Michael Poulsen recalls Volbeat's 'awkward' Coachella experience

Michael Poulsen at Coachella 2016
Michael Poulsen at Coachella 2016 (Image credit: Getty)

Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen has described the band’s appearance at this year’s Coachella festival as “awkward.”

The Danish band were one of only a few hard rock bands on the bill for the April festival in California, which Poulsen says made for a strange atmosphere.

While the band’s American guitarist Rob Caggiano and their management firm Q Prime were explaining the importance of Coachella, Poulsen, drummer Jon Larsen and former bassist Anders Kjolholm were clueless.

Poulsen tells Billboard: “We’re just hillbilly Danes, we fucking never heard of Coachella. Rob and Q Prime were just laughing, saying, ‘Are you crazy, it’s the most important show in America.’

“Me, Jon and Anders were like, ‘We don’t know the festival, we don’t know any of the names of the bands playing the festival.’

“We were not that impressed. For us, it was just another festival in America. But we could see and hear how important it was for everyone that knew the festival.

“We did it, and it seemed like people liked us. So at the end, we’re glad we did it, even though it’s one of the more awkward festivals we’ve played.”

The band released latest album Seal The Deal And Let’s Boogie earlier this year. They tour the US with Avenged Sevenfold and Killswitch Engage in September, followed by a European tour with Airbourne and Crobot in October and November.

Volbeat tour dates 2016

Jun 29: Nibe Festival, Denmark
Jun 30-Jul 02: Bravalla Festival, Sweden
Jul 07-09: Resurrection Festival, Spain
Jul 09: Stockholm Monsters Of Rock, Sweden
Jul 17: Joensuu Ilosaarirock, Finland
Aug 06: Bangor Rise Above Festival, ME
Aug 06-07: Heavy Montreal, Canada
Aug 08: Brooklyn Coney, Island Amphitheater NY (with KSE)
Aug 11: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA (with KSE)
Aug 12: Detroit Masonic Temple Theater, MI (with Black Wizard)
Aug 13: Columbus Express Live, OH (with KSE)
Aug 15: Tulsa Brady Theater, OK (with KSE)
Aug 16: Dallas The Bomb Factory, TX (with KSE)
Aug 20: Minneapolis US Bank Stadium, MN (with Metallica)
Aug 21: Madison Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall, WI (with KSE)
Aug 23: Des Moines 7 Flags Event Center, IA (with KSE)
Aug 24: Brookings Swiftel Center, SD (with KSE)
Aug 25: Fargo Scheels Arena, ND
Aug 27: Edmonton Rexall Place, AB (with KSE)
Aug 28: Regina Exraz Place, SK (with KSE)
Aug 30: Calgary Grey Eagle Event Center, AB (with KSE)
Sep 05: Seattle WaMu Theater, WA (with KSE)
Sep 06: Spokane Star Theater, WA (with KSE)
Sep 07: Boise Taco Bell Arena, ID (with KSE)
Sep 09: Salt Lake City The Complex, UT (with KSE)
Oct 19: Herning Jyske BAnk Boxen, Denmark
Oct 26: Oslo Spektrum Arena, Norway
Oct 27: Copenhagen Forum, Denmark
Oct 28: Hamburg Barclaycard Arena, Germany
Oct 29: Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, Germany
Oct 31: Munich Olympiahall, Germany
Nov 01: Linz Tipps Arena, Austria
Nov 02: Vienna Stadhalle, Austria
Nov 04: Innsbruck Olympiahalle, Austria
Nov 05: Geneva Arena, Switzerland
Nov 07: Stuttgart Schlayerhalle, Germany
Nov 08: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Nov 09: Cologne Lanxess, Germany
Nov 10: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Nov 12: Leipzig Arena, Germany
Nov 13: Oberhausen Koenig-Pilsener Arena, Germany
Nov 14: Brussels Forest National, Belgium
Nov 15: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.