This past weekend I was drowning in homework. I mean DROWNING!! I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to write a letter of resignation and officially withdraw from my doctoral studies for good! Ok, I am super dramatic, but I was a mess. Not to mention I was suffering from a case of cabin fever due to the ridiculous snowstorm that apparently was an indicator that Mother Nature was ticked off! I digress…
Typically, I am writing about my life story of narcissist recovery or living your best life and overcoming life’s struggles, BUT I had to switch it up and talk about my girl… Beyonce. If you follow my personal Instagram page, it is apparent that my page is a shrine dedicated to none other than Queen Bey! I even call myself Shonie Fierce just in case there was any confusion on how I felt about her. (LOL) In my blog posts, I use Beyonce images and GIFs to bring my blogs to life and illustrate my points. She is freaking amazing and her performance this past weekend at the annual music festival Coachella was a prime example of why she is the Queen. I am still on a high, and it is Tuesday!
Beyonce was scheduled to perform at Coachella last year but canceled because her twins Rumi and Sir were baking in the oven, and per doctor’s orders they said: “SAT DOWN Girl!!” She rescheduled her performance for 2018 and boy did she SHOW OUT!!
In the spirit of transparency, I must tell you that I committed a major violation as a card-carrying member of the Beyhive. I fell asleep before her live performance. The Coachella festival was streaming live all weekend, and Beyonce was set to perform at 11 pm Pacific time. That meant 1 AM central time! WTF! I knew it was going to be a long night. I had been doing homework ALL DAY and although it would have been ideal to keep going since I was far from finished – I couldn’t look at another homework assignment without going crazy! Long story short, I fell asleep. I may not have been at Coachella, but I was definitely at SLEEPchella! (LOL) I went to bed, but I didn’t sleep all that well because I knew something BIG was about to happen. I guess that is what happens when you turn 40; you stop caring and go to bed!
I woke up the next day to my ENTIRE Instagram timeline filled with Beyonce Coachella footage! I was happy but mad at the same time because I KNEW I had messed up. I missed out all because I wanted to be a pillow princess. I scrambled to YouTube to see if I could find the entire concert video footage but I knew better. I found a bunch of grainy fan videos and click bait reviews. Frustrated and annoyed, I gave up and decided to check out Facebook before doing more homework (ugh). Low and behold one of my friends sent me a video of the first 40 minutes of the show! I was ecstatic! I knew somebody in the Facebook universe would break the rules and post the concert. I quickly ran to my Keurig, fixed a cup of coffee and prepared myself to be utterly amazed. After the first 40 minutes, I was scrambling all over the Internet to find part 2! Luckily, I found the website http://www.capitalxtra.com had the entire concert online and in HD! OMG! It was the best 1 1/2 hours of my life! I honestly felt sorry for the rest of the performers who had to come after her. If I were there, I would have packed up all my ish and went back home never to return because at that point Coachella would have been over after that show-stopping performance.
The Show
First of all, the way Sis sashayed in her sparkling Balmain bodysuit and cape with the Egyptian queen Nefertiti motif and headpiece, took me all the way out! I was confident that she was on her way starting the show with a statement song like “Run the World” or only just stand in place on the stage looking over the crowd while adoring fans scream their lungs out admiring her presence. Well, come to find out this was just a statement piece. She walked in and out! I KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE IN FOR SOMETHING BIG!
And just like that, THE QUEEN re-emerged wearing a yellow BAK hoodie, denim short and hologram boots! My GAWD!
Her SECOND intro was nothing short of bad@$$!! The HBCU homecoming-themed setup and imagery made me want to rescind my entire undergraduate life and apply to an HBCU and do it all over again!! The marching band, majorettes, and steppers were the culmination of the ultimate Black college experience all in one. Beyonce left no stone unturned. She incorporated her Louisiana/Houston southern roots with the New Orleans traditional second line marching band sound and Houston chopped and screwed hip-hop beats. It was nothing short of amazing!
The Carters
You can’t have a Beyonce concert without Mr. Sean Carter. I knew he would make a guest appearance at the Beyonce homecoming show. When the guitarist started strumming the baseline to “Deja Vu” (one of my favorite songs by Bey), I knew it was about to be on and popping. The only thing missing was 6 -year-old Blue Ivy coming out rapping her 16 bars from her freestyle “Boom Shakalaka”! ” It’s a real thing. Google it.
It’s a Reunion, Snitches
Rumors were looming about Destiny’s Child reunited for Beyonce’s Coachella set so I wasn’t surprised to see the three beautiful ladies of DC3 return to sing some of my faves like “Lose My Breath,” “Say My Name,” “Jumpin’ Jumpin” and “Soldier.” It was evident that the chemistry between the three ladies is still there and..Michelle still can’t dance! LOL! She tried Y’all!
Sister, Sister
One of my favorite moments of the night was watching Beyonce and her sister Solange dancing to up-tempo “Get Me Bodied.” It was so cute to see these two women who are mothers and wives playfully dance with each other while effortlessly dropping it like it was hot and tick-tocking to the Swizz Beatz produced hit. That is DUALITY at its finest. It’s apparent Beyonce has forgiven Solo for molly whopping Jay in that elevator a few years back! Yes, I am shady!
Pivotal Moments
Several pivotal moments made me love Beyonce even more! When she sang the Black National Anthem Lift Every Voice, recording from Malcolm X’s speech ‘Who Taught You to Hate Yourself” where he boldly states “The most disrespected woman is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” Could Coachella get any blacker than that? I got chills hearing Malcolm’s voice speak truths that the world needed to hear. Not to mention her inclusion of Nina Simone’s “Lilac Wine” and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ode to feminism during her performance of “Run the World (Girls).” At the end of the show, after graciously thanking her fans she tells the audience she is the first black woman to headline Coachella, and without hesitation, she says “Ain’t that a bitch.” I clutched my pearls a little, but then I remembered she dropped a couple of F-bombs throughout her performance…AND SHE WAS RIGHT!!! She shared our story. She shared our glory and most of all she showed the world what Black Excellence looks like in spite of the pain and tragedy we face as Black Americans.
Once again, Beyonce proved to the world why she is The Queen and why all the haters need to “Bow Down.” One of the things I liked most about this performance was her ability to take her old songs and rearrange them instrumentally and vocally to the point they sound like new songs. I was wondering how she was going to pull off a 2 hour set with the same music since she hadn’t put out an album since “Lemonade.” Well, I should know by now to NEVER doubt Queen Bey. She always has something up her sleeve. I have seen Beyonce perform live at least three times and of course several times on television, but this Coachella performance is probably one of THE best performances – hands down!
What were your favorite moments from the performance? Leave a comment below.
The Honest Aquarian 