Ragecoach

Please listen to When It Rains It Pours x Luke Combs while reading.

Surprise!!! Yes bitchez I have a deep love for country music. This started in about 2014 with my boyf at the time Travis. He would always play it while we were driving around in the car and finally he played something that really caught my attention, My Eyes x Blake Shelton. I told myself in high school I would NEVER listen to country music but here I am today driving to work every morning while listening to the local country radio station in San Diego called KSON 103.7.

Two of my girl friends from San Diego, Cassie and Kalissa, were going to Stagecoach this year (April 26,27,28) for like the 4th year in a row and were trying to help their other friend fill up their airbnb. All I could afford was $200 plus my ticket at the time. I luckily got my ticket face value from a sorority sister who was in my pledge class.

Thursday night we packed up my friends little Honda and hit the road! Our Airbnb was about a 15 minutes uber away from the venue. It had huge bedrooms and a nice backyard with a pool and grill. Us three girls shared the master bedroom, me on the air mattress on the floor. We partied the night away as well anxiously waited for the Ragecoach Day 1 to begin.

Stagecoach basically has 3 stages: Mane Stage, the Palomino, and the Sirius XM Spotlight stage. Mane stage is the Main Stage at Coachella just shifted over, the Palomino is the Mojave stage, and the Sirius XM Spotlight stage is equivalent to the KROQ tent at Coachella where up and coming young artists display their talents. There is also the HonkeyTonk where everyone goes to line dance. I unfortunately never made it to that tent (which is the Yuma Tent at Coachella) because we got there so late everyday. Stagecoach uses the same ferris wheel, some of the same food vendors, as well as the Coachella giant rainbow spiral tower, known as the Spectra, was available for those at Stagecoach. Unlike Coachella who is sponsored by Heineken, Stagecoach is sponsored by Budweiser. A beer is priced around $12 at Stagecoach. And at Stagecoach there are no beer gardens like Coachella. At Stagecoach you are able to walk around with your beers in your hand-making it easier for minors to get alcohol, etc.

Now let’s talk lineup. This was the FIRST year Stagecoach brought an EDM DJ to close out Day 3 at the Palomino Stage. And of course it was no other than Diplo under the name of Thomas Wesley for his country project. His debut country song under Thomas Wesley was So Long ft. Cam. The tent was packed for his set with cowgirls and cowboys from all ages. He remixed popular country songs and brought out Cam to perform So Long and Sam Hunt to perform Thomas’ remix of Body Like a Backroad. AND WHAT I PREDICTED HAPPENED. Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus close down the Palomino stage with Thomas’ remix of Old Town Road. The crowd went fucking crazy. Every single person had their phones out trying to record this historical moment as this song is sung live for the very first time.

Besides Diplo and his surprise guests, Ragecoach 2019 had a stacked lineup. From throwbacks like Bret Michaels (TBT when I used to watch him on Rock of Love) and Lynyrd Skynyrd, to Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Old Dominion, and headliners Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, and Jason Aldean, these cowgirls and cowboys were in for a wild 8 second ride. I was disappointed at Stagecoach for having Sam Hunt headline when he has not released another album since Montavello in 2014. Who rightfully deserved headliner title should’ve been a female...Idk maybe Marren Morris?? Who released 14 track album ‘Girl’ on March 8 2019, with previous albums ‘Hero’, released in 2016 (which has some fucking great songs). Kacey Musgraves even deserved a spot and who cares if she was performing at Coachella the weekends before I mean this fucking girl can sing. She is the new Dolly Parton.

SOMETHING I STRONGLY DISLIKED ABOUT STAGECOACH WAS THE GENERAL ADMISSION STANDING SECTION. Everything was barricaded using white fences so it was almost impossible to find your way in and out of the crowd. There were just fucking huge mobs of people and as soon as it gets dark making your way around the crowd or trying to find the exit was nearly impossible. It was extremely frustrating for me and weird because at Coachella GA gets you front row while at Stagecoach you have to buy a Corral seating or standing section which obviously costs more. There are also 2 Saloons on each side of the Mane Stage (North and South) that you only had access too if you had Corral pit or seated tickets. These Saloons included VIP bathrooms, food and drinks, as well as wifi. Behind the GA standing section was the GA chairs and blankets sections where families and kids hang out. Sometimes to make it back to the GA standing you had to walk through massive crowds of chairs and picnics which people would get pissed about. So inconvenient and a very terrible design. Although because these people are so far back from the stage, Stagecoach provides massive screens throughout the GA section so it feels like you are up close and personal with the artist on stage! If standing on the left side of the stage there is an easily accessible bathroom but if you and your friends are on the right side the nearest bathroom is FOREVER away. Literally forever. Impossible to get to if you are at the front or deep in the crowd. I therefore had to piss in a cup a few times throughout the evening due to not being able to even find the bathrooms. Lastly, the walk to the Ubers is fucking terrible. I have only done the walk out of Coachella once and I don’t ever remember it being as bad as fucking Stagecoach. Yes they have those like bikers that you can pay fucking $20 for a ride but someone like me who is ballin on a budget obviously cant afford shit like that. Therefore, we had to embrace the windy, dusty walk each night-which felt like miles. The Ubers and rideshare section was organized nicely with large letters that your driver could pull up to and a barricade that the security wouldn’t let you pass until you can prove your car was arriving. And of course the Ubers took forever to arrive due to high demand but the fare change was not as bad. I think our most expensive ride was around $60 coming home from the event.

What I really liked about Stagecoach was that you were allowed to be close to the stage while drinking beers with your friends instead of being in a beer garden like Coachella. Also, people were not trying to take photos of everything or take a million selfies because they look good in their daisy dukez and bootz. This festival was about the music, the beer, and hanging out with your friends and having a good time. No one was really dressing to impress. It was truly about the music and getting the chance to sing and hear your favorite country songs live.

Predictions for Stagecoach 2020: Thomas Rhett, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris