'Homecoming,' From The Bleachers: Members Of Beyoncé's Marching Band Look Back
The precision. The energy. The limitless swag.
Fans of Beyoncé are reliving the pinnacle performance of her career once again with Homecoming, the concert documentary released on Netflix last week. The film both documents the performance and sheds light on the eight months of work — four months of putting together the run of show and learning the choreography, followed by four months rehearsals — that led up to her headlining slot at Coachella in 2018.
In the two-hour film, extended sections of the performance are intercut with behind-the-scenes clips of Beyoncé conceptualizing the show alongside the 200-plus artists — dancers, musicians, creative directors, technical staff — who helped make it possible.
As momentous as the performance was in real time, and in the days that followed, its shadow has only lengthened in the year since. As the first black woman to headline Coachella — probably America's most-visible music festival — Beyoncé set out to make a deliberate statement about black beauty, culture and fortitude. From the orchestral sampling of Southern greats like C-Murder and Juvenile to the incorporation of classic marching band fight songs, the detail woven into the performance, much of it native
