Kali Uchis literally screams ‘gay rights’ during Coachella 2023 performance
Kali Uchis screams ‘gay rights’ at Coachella’s second weekend (Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella)
Pop princess Kali Uchis turned up the queer factor at Coachella music festival – and literally screamed ‘gay rights.’
Coachella is so much more than a music festival; it’s a content generator. Frank Ocean’s recent disastrous headline set garnered more publicity than it would have had it gone swimmingly, queer supergroup boygenius used their appearance to display staunch trans solidarity and even Beyoncé‘s zeitgeist-blitzing 2018 Beychella performances seemed to transcend the very music festival after which it was named.
The latest brick in the wall of culture-defining moments, memes and viral tweets to be borne from 2023’s offering of Coachella is a clip of pop princess Kali Uchis unapologetically, hilarious and quite literally screaming “gay rights” during her set.
The 28-year-old “Melting” singer took to the Coachella Stage on Sunday (23 April) to perform her hits to the assembled influencers/music fans in what one fan has called the “best main stage performance” of the entire Californian festival.
The highlight for us, though, was Ms Uchis yelling a very pointed message to fans holding Pride flags in the crowd during an instrumental section of her smash hit “telepatía”:
“Gay rights! We see the gay flags over there, gay rights.”
Gay rights, indeed, Kali!
The Kali Uchis fans of Twitter have – unsurprisingly – reacted with all the excitement one can imagine from a group of gays that champion a pop girlie.
“She loves her fanbase,” wrote one Twitter user underneath the clip.
Another added: “It was so random but slay.”
“This is what queens stand for,” said another.
This is so funny? 💀
— James Fluker | This account supports 🏳️⚧️ rights (@JamesFluker) April 24, 2023
she’s so unserious because what??😭😭
— jorge (@jgarciaeslava) April 24, 2023
How can you not say mother!!!
— Juicy (@JustKeepItJuicy) April 24, 2023
The Grammy-award-winning R&B artist is bisexual, which, in this case, is a fantastic example of practicing what you preach.
Kali Uchis is part of a phenomenal group of queer women showing the power of collaboration in music, including Miley Cyrus, Rina Sawayama and Kim Petras.
Her first performance at Coachella’s first weekend (16 April) involved a surprise performance from Tyler, the Creator and a guest appearance from queer icon Omar Apollo.
Apart from Kali Uchis’ stellar Coachella performance, the 2023 iteration of the festival has had a somewhat lacklustre reception, especially when compared to previous years of Instagrammable glory from a frenzy of influencers.
Frank Ocean’s set saw him pay an emotional tribute to his late brother – but also arrive late and give a lukewarm performance, with the singer reportedly scrapping his entire stage design at short notice.
The singer pulled out of the festival’s second weekend and was replaced by Blink-182.
In between the 2022 and 2023 Coachellas, a report by Rolling Stone found that the company behind the festival donated thousands of dollars to a right-wing group fuelling anti-abortion efforts.
