Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and her Renaissance Tour captivated the world throughout her 56 shows which became the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in history.
Her album, Renaissance, was released on July 29, 2022, so when she announced the tour in early February, tickets went lightning quick.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go to her show in Dallas on Sept. 21. The best way to describe this tour was a big dance party. The flashing lights, flying disco balls, dancing, music, and energy inside the AT&T Stadium contributed to the performance that Beyoncé put on.
Beyoncé wasn’t the only one who made the show what it was. Her amazing backup dancers who played multiple roles included the Les Twins, who both provided the hype between and during each set, The Dolls, who stunned the crowd with their amazing tricks, and many more incredible dancers. One of the best parts of the tour was when the pregnant saxophone player had her moments to jam out in front of the crowd.
Along with Beyoncé’s incredible outfits, the people around me, including myself, were all decked out in silver, per Beyoncé’s birthday wish. Everywhere I turned, there was a sea of silver streaming out of every section.
The tour was divided into seven different sets with a video played on the big screen before and after that gave everyone a chance to reground themselves and take a drink of water before we belted the next set. The video was a pre-filmed montage or collage of a song that gave Beyoncé time to change into her next stunning outfit.
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Another thing that made this tour so amazing was the specific and one-of-a-kind outfits that each city got to witness. At the Dallas show, she came out in a bejeweled dress made by Georges Hobeika with layers of Swarovski crystals littered throughout. From that point on we saw multiple bodysuits, various scarves and over-the-knee boots.
As Beyoncé came out in the bejeweled dress, “Dangerously in Love” filled the arena and kicked off the concert. As soon as Beyoncé said “I love you,” I screamed as loud as I could. After hearing Dallas scream the whole first song, Beyoncé looked out into the crowd. “It feels so good to be home,” she said, and the utterance elicited a thunderous applause. This show was the first one that occurred in Beyoncé’s home state, Texas. And sure enough, the Texas crowd gave her a warm welcome back home. The rest of the set was filled with throwbacks including “Flaws and All”, “1+1”, “I’m Going Down” and then a tribute to Tina Turner with the song “River Deep, Mountain High.” After the songs were concluded, “RENAISSANCE” played from tape on the big screen. I love that she started the concert with “Dangerously in Love,” which fulfilled my need for old Beyoncé songs right off the bat. I wish, however, she included more songs with a fast tempo to get the crowd pumped after waiting two hours for her to come on.
This brings me to the only issue that I had with this tour: the starting time. There was no real starting time, just rumors from the people around me predicting when the show was going to start. She didn’t end up coming on until 9:33 p.m., which ended her show around 12:45 a.m. Since the show was in Dallas, I had to get up at 5 a.m. to get to school on time. I think the concert should have started at 8 p.m.
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Beyoncé kicked off the second set by coming out in a long-sleeve silver bodysuit with big shoulder pads bedazzled with sparkly paneling. Her metallic over-knee boots and thin silver glasses completed the outfit. This outfit made me realize that Renaissance had a lot of AI and future references.
This set consisted of mostly songs from the Renaissance album like “I’m That Girl,” which ramped up the crowd with all the beat drops, “Cozy,” “ALIEN SUPERSTAR” and “Lift Off.” “7/11” and “MOTHERBOARD” filled the screen after Beyoncé left the stage. This set contained the songs that I knew the least. The songs I did know were thanks to small snip-its that I heard off of TikTok or Instagram, both of which brought more attention to this whole tour.
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We were then greeted by a deep-v-cut bodysuit with raised shoulder pads, a hood and a long black train that commanded the stage. Queen Bey had on six-inch black heels with cutouts that went all the way up her thighs. The outfit was completed with big black sunglasses.
While this set was only three songs long, it was arguably the most fun part of the show. “CUFF IT” started us off with incredible vocals. Beyoncé then strutted down the stairs to start singing “ENERGY,” which has the infamous mute challenge integrated into it. I was so nervous coming into this song because I didn’t want to let Beyoncé down. “Look around everybody on mute.” Dallas came through though and everyone fell silent. The words “LOOK AROUND IT’S ME AND MY CREW, BIG ENERGY!” left nobody in that stadium quiet. As Beyoncé was hitting her moves, we heard her say “Dallas y’all did that,” which made the crowd erupt into even louder screams. Immediately after “ENERGY” finished, “BREAK MY SOUL”—the only single to preview the album—came on. After some sing-alongs with the crowd, Beyoncé left the stage which gave way to “OPULENCE” to fill the speakers and screen. I loved this set with all my heart, and it was my favorite part of the show. Queen Bey and Dallas didn’t let any note go unheard.
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Beyoncé rose from the ground in another bodysuit, this time a black base with silver triangles consuming her arms, shoulders and chest. We see another pair of black over-the-knee boots and more stylish big black sunglasses with a metal frame adding to the geometric feel. This outfit was completed with a big-brimmed silver hat that matched with all of her dancers.
“Formation,” a big hit from Beyoncé’s previous album Lemonade and 2018 Coachella set, was the first song to be played and set the tone for the rest of the fourth set. The whole crowd went crazy when Beyoncé emphasized “Make a Texas-Bama,” because of course, we had to let Beyoncé know that we were so happy she was back. “Formation” came on followed by “Diva” which smoothly transitioned into “Run the World (Girls),” which got the whole crowd, especially the ladies hyped. “Run the World” brought me back to all the car rides where my mom and I would belt the lyrics in so to hear the song live was special to both my mom and I. Then, as Beyoncé was singing “MY POWER,” Blue Ivy, her 11-year-old daughter, rose from the ground and graced the stage with her incredible dance moves causing the crowd to go crazier. The dancing from Blue continued through the song “BLACK PARADE” as Beyoncé came back out on a silver tank. Blue exited the stage as “Savage,” the Tiktok sensation, had dancers going all out and Queen Bey yelling multiple times “TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS!” Beyoncé retreated slowly on top of her tank as she sang “Partition.” “ANOINTED” filled the screen as set four ended.
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Set five started with a nude body suit and over-the-knee boots covered with silver fringe, small rhinestone glasses and another liquid metal-looking hat with a big brim was my favorite look of this whole concert. The iconic fringe moved with Beyoncé’s every move.
This set consisted of the songs “CHURCH GIRL,” “Get Me Bodied,” “Before I Let Go,” “Rather Die Young,” “Love on Top” and “Crazy in Love,” which are from five different albums. The most memorable of the performances were “Before I Let Go,” which consisted of Beyoncé showing off her amazing vocal range; “Love on Top,” which consisted of the audience singing half the song and making the stadium echo and “Crazy in Love,” with Beyoncé strutting around the stage making her boots frill with every step. “Love Hangover” started on the screen as Beyoncé left the stage.
Beyoncé started this set singing “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA.” She continued with “VIRGO’S GROOVE” asking where all her fellow Virgos were. “Naughty Girl” ushered Beyoncé off the clam, “MOVE” had her and her dancers parade around the circle part of the stage and “HEATED” ended this set with robotic arms moving fans all around the stage. “ALREADY” and “MIND CONTROL” took over the screen as Queen Bey exited the stage. “HEATED” was my favorite performance of this set,but overall, in my opinion, some of these songs didn’t need to be part of the concert.
As a tribute to her Beehive, Beyoncé came out in a bee bodysuit with pointy hips completed with a mask with antennas that resemble those of a bee. “AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM” kicked off the start with her and her dancers lighting up the stage. As “PURE/HONEY” ended, Beyoncé turned around and walked off the stage allowing her dancer to take the main stage. During the time that Beyoncé was doing her final outfit change, her dancers served all different kinds of cool tricks like splits, flips, and turns while the crowd was oblivious to what was about to come. Seeing the dancers dressed up in bodysuits and performing their best dance moves, especially in Texas—where many people’s true selves are suppressed—made me feel like I was a part of something; a safe community created by Beyoncé.
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Out came Beyoncé on her disco-ified horse floating above the stage and crowd. Her final outfit consisted fully of a silver bodysuit with ruffles along the chest and a six-foot trail behind her.
The stadium went dark as little silver sparkles took over the big screen. As she sang the final song of the evening, “SUMMER RENAISSANCE”, the horse went to the middle of the circle part of the circle stage, and slowly, Beyoncé floated above the crowd surrounded by silver confetti. She went around in the air thanking everyone who was there and a part of her tour. Coming back to the ground, she looked around one more time to savor the moment, before turning around and walking backstage. While I liked Beyoncé floating above the crowd, I wish she ended with a different song. “SUMMER RENAISSANCE” is a song that I’m not very familiar with, so I think an old song would have made it a full circle for everyone, including Beyoncé.
In conclusion, this concert was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It made me forget everything for one night as I danced and sang along with Beyoncé and the people around me. If you missed this incredible tour, I’d highly recommend seeing the movie that comes out on Dec. 1. Queen Bey brought the “ENERGY,” “MOVE[D]” all night long, and put everyone in “MIND CONTROL” during her “RENAISSANCE” tour.
