutely cannot miss. That's for me as a
huge Springsteen fan. But again having seen everyone Neil Young,
Tom Petty, on and on and on, you know McCartney,
there's just nothing like Springsteen. So I would make that
(01:51):
a much show on this tour. And now for those
of you going to Coachella, you know, I have a
lot of feelings on Coachella as someone who before the
very first festival in ninety nine, I was living in Philly.
I flew from Philly to LA to do an interview
with Paul Tilette, who founded Coachella. Co founded Coachella on
(02:13):
the making of the festival, so I've been there since
the beginning. I am not one of those people who thinks, oh,
you know, back in the glory days of Coachella, because
I have no problem with the lineup changing. I will
say for this year's lineup, though, I am one of
those people who, regardless of who the headliners are at
a festival, I always look at the undercard because to me,
(02:36):
that's always the most interesting aspect of any festival. So
for those of you going this year. There are many
acts I would recommend you know, regardless of who the
headliners are, and there's a lot to say about Coachella,
but for starters, I would say, do not miss Ninish Noise,
which of course is Nineish Nails with boys noise, turnstile
(02:58):
at the Cane. I mean, there's Sony good Foster, the
people who are friends Moby, who's a Coachella veteran, a
legend at Coachella. Absolutely do not miss that fucking sets
Leaky Lee is gonna be amazing Strokes. Many people love
(03:18):
David Byrne. I promise you, promise you that when Coachella
is over, everyone will be talking about David Byrne. They're
not gonna be talking about Foaver, They're not gonna be
talking about Sabrina. No disrespect to them. David Byrne is
that one that people are gonna be like, wait, that
just blew me away. And it happens every year at
(03:41):
a festival where there's some undercard who blows everyone away.
Not that David Byrne is not respected and considered a legend,
but coming into this festival, you know, people may not
realize that, like just who he is Also, Cascade is
a huge, huge, huge Coachella lesends. I remember hanging out
(04:06):
with him at Coachella. When you're for Rolling Stone, we're
hanging out backstage with I was doing it on the
road with Cascade at Coachella and he was hanging out
with us. Sher. That guy's so respected in the dance world.
Lave is gonna be huge as well. I see her
in probably I imagine she'll be in the Sunset Spot and
(04:27):
there's just gonna be one of those magic sets, like
seeing Wonnard Cohen back in the day at the Sunset Spot.
One of the best Coachella set I ever saw. And again,
I've been to eighteen of them, and I was on
the soundboard for Daft Punk's legendary two thousand and six
set because I was covering for the La Times. I've
been on stage numerous times. My favorite Coachella set of
(04:48):
all times Portas Set, and it was at the Sunset Spot.
Do not miss Lave And then of course Eggy fucking Pop.
I can't wait for peopleeople who are there for the
pop backs to go and kind of stumble over to
Iggy Pop and have their minds completely blown. This is
(05:08):
like Iggy Pop basically is one of the people who
invented punk. He's one of the greatest performers who ever lived.
He is an icon, He's a god in the music world,
and at seventy something years old, probably close to eighty,
he still rocks harder than ninety nine point nine percent
of the people in this world. I mean, go back
and watch footage of old Iggy Pop shows where he
(05:30):
was crawling a broken glass. That dude was a fucking
maniac on stage. In the best way this will be
to see him get his Coordinationella absolutely amazing wet leg
I also would absolutely not miss again Duke Dumont, Armin
(05:50):
van Buren hugely on an Oh, Holly Humberstone, who had
just interviewed phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal, miss her Gigi Perez again.
And it's no disrespect to the headliners, because I'm sure Sabrina,
Justin and Carol g will all be exactly what you expect,
(06:11):
and you'll be excited for them and they'll be good
at what they do. It's just for me, as a
better than a festival goer, I always look for the
undercard first because there are always bands you see on
there that you know nothing about that totally blow you away.
And the headliners of Coachella have never been the ones
(06:32):
that have dazzled me. I mean By York closing out
one year was incredible, Chemical Brothers, Prince of course was well,
that was Prince. The worst crowd I ever saw Coachella,
and no disrespect to her said because she was great.
Was Beyonce. But that crowd, That's the other thing to
(06:53):
watch for is the headliner crowds get fucking insane. I
did see Rage Against the Machine headline and Coachella blew
my mind, and again Beyonce was great, it was just
the crowd where I literally thought I was going to
be trampled. You know, people were so agroing there because
there were so many people to see her. So it's
never been for me. My favorite sets have never been
(07:15):
the headliners. I think back to a band like Koa
Sheen that ninety eight percent of you have never heard
of great British band, saw them early in the day,
way back in the early two thousands. Still remember that
Coachella sat as something memorable, So you know there are
so many grandmos. The other advice I would give you,
as someone who's been at eighteen, dude, stay away from
(07:37):
the fucking alcohol in the morning. I cannot tell you
the number of people I have seen who pay thousands
of dollars to be there and they're passed out on
the line by three o'clock. What the fuck is wrong
with you? Okay, you're there for the vestval. You know
it's gonna be ninety degrees, one hundred degrees, you're gonna
(07:57):
be like again, I have seen so many people pass
out on the floor by on the grass by three
in the afternoon. And if you're there solely for the music,
which you know hopefully you are, but of course many
people care about the douchebag influencer parties, then I would
say I have only been the Weekend two once. Most
(08:18):
years I go to Weekend one Weekend two. However, I
was there a couple of years ago and I spoke
with everybody who worked there, and everybody I spoke with said,
by far, Weekend two was better because it was much
more about the music and less about the scene. So
if you really want to be there for the music,
and you're not going this year and you want to
(08:38):
go in future, I would highly, highly highly recommend Weekend
two where there are much fewer distractions. Also, in general,
the reason I always went to Weekend one bands were
doing way more press than Weekend one. So on Weekend two,
they've already worked out the kings, they've already played, They're
much more relaxed, They're in a better space, and so
(09:00):
for you, you're gonna have a better time seeing the show. Also,
since I'm not gonna do this twice, I would highly
highly recommend Stage Coach as well. That's an incredible lineup
this year. It's a weird phenomenon where not only do
they have the hottest country acts like el Langley and
Landy Wilson and my personal favorite Noah Cyris, my soul sister,
(09:25):
who's incredible, but there's some weird thing where they booked
all these nineties rock bands like Wallflowers and Counting Crows
and Bush, which I'm gonna not gonna lie. I have
no idea what the fuck the connection is with country,
but I will tell you it's gonna be a really
fun festival, and the after party is one of the
(09:46):
strangest things I've ever seen. Dip Low, Lunacris and Pitbull.
What the fuck is out of a country festival, but
you're gonna have a great time, so do not sleep
on stage. Coach as well. I mean, we're now at
the beginning of the best the whole season for me, the
high point of the festival season, the sort of goal because
I never made it because I wasn't tell me. The
(10:07):
Coachella's is New Orleans Jazz Best. That is also a
massive lineup, but this one is primarily about Coachella. So
I would say, again as someone who's been to so
many of them, it's always the undercard. It's always the
bands you don't know or don't expect that come in.
(10:28):
I remember Belle and Sebastian and Sunset on the Sunset
Spot as well. And the Sunset Spot, of course is
like seven o'clock one is just going down, and that's
always a magic moment. So enjoy the best, be safe.
But you know, again, check out new music, take chances.
(10:48):
There's so many great acts there this year, you know,
beyond the headliners. Have fun with the headliners as well,
because you know they're going to bring up magic moments.
So I'm sure there're gonna be some huge guess. I'm
sure they're going to be those moments people can't stop
talking about, and I'm sure it will be great, but
don't sleep on the fact that there's a lot of
other great acts there, and like I say, David Byrne
(11:11):
will be the one that everybody's talking about. If you
don't know what gpap, dude, you're going to have your
mind blown. And there's some great, great, great dance veterans
there this year. As I say, Cascade, Armin van Buren
one of the Kings of trance, and Moby for me
is one of my favorite acts of all time and
he rarely plays live anymore, so for him to be
(11:33):
there is a very special moment. So enjoy Coachella. And
you know, as we started off with, also, this is
just the beginning of Springsteen. Stewart kicked off last night,
So whatever city you're in, I would high, highly highly
recommend making this show because it's simply the greatest show
(11:53):
on earth. And again I say that as someone who's
seen everyone cool. This was in service of Steve Valltain.
Hope you enjoy your bestival season, be safe and we
will talk to see you. Thanks
It is Steve Balton within Service up and back for
another Friday edition one week from today, well one week
from not Want to Be recorded. April tenth will be
the kickoff of Weekend one of Coachella, So I figured
we'd talked about that. It's a huge concert week in
(00:25):
LA because Springsteen's Land of Hope and Dreams tour is
coming to LA for two nights to the Forum, and
then that same week, as I mentioned, is the kickoff
of Coachella. Now, as someone who has been all access
at eighteen Coachellas and I've seen Springsteen sixty times, I
(00:46):
feel very informed to talk about both of these as
a concert goer. There's no tour in the world like Springsteen.
It's very simply. I mean, I've been to five thousand.
I have seen Zeppelin, i have seen the Who, I've
seen the Stones. I've seen you Too, I've seen Radiohead,
(01:08):
I've seen everyone who ever fucking mattered their music. I've
seen Johnny Cash, I've seen Dolly Parton, I've seen Willie Nelson,
I've seen Stevie Wonder everyone. There's just nothing like a
Springsteen show, and especially this type of tour where it
is so politically charged, and he's so motivated and has
(01:28):
so much to say. I would say this is a
tour you absolutely cannot miss. That's for me as a
huge Springsteen fan. But again having seen everyone Neil Young,
Tom Petty, on and on and on, you know McCartney,
there's just nothing like Springsteen. So I would make that
(01:51):
a much show on this tour. And now for those
of you going to Coachella, you know, I have a
lot of feelings on Coachella as someone who before the
very first festival in ninety nine, I was living in Philly.
I flew from Philly to LA to do an interview
with Paul Tilette, who founded Coachella. Co founded Coachella on
(02:13):
the making of the festival, so I've been there since
the beginning. I am not one of those people who thinks, oh,
you know, back in the glory days of Coachella, because
I have no problem with the lineup changing. I will
say for this year's lineup, though, I am one of
those people who, regardless of who the headliners are at
a festival, I always look at the undercard because to me,
(02:36):
that's always the most interesting aspect of any festival. So
for those of you going this year. There are many
acts I would recommend you know, regardless of who the
headliners are, and there's a lot to say about Coachella,
but for starters, I would say, do not miss Ninish Noise,
which of course is Nineish Nails with boys noise, turnstile
(02:58):
at the Cane. I mean, there's Sony good Foster, the
people who are friends Moby, who's a Coachella veteran, a
legend at Coachella. Absolutely do not miss that fucking sets
Leaky Lee is gonna be amazing Strokes. Many people love
(03:18):
David Byrne. I promise you, promise you that when Coachella
is over, everyone will be talking about David Byrne. They're
not gonna be talking about Foaver, They're not gonna be
talking about Sabrina. No disrespect to them. David Byrne is
that one that people are gonna be like, wait, that
just blew me away. And it happens every year at
(03:41):
a festival where there's some undercard who blows everyone away.
Not that David Byrne is not respected and considered a legend,
but coming into this festival, you know, people may not
realize that, like just who he is Also, Cascade is
a huge, huge, huge Coachella lesends. I remember hanging out
(04:06):
with him at Coachella. When you're for Rolling Stone, we're
hanging out backstage with I was doing it on the
road with Cascade at Coachella and he was hanging out
with us. Sher. That guy's so respected in the dance world.
Lave is gonna be huge as well. I see her
in probably I imagine she'll be in the Sunset Spot and
(04:27):
there's just gonna be one of those magic sets, like
seeing Wonnard Cohen back in the day at the Sunset Spot.
One of the best Coachella set I ever saw. And again,
I've been to eighteen of them, and I was on
the soundboard for Daft Punk's legendary two thousand and six
set because I was covering for the La Times. I've
been on stage numerous times. My favorite Coachella set of
(04:48):
all times Portas Set, and it was at the Sunset Spot.
Do not miss Lave And then of course Eggy fucking Pop.
I can't wait for peopleeople who are there for the
pop backs to go and kind of stumble over to
Iggy Pop and have their minds completely blown. This is
(05:08):
like Iggy Pop basically is one of the people who
invented punk. He's one of the greatest performers who ever lived.
He is an icon, He's a god in the music world,
and at seventy something years old, probably close to eighty,
he still rocks harder than ninety nine point nine percent
of the people in this world. I mean, go back
and watch footage of old Iggy Pop shows where he
(05:30):
was crawling a broken glass. That dude was a fucking
maniac on stage. In the best way this will be
to see him get his Coordinationella absolutely amazing wet leg
I also would absolutely not miss again Duke Dumont, Armin
(05:50):
van Buren hugely on an Oh, Holly Humberstone, who had
just interviewed phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal, miss her Gigi Perez again.
And it's no disrespect to the headliners, because I'm sure Sabrina,
Justin and Carol g will all be exactly what you expect,
(06:11):
and you'll be excited for them and they'll be good
at what they do. It's just for me, as a
better than a festival goer, I always look for the
undercard first because there are always bands you see on
there that you know nothing about that totally blow you away.
And the headliners of Coachella have never been the ones
(06:32):
that have dazzled me. I mean By York closing out
one year was incredible, Chemical Brothers, Prince of course was well,
that was Prince. The worst crowd I ever saw Coachella,
and no disrespect to her said because she was great.
Was Beyonce. But that crowd, That's the other thing to
(06:53):
watch for is the headliner crowds get fucking insane. I
did see Rage Against the Machine headline and Coachella blew
my mind, and again Beyonce was great, it was just
the crowd where I literally thought I was going to
be trampled. You know, people were so agroing there because
there were so many people to see her. So it's
never been for me. My favorite sets have never been
(07:15):
the headliners. I think back to a band like Koa
Sheen that ninety eight percent of you have never heard
of great British band, saw them early in the day,
way back in the early two thousands. Still remember that
Coachella sat as something memorable, So you know there are
so many grandmos. The other advice I would give you,
as someone who's been at eighteen, dude, stay away from
(07:37):
the fucking alcohol in the morning. I cannot tell you
the number of people I have seen who pay thousands
of dollars to be there and they're passed out on
the line by three o'clock. What the fuck is wrong
with you? Okay, you're there for the vestval. You know
it's gonna be ninety degrees, one hundred degrees, you're gonna
(07:57):
be like again, I have seen so many people pass
out on the floor by on the grass by three
in the afternoon. And if you're there solely for the music,
which you know hopefully you are, but of course many
people care about the douchebag influencer parties, then I would
say I have only been the Weekend two once. Most
(08:18):
years I go to Weekend one Weekend two. However, I
was there a couple of years ago and I spoke
with everybody who worked there, and everybody I spoke with said,
by far, Weekend two was better because it was much
more about the music and less about the scene. So
if you really want to be there for the music,
and you're not going this year and you want to
(08:38):
go in future, I would highly, highly highly recommend Weekend
two where there are much fewer distractions. Also, in general,
the reason I always went to Weekend one bands were
doing way more press than Weekend one. So on Weekend two,
they've already worked out the kings, they've already played, They're
much more relaxed, They're in a better space, and so
(09:00):
for you, you're gonna have a better time seeing the show. Also,
since I'm not gonna do this twice, I would highly
highly recommend Stage Coach as well. That's an incredible lineup
this year. It's a weird phenomenon where not only do
they have the hottest country acts like el Langley and
Landy Wilson and my personal favorite Noah Cyris, my soul sister,
(09:25):
who's incredible, but there's some weird thing where they booked
all these nineties rock bands like Wallflowers and Counting Crows
and Bush, which I'm gonna not gonna lie. I have
no idea what the fuck the connection is with country,
but I will tell you it's gonna be a really
fun festival, and the after party is one of the
(09:46):
strangest things I've ever seen. Dip Low, Lunacris and Pitbull.
What the fuck is out of a country festival, but
you're gonna have a great time, so do not sleep
on stage. Coach as well. I mean, we're now at
the beginning of the best the whole season for me, the
high point of the festival season, the sort of goal because
I never made it because I wasn't tell me. The
(10:07):
Coachella's is New Orleans Jazz Best. That is also a
massive lineup, but this one is primarily about Coachella. So
I would say, again as someone who's been to so
many of them, it's always the undercard. It's always the
bands you don't know or don't expect that come in.
(10:28):
I remember Belle and Sebastian and Sunset on the Sunset
Spot as well. And the Sunset Spot, of course is
like seven o'clock one is just going down, and that's
always a magic moment. So enjoy the best, be safe.
But you know, again, check out new music, take chances.
(10:48):
There's so many great acts there this year, you know,
beyond the headliners. Have fun with the headliners as well,
because you know they're going to bring up magic moments.
So I'm sure there're gonna be some huge guess. I'm
sure they're going to be those moments people can't stop
talking about, and I'm sure it will be great, but
don't sleep on the fact that there's a lot of
other great acts there, and like I say, David Byrne
(11:11):
will be the one that everybody's talking about. If you
don't know what gpap, dude, you're going to have your
mind blown. And there's some great, great, great dance veterans
there this year. As I say, Cascade, Armin van Buren
one of the Kings of trance, and Moby for me
is one of my favorite acts of all time and
he rarely plays live anymore, so for him to be
(11:33):
there is a very special moment. So enjoy Coachella. And
you know, as we started off with, also, this is
just the beginning of Springsteen. Stewart kicked off last night,
So whatever city you're in, I would high, highly highly
recommend making this show because it's simply the greatest show
(11:53):
on earth. And again I say that as someone who's
seen everyone cool. This was in service of Steve Valltain.
Hope you enjoy your bestival season, be safe and we
will talk to see you. Thanks
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