Beyoncé’s Coachella set is already the stuff of legends, maybe especially because access to it has been so limited. While the first performance on April 14 was live-streamed — and then aired on a loop the next day on Coachella’s YouTube page — it has not been made available in any legal way since, leaving die-hard fans to scrounge up sketchy streams and shaky videos from people who witnessed the glory in person.
Beyoncé’s second Coachella performance will not be live-streamed
If you missed Beychella the first time, we have some bad news.
Caroline Framke wrote about culture, which usually means television. Also seen @ The A.V. Club, The Atlantic, Complex, Flavorwire, NPR, the fridge to get more seltzer.
This scarcity has made the question of whether Beyoncé’s second performance during the festival’s closing weekend would be live-streamed even more urgent. Even though Coachella added a second weekend in 2012, it has never live-streamed the repeat performances. But surely it would break its own rule for Beyoncé, right? Right?!
Wrong. According to Variety and Billboard, representatives for YouTube have confirmed that there are no plans to stream any performances from Coachella’s second weekend — not even Beychella.
This comes as a huge disappointment to everyone who missed it the first time around, not to mention those who did catch it and want to see it all over again. Plus, the speculation that Beyoncé might have even more tricks up her sleeve — or at least incorporate a few different songs featuring a few different guests — seems to have proved accurate, as dancer Jo’Artis Mijo Ratti confirmed to Variety that they’re “switching up a couple things.” So if you’re in possession of a Coachella weekend two pass, congratulations! You have a golden ticket.
It should be noted, however, that this lack of live stream doesn’t mean that Beyoncé won’t have her performance filmed at all. In fact, it seems very likely, given how she’s rolled out exclusives like Lemonade, that her Coachella set could become its own concert film (likely as an exclusive for Tidal, as Lemonade was).
But even with the hope that Beychella might not be exclusive forever, anyone looking to experience the magic this weekend will be out of luck unless they’re right there in the California desert with her.
