It wasn’t just a music show. It was a cultural, sensory and emotional experience, in a grandiose deployment. The concert took place a few days ago and we are still, at the time of this writing, cashing in on the two and a half hours of pure entertainment provided by Beyoncé. His performance was so colossal that you would have to watch it several times to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
There were the returns to her repertoire of the last 20 years for fabulous moments of nostalgia, there were the segments devoted purely to the Renaissance album, where she delivered her new hits in a futuristic disco atmosphere. There were also the moments when Beyoncé left the stage to her dancers for numbers that were not only entertaining, but also conveyed important messages – like during the last interlude, during which the universe of the ballroom took center stage. .
Because she never does things by halves, Beyoncé designed her show in several acts, divided by interludes. She once reappeared on stage in a robot costume, then in a bee outfit (signed Mugler), another time accompanied by a gigantic horse bust, before that, on a battle tank mounted on a pole of striptease, or, at the end, on a glittering horse that flew above the stage and the crowd.
It was not a moment of intimacy (Beyoncé had little interaction with her audience, by the way), but of extravagance and celebration, as the Renaissance album did.
We were told a story, in music, in images, in dance. Each time the singer slipped away for a change of scene, scenery and costume, the commotion mounted in the crowd. It was like living five concerts in one. The common point each time: an exceptional vocal performance, highlighting the immense vocal range of Beyoncé, who danced less than usual, but was impeccable on all fronts.
Her first painting, The Signboard, allowed her to inhabit the stage alone, starting with Dangerously in Love, Flaws and All, 1 1, I Care… In short, an appetizer where the classics were in the spotlight. The painting entitled Renaissance launched the festivities on disco and house music, allowing the Rogers Center to become a dance floor, on the rhythms that black and queer culture brought into the world. I’m That Girl, Cozy, Alien Superstar… Then another costume and mood change for Cuff It, Energy, Break My Soul, in the Motherboard, followed by a few more classics including Formation, Diva and Run the World (Girls). For the part called Anointed, we continued with songs that everyone knows: Rather Die Young, Love on Top, Crazy in Love. The end of the concert was dedicated to the Renaissance album, including Virgo’s Groove, Move, Heated, Pure/Honey and the finale, Summer Renaissance.
Although she sometimes takes part in the concert, Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy, whose number with her mother went viral, was not present during the performances in Toronto. Jay-Z, he was in the crowd on the first evening, attending as usual at the concert on the floor, with the public.
We unfortunately didn’t bump into Jay-Z, but as we strolled through the various sections, more than an hour before Beyoncé took the stage, the aisles were buzzing with a frenzy. The mood was celebratory. Everywhere, we honored Queen B, her work, disco and ball.
The watchword for the dress code that night: no limits.
Impromptu photoshoots were held all over the place, with fans taking their one-night model performances seriously.
Beyoncé in Toronto was all of that…and more. Last weekend, everything seemed to revolve around the diva. On the main streets of the Queen City, at every intersection, you were almost guaranteed to come across someone wearing one of the tour’s merchandise items or being visibly dressed for the concert.
Saturday afternoon, a few hours before the first of the two concerts, we were in the middle of town, with hundreds of other fans. At Holt Renfrew on Bloor Street, an exhibition of Beyoncé’s stage costumes, by Balmain, was on display. Merchandise was also sold there, including exclusive Balmain pieces. Like several hundred people, we waited more than two hours for this – rather average – immersion in Beyoncé’s universe, which nevertheless seemed inevitable to us.
It is that this weekend, for many people, represented a complete experience, for which some have come from afar. We also met many Quebecers. “There are people from really everywhere,” a Holt Renfrew employee told us when, after several hours, we finally got access to the exhibit.
Like many, we let ourselves be tempted by an overpriced souvenir that would remind us that we were there, this summer weekend of 2023, when Queen B honored us with her presence. If you find, at this point, that all of this sounds somewhat like a cult of sorts… you’re not wrong. Beyoncé is one of the contemporary pop artists whose status is beyond comprehension. Fortunately, she does not take this role for granted, as evidenced by her show, during which the queen was… majestic.
