Coachella 2023: The Sonora tent is a 'venue within a festival environment'

When the Sonora tent appeared for the first time in 2017 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, I was confused on what it was. I was curious when people leaving the tent told me it was air conditioned with small couches and bean bag chairs scattered on the floor.

In many ways, the Sonora tent feels like it's appeasing the older crowd by featuring younger and older rock bands in a smaller, cooler (literally) environment — or trying to create the feeling of an indoor venue within a festival environment.

Following a Sunday afternoon performance by the indie rock band Momma, Venus Spicer of Stockton said "It feels like it's its own venue."

"I like how intimate it is as an inside venue. There's no sound leaking out and you can't hear anything else, just this stage. It feels like you're in the moment with the artists," Spicer said. "We came to see Ethel Cain (on Saturday) and it was my favorite set of the weekend because it was so intimate, you could really see her."

Bratty, aka Jenny Juárez, performed in the Sonora on Saturday and described it as an "emblematic stage."

"I think the Sonora stage is for people who like psychedelic rock music. It was great to play in there for the first time," Juárez said. "It's air conditioned and somewhere to hide from people, which is nice. (The tent) also cups the sound, too, and I think I liked it more than if I would have played in the sun."

Even though the sound is good in the Sonora, it's not invincible to sound issues, as seen on Saturday afternoon during a set by The Linda Lindas. Moments after the band walked on stage, Bela Salazar's guitar eventually switched on, but Lucia de la Garza and Eloise Wong's microphones barely worked, or were inaudible.

The interior has evolved in recent years

The interior has also evolved in recent years from colorful murals and sculptures that looked straight out of an Adult Swim cartoon to a more sophisticated mid-century modern atmosphere. There are two raised platforms with orange retro couches and breeze block patterns on the walls. Add in the bar in the rear of the tent and it feels more like an indoor club venue for 1,000 people than a festival stage.

But the Sonora is also an examination of the past and the present in rock music. A new generation of indie rock, punk and hardcore bands have performed among veterans of those genres each year. Should rock music ever return to prominence at future festivals, it's likely one or more of those future bands headlining on the Coachella Stage will have played in the Sonora.

In previous years, I've watched bands such as ska/punk band The Interrupters, the indie rock band U.S. Girls, alternative band Spiritualized and punk legends T.S.O.L. perform in the Sonora. I've seen everything from new punk and hardcore bands with fierce mosh pits to serenading sets by The Marias and Ron Gallo.

The crowd is often a mixture of old and young festivalgoers, parents with young children, attendees looking to escape the heat and nap on the floor, or, like someone I spotted on Sunday, people dancing in an inflatable T-rex costume with a man dressed as a banana. When performances end, the tent empties out for a brief period before a new group starts coming in.

Many criticize festival organizers for the lack of rock bands on the lineup, which have continued to dwindle on the other stages while rap and pop music artists are dominating the festival and appearing as headliners. It's a fair criticism since the festival started in 1999 with rock headliners Rage Against the Machine and Tool, and continued with many other rockers in subsequent years.

But rock music is still featured at Coachella, mostly in the Sonora, which isn't a bad thing. A band such as Sleaford Mods, who performed on Sunday afternoon, needs a space to perform its post-punk-meets-rap show for those who have never seen anything like it. Desert Hot Springs singer/songwriter DannyLux, who is a rising star, also needs a stage to shine, and the Sonora is the perfect place.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.