The Need-to-Know Moments From Kanye West’s “Sunday Service” at Coachella
For Easter Sunday, Kanye West brought his enigmatic “Sunday Service” to the last weekend of Coachella in Indio, California. It was the first public glimpse of West’s secretive service, which the rapper has been hosting on Sundays for a few weeks now in an undisclosed location in California, for an exclusive, hush-hush guest list comprised of celebrities and family friends (the Kardashians are regulars, while everyone from Courtney Love to Tyler, the Creator have also attended). So what’s the big secret? Well, West’s “Sunday Service” is really just about using the power of music to practice and celebrate Christianity. His set combined gospel singing and sermons with samples of West’s own raps, accompanied by a live band that was heavy on the percussion, but also included an organ, saxophones, trombones. Even a harp!
Streamed on YouTube this morning, West’s set opened with Kanye’s “disciples”—his band members and singers—gathering on a grassy mountain top at the festival grounds, all standing in formation while wearing matching head-to-toe looks in that signature Yeezy-esque pink-beige. Their T-shirts all had “Holy Spirit” etched onto them, and similar styles were even being sold as merchandise on-site, for over $200 a pop.
Meanwhile, the live stream itself, filmed through a peephole-style camera, had viewers joking on Twitter that watching the performance was like viewing it through that infamous donut-like black hole. Or through one of those pinhole projectors used to watch a solar eclipse. Even the crowd at Coachella were kept behind barricades, far down the hill, away from the action.
Throughout the set, the rapper was seen jamming out on the organ, or dancing around with his crew and hyping them up. In the crowd, there were some celebrity spottings: Chance the Rapper and Kid Cudi were there, while on the side lines, the Kardashian sisters, including Kim Kardashian West, were also present. Fans hoping to catch West performing his raps were sadly mistaken—this was no Beyoncé or Ariana Grande-style headlining act. Instead, he allowed his band and singers to take the spotlight. They would sample his songs, singing his hits such as “Otis” or “Fade.” The rapper was more of a conductor of the performance; the man responsible for bringing everyone together. (He does call himself Yeezus.) He did, however, briefly perform his tracks “Jesus Walks” and “All Falls Down.” He also previewed a new song, called, “Water.” The lyrics go a little something like this: “We are water. We are water. We are water.”
While many on social media have joked that West’s “Sunday Service” has a sort of cult-like feel to it, his Coachella set today revealed that, at its core, his gatherings are about embodying religion through song. The idea can apply to any religion, too, not just Christianity. But given it is Easter Sunday, and that West is an outspoken Christian, his performance’s festive feel was certainly heightened.
Below, some highlights.
