From Coachella: Megan Thee Stallion Brings the Heat on Day Two

At exactly 10 p.m. the Coachella main stage lit up, and two massive animated horses galloped across the screens. As the crowd began to scream, Megan thee Stallion appeared at center-stage.

The opening piano melody to “Megan’s Piano” blasted through the speakers and immediately, Megan made the stage her own. Her background dancers performed high-energy hip hop routines as she rapped each word with notable precision. Despite the booming bass filtering in from the nearby stages, Megan’s enunciation cut through the white noise like a hot knife.

Revealing a costume change, Megan moved on to “Freak Nasty,” maintaining the same level of sexy intensity from the opener. Showing off her body and grinding on the background dancers, she developed a great flow and managed to make the combination of dancing and rapping look effortless.

The highlight of her set was no doubt the performative choreography. Wearing high heels, her background dancers pranced all over the stage — twerking, jumping, and oftentimes performing acrobatic stunts. Megan, without losing breath or breaking her flow, danced in unison with the others on stage and took time to flirt with the audience using cheeky facial expressions.

During “Simon Says,” the screens lit up with the words “too loud, too Black, too sexy.” With that transition, Megan turned the venue into a space for Black joy and celebration. She called out to the crowd, “Where my hot girls at?” signifying that her performance served not just to showcase her confidence, but also to boost the confidence of her thousands of adoring fans.

Megan turned the venue into a space for Black joy and celebration. By Courtesy of Coachella / Beth Saravo

The set continued with more playful, erotic tracks. Before “Sex Talk,” she freestyled a capella for thirty seconds, demonstrating her lyrical prowess and creativity. Then, during “Eat it,” a shirtless background dancer simulated the action[S] of oral sex [IDK Sofia Andrade], and she followed this up with a lap dance.

The highest intensity song of the set was easily “WAP.” As the iconic opening line rang throughout the venue, Megan confidently strutted to the front of the stage and prepared to blow the audience away. Megan joined the dancers for fiery choreography during Nicki Minaj’s verses, and the DJ turned the music down so that the crowd could sing the key line “I want you to touch that lil’ dangly thing that swing in the back of my throat.”

Near the end of the set, Megan performed her newest song “Plan B” which dropped on April 22. It featured heavy bass and a half-step melody in the background — overall a simple production. However, her flow was on-point, showing how her artistry is developing over time and proving that she deserved one of the headliner slots.

Following “Plan B,” Megan took a break and said to the crowd, “Y’all make me feel so mothafuckinggood. I hope me and my music make y’all feel mothafucking good.” With the wind blowing in her hair and the spotlight shining on her face, she truly appeared to be a queen standing on her throne.

Her set concluded with “Savage” and “Hot Girl Summer,” two of her most widely-known hits, ending the concert on a high. Her face lit up with a smile as she sang. Megan Thee Stallion’s charisma made it impossible to stand still, and the catchiness of the tracks facilitated the high-energy of the crowd.

The only thing missing from the performance was a guest feature. Speculations were on Cardi B, Dua Lipa, or even Denzel Curry. It’s perhaps unfair to expect a guest appearance from an artist, but it was certainly atypical for Megan to perform alone for the whole set as a headliner.

Despite this minor critique, Megan brought a sexy, playful energy to Saturday’s lineup that only she could provide. Coachella is known to be hot, but Megan made it even hotter.

—Staff writer A.J. Veneziano can be reached at aj.veneziano@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @aj_veneziano.