At BottleRock, Kali Uchis Beamed Fans Up to a Club in the Cosmos (2024)

It’s not common for a music festival stage to be concealed by a curtain, but even before Kali Uchis’ Saturday night set began at BottleRock, she already projected an air of seduction, mystery and, above all, intentionality. The audience chanted her name, and the white fabric parted. Uchis emerged on a platform, radiant, in a ballgown of ostrich feathers. As she sang the sensual opening lines of “Moonlight,” her skirt unfurled to reveal dancers covering her with their feathered fans.

Many artists will get up on festival stages without frills, but Uchis’ elaborate set design — resembling a neon-lit James Turrell installation — signaled that tonight was special. Other than a brief feature during Tyler, the Creator’s Coachella set in April, this was her first major appearance since dropping her phenomenal 2024 album Orquídeas, a dreamy, Spanish-language exaltation of love and beauty. It was also her first solo performance since she and boyfriend Don Toliver welcomed their first child just two months ago.

“Thank you so much for having me,” Uchis said humbly, almost in a whisper. “It’s so strange for me to be here because I just had a baby. This is my first show.”

The act of creation, both of art and of life, can be spiritual, and throughout her 70-minute set Uchis exuded a Venusian, goddess-like presence. A projection of the night sky glittered behind her as her voice soared during “telepatía,” her swaying 2020 soul song about missing a far-away lover.

Uchis began her career a decade ago emulating ’60s girl groups and lowrider oldies, and while those influences have remained, the Colombian American singer has delicately woven together a completely distinct style of bilingual pop where R&B, reggaeton, boleros and even merengue mix together fluidly. On the BottleRock stage, Uchis seamlessly brought these styles together with her strong point of view, one that luxuriates in femininity, softness and romance.

Switching the vibe to a nightclub in the cosmos, Uchis and her four-piece band (featuring Bay Area local Esai, aka Chicano God, on bass) performed “Muñekita,” her uptempo, dembow track with a pouty attitude. “Labios Mordidos,” her bisexual reggaeton duet with Karol G, followed, and “¿Cómo Así?” amped up the party with its house groove as dancers of all genders popped their booties.

Though headliners Pearl Jam played concurrently on BottleRock’s main stage, it was clear to this crowd of mostly young women and couples that Uchis was truly the main draw. A chorus of fans erupted when she performed 2018’s “Dead to Me” — not a diss track per se, but one where she gives someone a warning that there won’t be bad blood if they keep their distance.

Uchis told the audience this is a recurring theme in her discography. “Life is short, that’s why you don’t need people in your life that are poisonous to you,” she said. “That’s how I live my life. I don’t let people in who discourage me or make me feel bad about myself.”

Even her songs that evoked ego still kept it classy. Her biggest flexes tend to be about keeping her moral high ground in the face of poor treatment, trusting that the universe has her back. Her voice rang out as she belted “she’s coming to collect ’cause karma won’t forget,” from 2023’s “Moral Conscience.” There was another burst of loud applause during the coquettish, Peso Pluma-featuring “Igual Que Un Ángel” (“Just Like an Angel”), where she sings in the third person about a woman so above it all that a heart like hers is rarely found on this mortal coil.

To the uninitiated this could sound over the top, but at BottleRock Uchis projected such intimacy and self-possessed poise that it was hard not to feel you were in the presence of something otherworldly. Throughout her set, Uchis was an unbothered nymph singing to you from her secret garden. Fans took a little piece of that confidence with them as Uchis descended from her platform, beaming, and everyone dispersed into the night.