Beyoncé’s appearance at the Coachella musical festival could go down as one of the most anticipated live performances in music history. Originally scheduled to perform in 2017, Queen Bey, as her most adoring fans call her, was forced to push her performance when she become pregnant with twins.
The hype around a Beyoncé performance at Coachella in 2017 was huge, she was to be the first woman to headline the festival. And, on the back of her ground-breaking album, Lemonade, fans were eager to see what a Bey set would look like and if the icon would continue to feed into the rumours of her husband, Jay Z’s, infidelity.
So, as Beyoncé carried twins, it was Lady Gaga who took the title of first female to headline Coachella, giving Bey, as she puts in her own words, a whole year to dream and plan about what her Coachella set would look like.
Beyonce's pregnancy announcement to the world
Source: NME
Considering the depth and artistry in her last performance on the stage during the 2017 Grammys, pregnant and all, there was only one word that journalists, festival goers and super fans alike had on their minds for Coachella 2018; iconic.
Bey, being the Queen that she is was going to come back with a bang. Every dance move, costume, dance break and song would be planned, re-imagined, bested and then bettered. For months prior to the performance as the anticipation was building and building, super fans couldn’t help but allow themselves to wonder, could this be the perfect stage for a Destiny’s Child reunion?
An original Beyoncé fan would be able to tell you about the stages of Beyoncé’s career almost as quickly as they could recite the alphabet. It is no secret that music’s Queen has undertaken a very noticeable shift in the last few years from conforming to music’s long held belief of what female performers are, to changing the game entirely and bringing albums back into popularity.
Beyonce at the 2017 Grammy Awards where she performed a flawless set of the more tamer songs from her album, Lemonade
Source: Billboard
If we were to talk about the Beyoncé of the 4 era, there would be no question that the smiling pop sensation would bring back her main girls for a reunion performance that would go down in history. However, in recent years, a Lemonade era Beyoncé always just seems out of reach. The things we know about her are what we can gather from the pictures and the content that she herself produces. She’s elusive and can occasionally embody a rapper exterior of being untouchable and quite superior to you. At times, with the persona she portrays and her well publicised desire for perfection, one wonders if she really does enjoy her work.
With this persona in mind, a Destiny’s Child reunion seemed unlikely.
As she always does, on the night of her Coachella performance, the Queen blew everyone away. She was trending on Twitter and Facebook and thousands of photos and videos were being uploaded to Instagram every minute. Unlike other performers of her generation, Beyoncé had the world captivated as she marched across the stage to begin her set.
She belted out lyrics from her early solo portfolio before seamlessly transitioning into new era Bey songs. Each song was performed with unique choreography, heart and flawless vocals that the world has become accustomed to hearing when she performs live. The Coachella set, consisting of 24 songs was a masterclass in live performance.
As she performed songs from Lemonade and made the stage her own, there was an undeniable air of pure coolness. In her cropped hoodie bearing her intials, ‘BK’, short shorts and below the knee boots, a mere mortal couldn’t help but wonder, who else would seem so fashionable and just so darn cool? The answer? No one.
Beyonce during her 2018 Coachella- now called Beychella- set wearing a custom hoodie emblazoned with her initials
Source; Time
During performances of the more revealing songs from Lemonade, that rapper persona become more evident as she repeatedly sang 'suck on my balls'. This Beyoncé is our idol, someone who embodies female empowerment and constantly slays.
But then, something shifted.
Three silhouettes appeared, Michelle, Kelly and Beyoncé together again, our favourite trio. But there was something else too, Beyoncé was smiling! The crowd could be heard screaming and when the music started, the lyrics to Lose My Breath were being enthusiastically sung back to the trio as they strutted their stuff on stage.
There was an undeniable sense of coming home. Prior to Destiny’s Child coming out on the stage, Beyoncé was killing it, don’t get me wrong. My jaw remained permanently fixed to the floor and I was filled with a sense of awe and the satisfaction of seeing someone at the top of their craft. Yet Destiny’s Child reunion was a stand out. It showed the audience, be it at home or in the crowd that Beyoncé at her core, despite the fame, the nickname and the success, was still the same girl who started out as a member of a girl group all those years ago.
Michelle Williams, Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland rocking Coachella as they reunited Destiny's Child
Source; Daily Mail
There aren’t many artists that could use a vehicle like Coachella to subtly broadcast messages of race, freedom and politics and not get blasted for it online. In fact, there aren’t many artists that have such a supportive and boundless fan base. In many aspects, Beyoncé really is the Queen. She has earnt that nickname and the right to puff her chest out a little when she walks every now and then. She may well and truly be superior, but it is still nice to see her smiling and bouncing around to Destiny’s Child songs.
She is the performer of a generation, a true icon and the sooner we realise that this is Beyoncé’s world and we are all just living in it, the happier we’ll be.
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