The ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will take over the Empire Polo Field outside Indio, Calif., from April 25 through 27.

The 125-act lineup was announced this afternoon at a news conference in Mexico City with Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Love and Rockets, and Justice among the names on the bill along with M.I.A., the Breeders, Rilo Kiley, Sasha & Digweed, Cafe Tacuba and Fatboy Slim.

The festival has become a touchstone event in California and fan speculation has pinged across the Internet for months, along with a flurry of hoax lineups and posters.

Prince, David Bowie, the Smiths and No Doubt were the most commonly rumored Coachella acts; the booking of Waters, however, was a left-field choice and a generational mystery to many young loyalists of the Coachella brand.

One comment posted by a reader at www.latimes.com was a clear indication that Waters, 63, is on the other side of the wall when it comes to today's generation of fans: "Is Roger Waters the one with the pig or was that Peter Frampton?"

Promoter Paul Tollett, the architect of the show, has shown a puckish streak in the past with genre-surprises, such as booking Madonna for an elaborate dance-tent set or having Willie Nelson serenade fans waiting for Rage Against the Machine.

Some of the Internet criticism this year is because Coachella is competing against its stellar history of magic moments (such as the Pixies or Rage reunions) as well as an increasing number of regional festivals fishing from the same talent pool.

Tollett, a partner in the show with the concert promotion company AEG Live, pointed out today that there's always debate about the top of the bill, but for the focused music fan, this year's Coachella looks to be one of the strongest for up-and-coming acts and the middle tier of the bill. He declined to cite some of his favorites: "You just get in trouble with managers when you do that because you can't mention every one."