All hail the queen
Beyonce delivers historic cultural moment
“Thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline Coachella.”
Those words from Beyonce, uttered midway through her festival-headlining performance Saturday, were less a humble show of gratitude than a declaration. She interspersed her historically black college-themed performance — complete with drum line, majorettes and step-dancing — with a Destiny’s Child reunion and cameos by her sister, Solange and husband, Jay-Z.
Thanks to the Coachella livesteam, which repeated the performance Sunday for those who may have missed the initial concert, people all around the world could watch along. It became a major cultural event, rivalling her 2016 Super Bowl halftime performance.
While Beyonce intended to entertain the live audience in Indio, Calif., the performance was clearly also meant to thrill an audience watching from afar.
Coachella has come to be known for an easygoing, boho esthetic, with the stereotypical Coachella attendee a drunk white hipster wearing a Native American headdress and loads of glitter.
On Friday, Vince Staples referred to the main stage as “the white people stage,” telling the crowd, “I know y’all don’t know who I am cause none of y’all look like me, but I don’t give a (expletive).”
By Saturday, Beyonce claimed that space as her own — a DJ announced this was officially “Beychella.”
For her Lemonade tour, Beyonce had elaborate set designs, featuring pools of water and video screens that breathed out actual fire. At Coachella, her backing of more than a hundred musicians and dancers in yellow and black, many wearing berets and placed in a pyramid formation on bleachers, was just as spectacular.
Beyonce had basically created her own HBCU: the University of Beyonce. The school colours: yellow and black.
She had reimagined some of her biggest hits as marching band renditions that could upstage any HBCU halftime show (the backing musicians included former members of Florida A&M University’s band, and the drum line was formally introduced as the only one presented by “Queen Bey” and “guaranteed to show up and show out.”) There was elaborate step-dancing. There was even a mock probate, a coming-out ceremony for Greeks at HBCUs.
Beyonce sang Lift Every Voice and Sing, commonly known as the black national anthem. She played snippets of a Malcolm X speech (“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman,” the crowd at Coachella heard the slain leader say). She even managed to throw in lyrical dancers performing to Nina Simone’s Lilac Wine.
Later in the show, Beyonce transitioned to some of her more traditional performance attire (sparkly and form-fitting leotards, and knee-high boots). Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams joined Bey on stage and performed the trio’s Say My Name and Soldier.
Jay-Z showed up for Deja Vu. Solange danced alongside her sister to Get Me Bodied. Les Twins, a dancing duo, appeared throughout. For Drunk In Love, Beyonce stood alone atop a cherry picker and serenaded the audience.
While Beyonce was the first black woman to headline Coachella, other black performers have graced the main stage, including in 2010 when Bey made a cameo during JayZ’s headlining set. She had also been scheduled to perform at the music festival in 2017.
On Saturday night, she told the audience, “I am so happy to be here. I was supposed to perform at Coachella before, but I ended up getting pregnant, thank God,” referring to her pregnancy with twins Rumi and Sir Carter. “This is a very important performance for me tonight. I’m happy to be back on stage.”