Queer at Coachella
For the past two weekends my Instagram feed has been flooded with Coachella posts. Scrolling through pose after pose — from different color-tinted filters over a tall glass spiral to friends dancing onstage above a crowd of thousands — I’ve seen everything. And, what I haven’t seen my close friend/roommate Melody has shared with me. She is the keyboardist for an up and coming band King Princess, fronted by Mikaela Straus. I’ve seen her perform with the band three times now, and have been in awe every time at the commanding stage presence Mikaela and Melody (and their other band members) display. King Princess, in the short span of a year, has given thousands of queer youth an icon of their own. Don’t get me wrong, I love our straight pop-icons (Madonna, Britney, Beyonce, Gaga), but to hear someone blatantly singing about queer love to a crowd of thousands at Coachella is much more refreshing.
Now Coachella has been pulling in record numbers for a festival (over $110 million in profits in 2017) and since the success of the festival many have questioned where those profits are going. When it was made public that much of the funds have been donated by AEG chairman Philip Anschutz to anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion politicians and organizations, the event faced intense backlash, with some urging attendees to boycott the festival altogether.
It does seem a bit hypocritical to be a queer artist performing at a festival that may fund anti-LGBTQ policies and initiatives, however there are many more pieces to the puzzle. Anschutz has also donated over $100 million to the University of Colorado school of medicine. Since his less-than-desirable philanthropy activities have come to light, he has also donated $1 million to Elton John’s AIDS foundation fund. Anschutz publicly used this donation as proof of his commitment to the LGBTQ community, and made it harder for critics of his donation tendencies to continue with their criticism. Anschutz has given much of his money to hateful organizations, and yet he has also fueled many life giving and beneficial organizations. So how do we confront the festival itself?
When I first learned that my roommate would be performing, I asked her about the moral conundrum this presents, and how her and her band felt about performing at the show. Obviously she was ecstatic at the chance to perform in front of thousands, but our conversation quickly turned into a debate about which things should get cancelled, and which should remain immune. At first to me it seemed hypocritical and redundant to be a queer musician at a festival where profits could be damaging the LGBTQ community, performing for a company that might turn some of those profits into anti-gay marriage policies. What I failed to realize is that as a musician, your salary is linked with how many times you perform and the levels of exposure you can foster. For my roommate and her band, this is another step towards increased popularity and further sales, and higher exposure.
Not only that, but Coachella routinely hosts top artists and pays them handsomely, with some (Ariana Grande) reportedly earning almost $8 million. Back in 2018 Beyonce reportedly earned somewhere between $3–4 million, and has profited further (by her own efforts) with her new documentary Homecoming that details the steps leading up to her grand performance. Although other artists earn much less than $1 million, Coachella nonetheless exposes various lesser known artists to thousands of festival attendees in America. In King Princess’ case, this festival gave Mikaela a platform to proudly present queer love stories for a mainstream audience.
In my roommate’s specific case, these festival tours fund her daily living costs and tuition fees for attending USC. With a price tag of over $75,000 a year, USC is nowhere close to cheap, and thus these performances are a crucial part of her budget. For her too, these performances allow her to display her musical talents, and could possibly lead to future opportunities in the music world. Consequently after being booked for Coachella, Melody and King Princess found themselves booked for dozens of festivals this summer spanning the whole globe.
Thus for small up and coming artists, headlining at Coachella has become a new way to enter the mainstream. With the support of already existing fans, these artists like King Princess often soar in the charts after the festival with additional festival bookings and success in the music charts.
Although it may still be hypocritical to perform at a festival that has historically funded hateful organizations, it is also interesting that the backlash has not been directed towards the artists performing. Sophie, Christine and the Queens, and Janelle Monáe all also performed these past two weekends. The website pride.com reported that “Coachella 2019 is going to be super gay,” and that, “Despite the anti-LGBT reputation of the owner, the infamous Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival just announced its 2019 lineup recently, and so many queer artists and allies are performing!” Woo! Don’t worry about where the money goes, right?
Anschutz has since cut down on his funding of right wing hate groups and politicians, and has also seen higher profits from Coachella. Where these profits go may be less than desirable, however I wonder why it is that some would like festival attendees to choose politics over music. Music has won out for three years now since the publishing of Anschutz’s donations; the festival boasts amenities and a community that many find difficult to reject. These attendees are not only paying to go, they are simultaneously funding all the artists at the festival, including those queer artists mentioned above. With over 100 artists, some earning millions of dollars, these attendees are a necessary part of the financial equation. Their money directly funds artists and their journey.
During the debate between my roommate Melody and I, she also asked why it is that certain people are “cancelled” whereas others are seemingly immune. If we have to cancel Coachella, why not cancel Led Zeppelin? I love the band myself, but am also aware that they left a trail of sexual abuse with minors during their 70s touring days. I and many others refuse listen to XXXTentacion because of his domestic abuse of his partner (to be fair I despise his music too). Millions of Americans buy food at Chik-Fil-A despite the owner’s fervent opposition to LGBTQ rights. It is tricky to navigate through artists and business not knowing whether your dollar will fund something you disagree wholeheartedly with. So, how do we choose? And should this choice be up for scrutiny?
I say that the responsibility has fallen on us consumers far too long. Once Goldenvoice learned of Anschutz’s donations, they continued to use AEG to create and book Coachella. Numerous company heads made partnerships with the festival despite the donations being public, and top artists earning millions performed without condemning Coachella itself. Yet, somehow the consumers are responsible.
This can be seen too in the banning of complementary plastic straws in California. Rather than focus efforts to deal with the companies emitting tons of Carbon into the air each year, the California state legislature decided banning straws would have more of an impact. Instead of forcing big businesses and corporations to solve their emissions problems, the state has indirectly told customers that they are the issue. If we could just shower less, use less toilet paper, and never touch a plastic straw again, then the planet would be saved! A little too optimistic, this notion appears a bit far-fetched.
But back to Coachella. While I was too broke to go this year, I still would’ve gone if I could’ve afforded it. When she was there my roommate enjoyed herself, and managed to meet dozens of queer fans that spouted streams of praise. Melody also created connections with other artists, connections that could lead to future opportunities for her and the band.
King Princess will continue to perform and succeed in the charts, touring everywhere from Chicago to Australia this coming summer. But should we bash them for performing at Coachella? I don’t think we should. We must turn to the corporations that allow hate and climate change and abuse to persist, and focus less on what corporations and legislature tells us citizens we are responsible for. We can vote and can political organize movements, but we cannot topple down institutions that allow money from a festival to be funneled into right-wing hate groups on our own. For that there must be internal and external pressures.
