Late Sunday night and into the wee hours of Monday morning, as many exhausted Coachella festival attendees headed home and many online viewers simply ran out of energy, Colombian dynamo Karol G delivered an explosive performance that leaned heavily into Latin and female empowerment, covering multiple genres of music and guest appearances while showing off her formidable talents as a singer, performer and conceptualist. The show was an explosion of music, dancing, colors and symbols that words could never do justice — it’s streaming for another few hours (and for weekend two next Sunday) so dig in while you can.
Karol was, as she noted, the first Latin female artist in 27 years of Coachella to headline. She leaned heavily into that role: The show opened with a spoken-word fable, with a translation in English appearing on the massive screens, about a young woman who “came into this world being wild, untamable, free” but was then repressed by a voice saying “If you want to belong, you must surrender to the world” — but of course she did not stay repressed forever, recovering her power as she “lloked around and felt the power of every woman by her side,” finishing with the words “Forever wild — Latina forever.”
She and a dozen-odd limber-limbed dancers clad in gold lame bikinis then tore into that song, performing on a giant, multi-level stage that was designed like a series of caves — symbolizing origin — with her (apparently all-female) musicians on the ground floor. After a rousing start (setlist below), what followed was a vivid, loving tribute to all different flavors and musical genres of Latin culture, as loaded with subtext as Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl headlining performance. An all-female mariachi band took the stage for a brief performance; Becky G and Mariah Angeliq joined Karol for sultry duets on “Mamiii” and “El Makinon” respectively; Puerto Rican rapper Wisin performed a long medley of his hits in the middle of the set; legendary Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval delivered a powerful solo during “Ivonny Bonita”; Karol performed back-to-back with guitarist Greg Gonzales, of the band Cigarettes After Sex on a new song.
Karol was an explosive presence throughout the show, leading a huge troupe of colorfully clad dancers onto the walkways leading into the crowd; performing atop a giant model of a macaw (another symbol of Latin culture) with its wings outstretched; performing with her dancers in a sculptured pool and incorporating the splashing water into the choreography; quieting things down with a couple of low-key ballads; and later going into the front row of the audience and looking on with an incredulous smile as a young woman rapped her lyrics note for note.
As the set wound down, Karol, surrounded by dozens of musicians and dancers, gave a brief speech, noting that it took 27 years for Coachella — which has leaned heavily into Latin music in recent years — to book a female Latin performer as a headliner before saying, “Before me there were so any legendary Latino artists that gave me the opportunity to be here tonight, so this isn’t just about me: This is about my Latino community,” she said to cheers.
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“And at the same time, this is for my Latinos that have been struggling in this country lately — we stand [with] them, and at the same time I am very proud because this brings out the best in us: unity, resilience, and a strong spirit. We do this because we want everyone to feel welcome to our culture, so I want everyone to feel proud of where you come from: Don’t feel fear, feel pride!”
The set then closed out with ten minutes of joyous music and dancing from the entire troupe, punctuated by fireworks, blazing laser lights, blasts of flame and more. It was an explosive set that found Karol leaning heavily into her moment and emerging triumphantly.
From Variety US