M83 at Fox Theater Oakland // Photo by Pedro Paredes

Photos by Steve Carlson, Norm de Veyra, Marc Fong, Pedro Paredes, Mike Rosati & Lisette Worster // Written by Molly Kish //

Fauxchella //
Various Bay Area venues – San Francisco & Oakland
April 13th-April 22nd, 2016 //

Paving the way for large-scale festivals all across North America, Coachella has served as an archetype in live music production since its conception 17 years ago. Throughout its storied history, Coachella’s stages have been graced with a roster of unparalleled talent. Year after year, the festival’s lineup has featured iconic performances from both artists on the verge of breaking into the mainstream and industry legends taking victory laps.

Located in the heart of Southern California’s Inland Empire, the three-day music festival now hosts back-to-back weekends at the Empire Polo Club with one of the most competitive artist lineups you’ll find anywhere. While Coachella’s location remains ideal for music fans based in California and many surrounding states, it can be a daunting task to make the trek to Indio for those living in other parts of the country. This reality has subsequently broke ground for offshoot shows up and down the West Coast, including the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest.

James Bay at Fox Theater Oakland // Photo by Steve Carlson

In reference to this, the Bay Area music scene has dubbed the calendar dates leading into and out of Coachella’s consecutive weekends as its own unofficial festival, colloquially referred to as “Fauxchella.” Featuring headlining performances from Coachella artists in and around Northern California, the roughly two-week stretch serves as a strong preview for the upcoming summer concert season with many of the top names in the business getting to test out their live show in preparation for the desert or fine-tune their skills in between each weekend of the festival. For many music fans, Fauxchella remains the most optimal time to catch these high-profile artists performing at their best inside many of the Bay Area’s most beautiful and intimate venues.

Showbams took full advantage of this year’s Fauxchella festivities as we caught a number of performances throughout the Bay Area. Take a peek at our massive collection of photos, and let us know which shows were your favorite in the comments section below.