Dads are calling it “the Concert of the Century”. The kids have already taken to calling it “Oldchella”.

It’s three-day uber classic rock festival Desert Trip, scheduled for the Coachella concert site at Empire Polo Field in Indio, California, beginning October 7.

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At 74, Bob Dylan is still an in-demand performer. Photo: Getty

The line-up – Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and The Who – represents every major rock act of the 1960s together on the same bill for the first time.

And in the words of The Rolling Stones, this could be the last time for some.

Some 51 years after the Stones dropped “Satisfaction” and Bob Dylan asked “how does it feel?”, the end of the road is finally looming for these superstars.

Ronnie Wood of the Stones is, at 68, the youngest on stage while drummer Charlie Watts will be 75. Two of the singers on the stage will be knights of the realm.

Negotiations for the festival have taken more than nine months.

The first night features Dylan and the Stones, with Young opening for McCartney on the second night and The Who opening for Roger Waters on the final bill.

Each artist will do a full set with full production and although support acts may be added, Desert Trip will not be a “festival”.

These artists have been on various bills and benefits together but the ego negotiations now are easier and in most cases the only question is fees.

All of the artists here bear scars – half of The Who and the Beatles are dead, Pink Floyd won’t talk to each other, Neil Young has kiboshed Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young ever reforming and Bob Dylan’s voice is now just a rasp.

Pete Townshend of The Who can’t hear anymore and Keith Richards struggles to make much sense of anything. The recent deaths of David Bowie and Prince only serve to remind the fans how few tours there can be left.

Last year, Coachella in California grossed US$84.3 million. Photo: Getty

Nonetheless, all of these 1960s stars have survived and are now in the most prosperous moments of their careers.

Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Neil Young continue to release critically acclaimed new albums while The Rolling Stones are regularly setting new standards for live performance with each new tour.

The Stones are currently recording their second album of the 21st century. Meanwhile, Waters’ last world jaunt took in US$459 million – the highest grossing tour ever by a solo artist.

Critical acclaim notwithstanding, it’s unlikely that the fans are coming to hear the new tunes.

Single-day tickets for the event start at US$199 and three-day tickets run from US$399 to US$1,599.

Those figures will at least double once fees, refreshments, merchandise, parking and other costs are factored in.

Promoter Goldenvoice, which started out doing LA punk shows in the early 1980s, created Coachella, the world’s premium music festival, which runs each April.

Last year, according to Pollstar trade magazine, Coachella grossed US$84.3 million over six days with about 100,000 punters per day.

Desert Trip will be of an entirely different order. Billboard magazine claims that artist fees are more than US$35 million (and the highest fees ever paid to some acts).

Total costs are expected to exceed US$50 million. There is a rumour of a second weekend being announced which would take the festival gross to an all-time record.

Neil Young has shot down hopes of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young ever reforming. Photo: Getty

The promoters are hoping for 70,000 per day. The margin with these shows comes in selling VIP experiences – special access and comfort levels.

Promotional material around the show offers specialist “glamping” and “an all-star line-up of world renowned chefs and 40 of the best restaurants from Los Angeles to New York”.

We have now reached the point where Mick Jagger and Momofuku chef David Chang duke it out for coolest in the room.

Perhaps we should pause here for a minute to recall Woodstock which, in 1969, created the whole festival phenomenon.

That weekend saw 300,000 people change the world’s perception of a generation.

The food was vegetarian slop and the accommodation was to sit in rain for three days, possibly naked.

The facilities were a muddy stream and famously the LSD was not specifically too good.

Desert Trip will be the opposite of Woodstock and it’s a good bet that the brown acid, if you can find it, will be the best available.