Monday, 16 April 2018

'Beychella' Breakdown and Review | The Beyonce Homecoming at Coachella 2018

Was this the greatest live performance of all time?

Edit: Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce is now available on Netflix.


It's 5am. I'm waking up this early because Beyonce is about to perform at Coachella (and henceforth live on the official Coachella YouTube stream) and it remains a secret to nobody that if I am anything, it's a Beyonce fan. As the fantastic HAIM set finishes up, Beyonce posts a pre-written message to her Facebook page telling her "Beyhive" how much she loves them and can't wait for the imminent performance.

"[I] have a special show planned for you so please be safe and stay hydrated. We need your energy! There will be an hour intermission before my performance, so mark your spot, charge your phones, grab your drinks. Can't wait to see y'all at 11:05pm!"

It's not normal for Beyonce to post messages like this. Loyal fans know that even getting an Instagram caption from Bey is a rare moment of interpersonal interaction. This is a megastar famous for dropping music and visual albums without any form of announcement, after all. That was when I knew. This wasn't going to be a normal festival set alike her gound-breaking yet stripped-back Glastonbury debut in '11. Beyonce was about to fuck it up, and we only had an hour to find out how.
Cut to two hours later and Beyonce is only half way through her set; the internet is already ablaze and "HER MIND" is literally trending worldwide on twitter. After a breathtakingly bombastic entrance, Beyonce shed her Queen Nefertiti inspired Balmain-armour and rocked to the top of her own Egyptian pyramid in a simple, instantly-iconic yellow house hoodie. As the loudspeakers declared "Welcome to the Beyonce Homecoming!" and over 100 dancers, drummers, violinists and brass band members filled the structure behind her it became obvious that the DJ Khaled-named 'Beychella' was an homage to the Black American experience. Coachella, a festival infamous for its overwhelmingly white attendance and egregious cultural insensitivity (via insensitive costuming) was suddenly the host of a HBCU half-time show that sought to inform the attendees about the magic of Black culture in both modern America and the ancient world.
The house that Beyonce was repping had it's name emblazoned everywhere: Beta Delta Kappa. For starters, the BΞ”K can read as a pun on the word "back", a message boosted by the voice of Big Freedia during Formation ("bitch, I'm back by popular demand"). The delta symbol means 4 in Greek, a number fans will know as Beyonce's favourite with even her daughter's name Blue Ivy and her Ivy Park sports wear brand playing on the roman numeral for 4's phonic sound (IV). The B and K obviously also reference the singer's primary initials and the triangular capital delta symbol could also reference the logo of husband Jay-Z's RocNation. The greek letters and Homecoming theme also referenced greek-lettered colleges and the HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges or Universities') Divine 9.

This celebration of culture was well thought out too. As Beyonce stood on stage during the final part of the show she mused to the audience how she "was supposed to perform at Coachella before". That didn't happen though. "I ended up getting pregnant - thank God. So I had time to dream and dream with two beautiful souls in my belly and this is everything and more that I dreamt of it being".

Of course, many were hesitant at the accessibility Beyonce's show would offer to white audiences - Tina Knowles-Lawson being one of them. Beyonce's mother took to her Instagram today to share this: 

"I told Beyonce that I was afraid that the predominately white audience at Coachella would be confused by all of the black culture and Black college culture because it was something that they might not get. Her brave response to me made me feel a-bit selfish and ashamed. She said 'I have worked very hard to get to the point where i have a true voice and at this point in my life and my career I have a responsibility to do whats best for the world and not what is most popular.' She said that her hope is that after the show young people would research this culture and see how cool it is, and young people - black and white - would listen to “ LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING " [the 'Black National Anthem', which Beyonce performed at the show's start] and see how amazing the words are for us all and bridge the gap. She also hopes that it will encourage young kids to enroll in our amazing Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I stand corrected.❤️"
The term corrected also seems to apply to the music industry. This week, Beyonce not only proved herself to be the unchallenged, greatest performer of our generation, but a trailblazer in an industry that has been defiled by the internet and free accessibility offered through apps like YouTube and Spotify. Consumers have come to expect predictable music and festival performances that lack artistry and theatrics. While some performers at 2018's Coachella offered the above (such as the aforementioned HAIM with a set directed by Paul Thomas Anderson), many were uninspired and performers were proudly drunk, high or both on stage.

Beyonce, then, didn't have to do that much to stand out. Her vocal range alone was effortlessly depicted. Bey growled her way through the punchy, hard-pop Lemonade hit Sorry only to effortlessly transition into her soulful R&B classic Me, Myself and I. She dabbled in the operatic during a flawless intro to her 4 hit I Care only moments after wrecking the stage with a live rendition of the heavy-rock Don't Hurt Yourself, and again proved her skills with a beautiful a capella rendition of Love On Top that served to close the night.

Her voice alone may be seemingly perfect, but it wouldn't be fun without some special effects here and there. Beyonce shocked audiences with a live performance of her unreleased diss-track "I Been On" in which her microphone augmented her voice into an almost satanic depth - "I been on, I been on, tell me who gone take me off? Gold everything, gold ass chain, gold ass rings, gold ass fangs, you can see me stunt when you turn on ya screen". 

Beyonce is known for her dancing as well as her voice, and with 4 separate dance breaks the performer failed to disappoint. For two hours, non-stop, the singer didn't drop a note as she stomped, stepped, jumped and pounded her way across the runway and 'beystage' she had paid to bring to the show herself. Filming the show was her own provided crew - also in charge of lighting, sound and editing. The visionary also brought with her a cherry picker, MJ style, on which she performed a brassy rendition of Drunk in Love against the backdrop of a faux-eclipse perched upon the daunting on-stage pyramid that seated her 100-peice band and dance troupe. The haunting tones of Nina Simone echoed through the Cali-crowd halfway through this performance in a snippet of 'Lilac Wine' that culminated in the brass-punched bridge to Drunk in Love imbued with swag surfing and synchronized stomping that, again, transitioned impeccably into the 2009 hit Diva.


These seamless transitions weren't an accident. While Beyonce has performed these songs multiple times she had clearly delved deep into her astounding discography to figure out new arrangements for music and then adjust them accordingly. As YouTube commentator 'O'Neil Gerald' pointed out in this great analysis, the singer and her team edited songs to match the tempo, pitch, tone or even backing track to the ones before and after it in order to create a musical experience that felt as thrilling and never-ending as a six-flags ride. One example of this was in the show's opening. Beyonce slowed down the second verse of her iconic debut single Crazy in Love to match the tempo to her Lemonade song Freedom, which she then adjusted the key with from minor to major in order to flow right into a performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing. 
'Beychella' with Beyonce alone would have been a wonder to behold, but then the singer brought out her husband Jay-Z to perform Deja Vu. The screams from the audience were wild, and for good reason. For some time, Beyonce hasn't performed a few of her hit songs and, almost ironically, these have become BeyHive favourites. Check on It, Green Light, Deja Vu, Party, Kitty Kat and I Been On all received a nod or new arrangement and live performance in an almost un-subtle wink to her most supportive fans. While Beyonce doesnt directly interact much over social media with her fans, she clearly keeps up with what they think. Next to come out were Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Destiny's Child caused mass hysteria with their best live performance to date on their 20th anniversary - Say My Name in particular offered stunning harmonies in an arrangement that offered goosebumps to festival attendees. To top it off, Solange ran on stage during a Get Me Bodied dance break that was wildly endearing and entertaining.
"Endearing and entertaining" sums this performance up completely. It's staggering to see a 36-year old mother of three storm a stage just 12 months after giving birth to twins. A Black woman has topped the game in a political climate so anti-black that two men were arrested last week for sitting in a Starbucks. Twitter shattered in acclaim as over 2.2m tweets about Beyonce lit up the 2-hour showtime and news outlets across the globe gave the show a perfect rating. Comparisons are even being made between the singer and the late, great Michael Jackson - socially accepted to be the greatest entertainer ever. 

Pop culture guru Wendy Williams - who is known to shade Beyonce on occasion and is by no means an easily impressed woman - said today during her talk show that: 

"Everybody's talking about Beyonce. She performed for two hours and had five costume changes {...} I'm out of my breath just looking at her, all hail the Queen! Solange was there and so was Jay-Z and Destiny's Child but...none of that even mattered! Beyonce is a one woman force to be reckoned with. {...} Can I tell you something? This is my opinion and we can fight all day - I don't care. Beyonce is the greatest performer of all time, living or dead."

JOE.com and Hollywood Life both argued the same thing today, but one thing stands unanimous throughout both mainstream and social media reactions. Beyonce gave the greatest performance of her career at Coachella and she gave the best live performance by a woman of all time. 'Beychella' proved indisputably that Beyonce is the greatest living entertainer...and we got to see it for free. 
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