"Oldchella," Officially Called Desert Trip, Announces Full Details, Including Mind-Blowing Ticket Prices

That which we’ve been anticipating for the past few weeks has finally come to pass: “Oldchella” has made an official announcement of its existence. First and foremost, it’s shockingly not calling itself “Oldchella,” despite Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones and The Who averaging 71.7 years old. The festival’s official name is Desert Trip.

Desert Trip, as previously reported, will take place Oct. 7-9 at Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., the same as Coachella. All six acts will play full sets: Oct. 7 will feature The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Oct. 8 will feature Paul McCartney and Neil Young, and Oct. 9 will feature Roger Waters and The Who.

The other big news of the day is the astronomical cost of attending Desert Trip. A single day general admission pass goes for $199. 3-day general admission passes will cost $399, with the price rising significantly if you want to reserve a place to stand or sit—reserved floor spots start at $699 and reserved grandstand seats start at a cool $999. If you want to be in the standing pit (which sounds fairly menacing but is probably just the space right in front of the stage), that’ll be a mere $1,599.
We wondered whether the bundled cost of seeing all six acts together could actually be called a bargain (the best you’ve ever had), so we checked out ticket prices for their individual shows. As it turns out, the nosebleed seats for the current Paul McCartney, The Who and Bob Dylan tours go fairly consistently for $40-$50, though if you’d like to be able to see the artists without binoculars, you’d have to pay significantly more. So given that information, is Desert Trip a good deal? Well, you have to add in the cost of finding lodging … and of getting to Indio … and of probably being a full football field away from the stage … probably not, in an economic sense. Then again, why listen to reason when you can go see six of rock’s most legendary acts at the same time?

Tickets for Desert Trip go on sale next Monday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. You can check out the official announcement video below.