Beyonce’s HOTLY-ANTICIAPTED ‘Renaissance World Tour’ opened to much FANFARE and AWE!
The Renaissance world tour kicked off last night in Stockholm, Sweden, with Beyoncé billed as the opening act, main act, and encore act. To be fair, she has two decades’ worth of ground to cover, which she fittingly acknowledged by opening the show with “Dangerously in Love,” the title track from her debut solo album released 20 years ago. It also marked her first live performance of the song in over a decade. Take a LOOK at the GLITZY PARADE of EXCELLENCE that was OPENING NIGHT!
Beyoncé made it through three full songs — “Dangerously in Love,” “Flaws and All,” and “I Care” — and a medley of her own “1+1,” Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and Mary J. Blige’s “I’m Going Down,” before even touching anything on Renaissance. “I’m That Girl” and “Cozy” were her first picks from the record, preceding a mashup of Renaissance fan favorite “Alien Superstar” and “Sweet Dreams,” from 2009’s I Am… Sasha Fierce.
“You’ve asked for the visuals. You’ve called for the queen,” Kevin Prodigy states in a voiceover during “Formation,” nodding to the lack of music videos for any of the Renaissance songs. “But the queen moves at her own pace, bitch. The queen decides when she wants to give you a fucking taste — so get your fork and your spoon.”
Opening with a ballad like “Dangerously in Love” was just a starter before the main entree. A portion of Beyoncé’s appearance on the Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration “Lift Off” served as a buffer before she launched into a back-to-back barrage of hits: “7/11” into “Cuff It” into “Energy” into “Break My Soul” into “Formation” into “Diva” — with an interpolation of Lil Uzi Vert’s “I Just Wanna Rock” — into “Run the World (Girls).”
There were much more ‘OOOS’ and ‘AWES’ as Beyonce went through over 30 more songs and segues and intros that would make ANY BEYHIVE stan’s HEAD EXPLODE!
Dancing energetically alongside a legion of backup dancers wearing blonde wigs and glitzy silver leotards, the 41-year-old mother of three sang (and rapped) with the power and pristineness that’s put her in a distinct category of pop performers. Her athleticism doesn’t seem to have waned since her astonishingly aerobic headlining sets at Coachella in 2018.
The performers’ outfits were as outlandish and ultramodernist as the show’s set design, ranging from a gold bodysuit inspired by Loewe’s Fall 2022 collection to a giant bee costume — a sartorial embrace of her designation as “Queen Bey.” Another outfit appeared to be transformed by UV light while she was wearing it.
Beyoncé ended the show with a performance of the album’s final track, “Summer Renaissance,” while perched atop a gleaming, crystalline horse — evoking the “Renaissance” album cover — and later being hoisted above the crowd amid a cloud of glittery confetti.
The Gamutt Blog 