Beyonce had basically created her own historically black college: the University of Beyonce. The school colours: yellow and black (the yellow, a theme from her album Lemonade, is also the colour of her Beyhive horde of fans). The fraternity brothers' clothes bore the same Greek letters as Beyonce's cropped sweatshirt: BDK, or Beta Delta Kappa. The B and K probably stand for Beyonce Knowles, while the Delta may be an allusion to her favoured number, four.
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").
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 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 changed to some of her more traditional performance attire (sparkly and formfitting leotards, and knee-high boots). Destiny's Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams joined her 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.
While Beyonce was the first black woman to headline Coachella, other black performers have graced the main stage, including in 2010 when Bey performed a cameo during Jay-Z'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." She then went on to explain a bit of the genesis of the grand show.
"I had time to dream and dream and dream with two beautiful souls in my belly, and I dreamed up this performance," she said. "And this is more than I ever dreamed of it being. And thank you, guys, for sharing this with me. I hoped you all enjoyed the show. I worked very hard."
The hard work showed in her fierce dance moves, sweat dripping down her face and, yes, in the control of her vocals. It also showed off in her creativity to celebrate and pay homage to something so integral to the fabric of black American life and history, in the least likely of places.
