Yahoo Sports Power Trip Festival: Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses to Shake Coachella Grounds
Some of metal and hard rock’s most celebrated artists will decimate the Coachella grounds this fall for the inaugural Power Trip festival. Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, and Tool are all set to play Indio, California’s Empire Polo Club on October 6, 7, and 8. Ticketing begins on April 6 at 10 a.m. PT; full info is on the fest’s website.
The gig marks AC/DC’s first concert since December 2016, which featured Axl Rose as their singer while frontman Brian Johnson recovered from hearing loss. It is unclear who, other than guitarist Angus Young, will be in the band’s lineup for the gig, though Johnson sang on their 2020 album, Power Up.
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Last year, Johnson told Rolling Stone he didn’t know if AC/DC would perform again. “I would love to,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. I think everybody would. There’s a groundswell of people just asking. But I hate talking about the future, because, fuck, we were ready two years ago, and the pandemic came, and it screwed everything up. So I’m terrified to say what could happen and what couldn’t.”
The Power Trip concerts will also mark Osbourne’s first full gig since New Year’s Eve 2018. Shortly after that gig, he slipped and fell in the middle of the night aggravating an old injury. He has been training to get back into performance shape ever since and has been performing one-offs here in there in recent years. Last year, he made a surprise appearance at England’s Commonwealth Games for a performance with his Black Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi, and also played the halftime of a Rams-Bills game. In February, Osbourne announced he was retiring from touring.
“Up until last night, I was semi-retired,” Osbourne told Rolling Stone after the Commonwealth Games. “For three years, I’m thinking, ‘I’m never going onstage.’ I kind of half-bought myself into the fact that [my performing career] was over.” He was feeling re-energized at the time and eager to get back onstage.
Metallica, who are putting out their newest album, 72 Seasons, next month (and released the album’s title track today), already had a number of gigs planned this year, as do Guns N’ Roses, who have a world tour. Iron Maiden’s only dates this year are in Europe for their Future Past tour, and Tool had just four other festival dates on the books.
In 2011, Goldenvoice, which produces Coachella, put together The Big Four festival on the grounds, which featured Metallica alongside Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. The company also previously put together the Desert Trip festival, which also featured legacy acts like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney, in 2016. Its annual country festival, Stagecoach, also takes place on the same grounds.
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