Power Trip: Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Metallica to headline October festival. What you need to know

Get ready to bang your heads. The metal festival Power Trip is officially a go, with a lineup that includes hardrock legends Guns N' Roses, AC/DC and Metallica. The festival will be held Oct. 6-8 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, home of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The official announcement of the festival, which was made on Twitter Thursday morning, came after a teaser video popped up on social media Tuesday hinting at a metal music event in the desert (complete with rocker cacti). The video sent viewers to a website that invited them to sign up for updates from Goldenvoice.

What artists have been announced?

Friday, Oct. 6

Guns N' Roses

Iron Maiden

Saturday, Oct. 7

AC/DC

Ozzy Osbourne

Sunday, Oct. 8

Metallica

Tool

It was not immediately clear if the announced bands constitute the entire lineup or if other additions were still to be announced. However, a lineup consisting of two bands each night would mirror that of Desert Trip, the 2016 classic rock festival held at Empire Polo Club in 2016 that Power Trip's name seems to be a clear nod to.

When and where can I buy tickets?

Tickets for the festival go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 6 at powertrip.live. But hotel and VIP packages will be available starting at 10 a.m. April 4. Fans can register now at that website to "access tickets" then. The website says tickets will initially be available only to those who register.

Is this going to break the bank?

As anyone who has been to Coachella or Stagecoach surely expected, attending the festival won't come cheap and will require buying a wristband covering all three days. In fact, getting into the event will cost more than going to Coachella, according to ticket prices posted online.

The cheapest general admission wristbands, which include access to the festival and parking lot, are $649. For comparison, that's $21 more than the similar general admission wristband for Weekend 2 of Coachella currently being sold on that festival's website.

Unlike the annual Empire Polo Club festivals, Power Trip will have specific floor, grandstand and pit areas. A wristband with reserved floor seating starts at about $875 while those for the pit begin at $1750. Those passes also offer access to two "lounge areas" of the festival, although the website explains the lounge won't have a view of the stage.

The festival is also selling several VIP packages that include access to the lounge areas, as well as VIP merchandise. The starting price for those packages is $1,749 to $2,999. VIP packages for Coachella currently start at $1,199.

As with the other festivals, camping will be available on site. A car camping spot starts at $234.87 for the weekend, while the cheapest RV spot goes for $1,404.87.

More: Coachella 2023 guests: We're expecting Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding and maybe even Rihanna

Has this ever been done before?

Although the polo fields are best known for the hordes of flower crown-wearing 20-somethings who descend in force in April and the country-loving cowboys who follow them, the venue has hosted a big-time metal event featuring Metallica before. In 2011, the band headlined a stop on the intercontinental "Big 4" tour held at the polo grounds, which also featured Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. That event was held between the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.

However, Power Trip's structure and strategy is more remniscent of potentially the most iconic music event in Coachella Valley history: Desert Trip.

For two October 2016 weekends at the Empire Polo Club, Desert Trip festival featured a once-in-a-lifetime lineup of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, The Who and Roger Waters — literal legends responsible for the songs that have made up the soundtracks of so many lives.

More: Coachella 2023: A first timer's guide to the festival

Have any of the Power Trip artists played Coachella?

Even though the lineup features metal, most of the bands have performed at Coachella in previous years.

Tool performed at the first Coachella in 1999 and again as headliners in 2006. Frontman Maynard James Keenan has also performed at the festival with his side projects Puscifer in 2013 and A Perfect Circle in 2018.

AC/DC’s 2015 headlining performances came with some baggage. Co-founder and guitarist Malcolm Young officially left the band due to receive treatment for dementia, which was the cause of his death two years later. Drummer Phil Rudd was charged with possession of methamphetamine and cannabis a few months earlier and was replaced by Chris Slade.

Still, the Australian rock band won the crowd over. Horned-hands were thrown in the air, heads were banged, and the crowd shouted at all the right times.

When Guns N’ Roses headlined in 2016, it was the first time the reunited lineup featuring frontman Axl Rose with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan performed at an outdoor festival together in 23 years.

The band played an epic two-and-a-half hour set both weekends with Rose forced by a broken foot to do it entirely while sitting in a throne loaned to him by Dave Grohl.

Axl Rose also came out as a special guest during Carrie Underwood's 2022 Stagecoach headlining set.

More: Stagecoach 2022: Carrie Underwood rocks the Mane Stage with Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses

This article includes previous reporting by Desert Sun staff and USA TODAY.

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

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Power Trip: Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Metallica to headline October festival