Secondhand Setlists

My first time in Detroit, my first time seeing Beyoncé, not my first time pondering the appeal of stadium-sized shows.

Summer 2023 left behind memories of Mattel, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé; with the Renaissance Act i concluded and Act ii in full swing, my review of her show in Detroit is long overdue.

A bonafide star taking her critically-lauded dance album on tour warrants much press on its own, but with Beyoncé it was just more. The looks, supporting DJs, A-list cameos, and musicianship drew not only praise but bated breath. ‘Would Destiny’s Child reunite?’ many asked, and were disappointed. ‘Would there be visuals?‘ we wondered, and we sorta got some in a concert film. Beyoncé operates in such a way that conspiracies run rampant across her fandom, some a bit more believable than others. Now, with her country pivot underway while whispers of visuals by Nadia Lee Cohen for Renaissance seem more like fantasy, people remain unsure what to expect from the artist behind the most impactful music-based visuals of the last two decades.

I, someone whose safe choice for Album Of All Time is B’Day, am just as susceptible to theories. Initially, I put money on an actual set of videos being released at the tail end of the tour; I also thought a Destiny’s Child reunion made too much perfect sense for the Houston show. Obviously neither came to pass.

But I do know how I felt about this tour, which was and continues to be: conflicted. As a disclaimer: Beyoncé is by no means a bad performer. However, I believe this tour could have been tightened up to truly give us an unforgettable experience while also giving Bey a more cohesive, impactful tour. My thoughts on all that below.

Getting to the Gig

As if ordained by the stars, 20 years earlier, Beyoncé’s live solo career kicked off at Ford Motor’s 100th Birthday. Really fascinating when you considered other anniversaries coming up around that time, and yet…

Thank the stars for Detroit, a saving grace for me when the Pittsburgh date became the lone casualty on this tour. Thank them further this concert happened in a domed stadium. The day turned out to be (another) wet one in the midwest. Torrential downpours drenched the highway from Cleveland through Toledo towards Michigan in the late afternoon; by the late evening, another storm descended upon the city. I never knew of it, though, from within the steel fortress that is Ford Field.

Entering the stadium at 8pm, I arrived with plenty of time to wait (and pray) for an early start. Prior research showed the show fluctuated between an 8:40 and 9:30 PM start, proceeded by a crisp two-and-a-half hour runtime. That evening, it began at 9:30. Seeing the stage set, the SMPTE screen steadied, and the venue largely full, I saw little reason to start an hour-and-a-half past 8pm, the showtime given on my ticket. A concert of this undertaking obviously required much preparation, and expecting shows to start at their designated times is like expecting Elon Musk to successfully run a company. Still, an hour-and-a-half delay made a significant difference, meaning I would not leave until midnight for a two-and-a-half hour drive home. I doubted I was the only one who came from Cleveland, much less Ohio, or even Pittsburgh. For myself and the attendees, whom I observed mostly fell within a millennial demographic, tomorrow was a work day, and most of us can’t quit our jobs, though we might pretend in song.

Ford Field also got no DJ Khaled, Arca, Shygirl, LSDXOXO, Rush Davis, or any notable DJ from what I could tell. That a producer of some sort could not be found in Detroit of all places puzzled me. Thankfully, whoever hooked up their bluetooth to the speakers played Leikeli47’s “Wash & Set.”

Opening

Of course, once it began, my restlessness dissipated to awe. Beyoncé approached! Heralded by booming a sound system and a screen crisp enough for an Avatar viewing, Destiny’s favorite child appeared in a shimmering haze, gracefully opening the show with something for the Day Ones (“Dangerously In Love Pt 2”). This initial section, only ballads and covers, began the show as any one of this magnitude should begin: by introducing us to The Voice.

Few other sounds cut through the din of pop culture quite like Beyoncé’s voice. Reminding attendees of that was absolutely the correct way to begin the biggest tour of your career thus far. While not a personal favorite, 4 inarguably sports some Beyoncé’s most impressive songs and in many ways feels like the record tied to her elevation to god status. Just as importantly, they showcase one of her music’s steadfast themes: commitment. “I Care” is more than just a title: it is a mantra she adheres to deeply. Such devotion relayed through gold-standard vocals demanded reciprocation, which the audience offered in screams and raised smartphones. Bey’s warmth registered as genuine, her emphatic “Thank you’s” and “Happy Birthday’s” to audience members probably some of the best gifts they’ve ever received, and she knew that. She’s the Haley’s Comet of superstars – you catch her when possible and receive nothing else between appearances. Her reception of her fans translated into a drive, a need, an understanding to give them as much as possible. Watching her seated atop a silver piano for “1+1” gave the illusion of catching an intimate performance rather than a barnburner stadium show.

My sole note for the opening section concerned “River Deep, Mountain High.” As the finale, it seemed the perfect song to kick up the tempo and charge the audience for the high-energy show about to unfold. Instead, Beyoncé kept it contained, singing the chorus only once and never shifting into the song’s rip-roaring antics. While still a fitting tribute to the original blueprint, Tina Turner, this rendition faded out when it deserved to go off, especially since she had more than two hours of material left for us.

Much of that material included the transitions, which took around two-to-five minutes, I’d hazard, between sets. Personally, I can’t remember much of the visuals now. They were gorgeous, to be sure: glamorous Hajime Sorayam-esque cyborgs, disco mermaids, space stations, and scaffolding chic enough for Parisian runways. After a while, however, they began to interrupt the flow for other elements, and those elements I felt distracted from the overall show.

Renaissance

And so we truly began. Beyoncé’s disembodied voice poured over the audience, listing one of her influences as a “little Motor City energy.” The surge of pride buzzing off the crowd at that moment was just one of those moments you had to be there for.

At last came the Renaissance we’d waited for. The beat on “I’m That Girl” pulsed through the crowd not unlike this, a sonic rebellion against anxiety, stress, and inhibition. Above the bass rippled Princess Loko’s mantra, now immortalized as a piece of advice and relic of remembrance. “Celebrations are so often scheduled, but it’s not promised everyone will be there,” a sentiment poignantly described by the LA Times. The phrase poured over the crowd, demanding acknowledgement while simultaneously reminding us of its pulsing center. “Love is my weakness” said the woman who spun love into cultural treasures of the modern world. Love, much like commitment, holds high esteem in her catalog. Love for her sister, her mother, her children, Uncle Johnny, Tina Turner – you believe it when she sings it. And you had to believe her deep devotion to her fans and craft led to the spectacle we now witnessed.

To the attention-deficit mind of the 21st century, the aforementioned spectacle of the Renaissance Tour worked with and against it. On a positive note, the medley/mashup elements of the setlist allowed so much of the Beyoncé canon a chance to shine, and it was a trick she deployed early on. “Cozy,” only the second Renaissance cut played thus far into the show, got blended with “Apeshit,” followed shortly by “Alien Superstar” vs “Sweet Dreams.” With just a hint of its melodies, “Sweet Dreams” drew a huge response from the crowd, but it never materialized into the full number or even a lyrical snippet. Such teases would prove to be a recurring theme of the Renaissance Tour, a quality I believe worked against the show (and something other writers have pointed out, too). I, for one, never wanted to hear “7/11,” much less a Les Twins dance break over its instrumental, which closed out the Renaissance section.

Transitioning to Motherboard, I gathered that there’d be more downtime than I had anticipated between sets, often for aspects that could have been scaled back like costuming. That said, props I wholeheartedly endorsed early on were the four claw handles, which alternated wielding costume pieces, set décor, and folded fans. Very simple, but extremely utilitarian and a clever fusion between the futurism and queer thematics at play. In my opinion, they offered more visual stimulation than a cumbersome, antennae costume or “Formation” headwear we’ve already seen.

Motherboard

Shifting from Renaissance to the Motherboard section, the show thrust us into the incredible run of “Cuff It” through “Break My Soul.” The runway and its surrounding ring offered the audience the closest proximity most will ever get to Beyoncé, whose presence was as exhilarating as you’d imagine. Watching her take the lead on “Energy” or saunter around the ring to “Break My Soul” showcased the intensity of her stage presence, attractive enough to fill a 60K stadium, rainstorms be damned. The echoes of “Vogue,” another pop superstar’s own dance floor anthem, further amped up the feeling we were witnessing something extraordinary. (At this point in time, the everybody-on-mute challenge was not a thing.)

It must be said, this rush receded as she retreated to the main stage, where, from my seats, center-stage was obscured by the outer ring’s raised platforms. Obviously, one could turn to one of the iMaxes on the left or right for a better view, and I had an enviable seat otherwise, but focusing on the screen when you’re so close made the ticket cost sting a little bit. Having spoken to friends who sat in the outer rings just outside of the inner stadium, it sounds as if that area, with its slight raise, presented a much more all-encompassing view. By this point the gigantic screens on either side proved integral to the show. They guaranteed the smallest details got their due and multiple angles, a blessing because certain details got hard to see. A note I’d relay along to Andrew Makadsi – it often proved a challenge to see anything on the stage when everything (the fits, the risers, the giant seashell) was encrusted with metallics.

Thankfully, the videography allowed attendees in the nosebleeds a crisp look at Beyoncé and her dancers, both of whom treated the camera in a way that appears to be the new norm for stadium shows. Gazing directly into the lens, performers worked for the camera rather than the crowd. In this way, the performance often translated to the audience in a fashion more akin to a performance for television or a music video. But worth noting – when a camera zoomed in on Bey’s snarl or a singular dancer’s twerk, it lost the rest of the performers and stage. This meant those in the rafters or caught behind an awkwardly raised platform missed out on seeing the glory of the formations, no pun intended.

Opulence

I pondered this as we sat through another transition into the section designated Opulence. This portion, like the Opening, took us back to Bey’s earlier catalog mis-mashed with others’ hits that weren’t always her own. In my attempt to see around that accursed raise platform, I missed the initial impact of Blue Ivy Carter, arriving like an asteroid for “My Power.” Blue leading the dancers to the edge of the runway as a tank-riding Beyoncé lovingly watched over granted us another glimpse of the mother behind this universe. It was ridiculous too, a parent perched atop a battle vehicle, adoringly observing as her pre-teen daughter made a crowd of thousands go apeshit. Blue’s cameo easily served as the highlight of this section. This battle formation also lent itself well to the ferocious “Savage,” with that tank just lilting left and right for an undeniable level of swagger. If you don’t jump to get on tanks, baby, your life is mundane!

Blue Ivy and a Meg-less “Savage” stood out as the sole highlights of Opulence, which otherwise gave little else to remember. The section rehashed now years-old choreography for “Run The World” and “Formation” as well as, if I recall correctly, cutscenes from The Gift, which played on the screens. Iconic and stunning visuals, to be sure, but ones we have all seen already. Both felt a bit egregious considering we’ve yet to see a single Renaissance music video. Throwing it further into my face, Opulence concluded with only a teeny bit of “Partition.”

Anointed Pt 1

Realizing another transition gave me some extra time, I decided I needed to make like “Irreplaceable” and head to the left, out of the way of that raised outer ring and hopefully towards a better view of center stage. Blessedly, I found one with a clear view straight down the runway to center stage.

Though part of a concert based around aa new album, Anointed, too, left out much of the Renaissance material sans “Church Girl,” the section’s opening statement. Much more laidback than the previous openers, “Church” girl centered on a more relaxed, fun side of Beyoncé’s music. It, along with “Get Me Bodied,” encouraged movement from the audience, who, from my standpoint, was rather still most of the evening. Perhaps they’d have moved a little more if we got a bit more of “Get Me Bodied.” But the show needed to keep moving, so we pushed on with “Before I Let Go” (also featuring too little of “Freakum Dress”), followed by a very funny question posed by the head diva.

“Can I sing a song from 4 for you?” is possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever heard her say because: A. why would she need our permission, and B. why wouldn’t she ask for permission before “Diva” an act earlier? I know she’s got spies and secret burner account, so she should know I Am… Sasha Fierce requires audience warning, not 4, which had already accounted for four tracks on this setlist. It clocked a fifth soon after with “Rather Die Young,” followed by “Love On Top.”

The true thrill of “Love On Top” is the drawn-out finale, a aerial silk routine of vocal prowess. To perform this song sans finale would have been allowable on its own. However, on the Renaissance Tour, you, dear audience member, got to sing the finale; this was criminal. I did not want to hear an immensely complicated song sung by intoxicated, out-of-tune audience. Who would that be for?

Furthermore, she asked us if we wanted to hear 4. It was one thing to hear an album’s songs without the bells and whistles, it was another to be asked to hang them up ourselves. Thankfully, a much more iconic number followed this one: the eternal “Crazy In Love.” Two decades later, that inverted bridge still stood as one of the best moments in all of pop music. What a fitting moment, to end the “Annointed” section with the song that launched her as a solo act.

Anointed Pt 2

After such a blistering conclusion to Anointed, we settled into a more reserved moment reminiscent of the opening section’s formal poise. With Beyoncé shuttled offstage for another costume change, her band, already in full marching-band mode from “Crazy in Love,” got to flex their chops.

This transition delivered much more than the previous transitions of the evening, and I must give it to Beyoncé that she gave her entire crew a chance to strut their stuff in some capacity. That horn section, sax, trumpet, and trombonist, all played their little hearts out, even giving me the greatest gift of all time, the melody to “Green Light.” Following their boisterous tones came the four backup singers, each given their own chance to sang for us all with Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover” (the song choice perhaps a little teaser from Ms Knowles Carter herself about her LA guests? You can never rule it out!). Mellow and soothing, it eased us into the dulcet softness of “Plastic Off The Sofa.”

Here, Bey emerged out of a satin, studded seashell in the now iconic “hand” bodysuit. Similar to the beginning, we were now back at a section for vocals, darling, and more than an hour into her set, she still sounded immaculate. It suited her to deliver this song from atop a glamorous cushion. As the song bled into “Virgo’s Groove,” I noticed an interesting change – the screens no longer simply mirrored themselves as they had the rest of the evening. Now, the left would show Bey in the comfort of her shell while the right captured her dancers or band. Had this practice of splitting the screens happened more so throughout the show, I think it’d have alleviated a lot of the visual issues I previously addressed. With the screens showing two different moments, one could get a clear view of the choreography without losing the stunning visual of Bey in her grotto.

The starry scene proved perfect for the astrological wonder of “Virgo’s Groove,” one of the album’s most beloved songs. It’s 6-minute runtime offered the chance to really flesh out a moment here, which ended up unfolding into renditions of six other songs; while fun, it diminished the song’s wonderful build up, and the crowded number of tracks meant none of the interpolated numbers really had much of a chance to stand out. “Naughty Girl” at least managed to get a bit of its own moment here. That guitar riff is eternal.

I saw that Los Angeles, among other cities, ended this section with “Thique,” (positive) “All Up In Your Mind” (positive), and “Drunk In Love” (negative). Going back to curating the setlist, I’d have swapped out “Move,” which unfortunately is boring even with Tems and Grace Jones, for some bigger, livelier moments like “All Up In Your Mind” or “Thique.” The former, for one, would match up perfectly for the final section, literally called Mind Control. But instead, after the sunny joy of “Heated,” Anointed finished with another Les Twins moment, both twins situated atop those accursed raised platforms. The only person who should have been on those risers was Beyoncé.

Mind Control

A Jim Morrison quote, “whoever controls the media, controls the mind,” led us into Mind Control, the conclusion. From behind a KNTY news desk, Beyoncé emerged in one of the tour’s most memorable looks: the antennae’d bee suit. In my opinion, the fit looked uncomfortable and hard to dance in, neither of which worked for a major dance tour. Admittedly, it matched the ominous aura of this section, opened by the menacing “America Has a Problem.” A bop to be sure, but once again we only received a small portion of the song because she had to shut this thing down by midnight.

So, “America” cut short to allow “Pure/Honey” to uncoil. One of Renaissance‘s finest cuts, “Pure/Honey” proved a high point for me, because it we did actually get most of the full number and not some weird abridged, mashed up version. At this point in the show, I stood out as the sole person really dancing in my section; the majority just bopped along or held their phones up. I likely did look overtly animated, which might’ve led to a security person tapping me on the shoulder demanding to know if I’d been smoking weed. For the record, I was high, but a. on edibles, and b. I was dancing at a concert. But I couldn’t blame this security guard for this projection. Because at a massive, highly anticipated concert focused on techno, house, and disco, I stood out because I was dancing. Everyone else must have been too busy watching the screens, the stage ones or their own phones, to move their feet.

The dancers made up for this somewhat, particularly in the “Pure/Honey” breakdown between that and the closing number. The posse gathered at the end of the center platform for a ballroom moment, whipping hair, hitting dips, and kiki-ing each other to euphoria. I appreciated that her dancers, like the band and backup singers before them, got their own moment in the sun. But why wasn’t Bey herself part of this segment? I know the answer is “for another costume change” but come on, we’d seen more than five already by this point. What she needed to do was join those dancers at the end, cheering them on, giving them their 10s, not unlike what Madonna’s doing on the Celebration Tour right now. It just went on for too long with no Beyoncé and no set direction, which is great for a ball but a bit hard to enjoy in a stadium show.

And finally, she appeared on the famed Reneigh, in a glittering silver number. As you probably already know, the silvery steed lifted into the air with Beyoncé delivering the finale of “Summer Renaissance.” This track has waned on me in recent months, but I’d have still enjoyed seeing it played out fully at the end. To only hear the one verse and one chorus felt like a rush out the door. Not an ungracious hostess, she floated around for a few moments above the floor seats, blowing kisses and relaying her thanks to her beloved fans, any of whom would understandably lose their shit to be recognized by Queen B. In the end, it was a rather subdued finale for what was an enormous show.

In Conclusion

So what do I think now about the Renaissance Tour months after seeing it? Well, it gave me to gave plenty to see and ponder.

It incorporated bits of some of the most memorable aspects of live shows I’ve seen over the past few years: Sevdaliza’s bionics, Rosalía’s smoldering camera stares, Bad Bunny’s floating album motifs. A cultural unifier such as Beyoncé pieced these various parts together into something undeniably monumental, a spectacle including but not limited to: space stations, Hajime Sorayama, opera, and ballroom. The alien themes resonated especially pertinent on the eve of the US government admitting to evidence of extra terrestrial life forms. Beyoncé clearly keeps an eye on the news, as evidenced by who was and wasn’t named in the “Break My Soul” spoken-word section at Gillette Stadium some days later. On a personal level, the big-screen display of the Morrison quote made me think of this pro-Doors tweet I saw a day before this concert. For fans casual or feral, the tour evoked the zeitgeist with eerily prescient attention to detail.

I can say I enjoyed myself, and my dancing being singled out by security suggests I might have enjoyed it more than most attendees. However, I also continue to return to my initial critiques: too many costume changes, too many songs, too much focus on the camera rather than the crowd. Also the delayed start time made the return home a late night dredge with a return home at the ghastly hour of 3AM.

I clearly had many notes; I also cannot say Beyoncé put on a poor show by any stretch of the imagination – the vocals, the hits, the showmanship, the hutzpah, the vision, all of that was there. It’s just that, perhaps, all of it is best viewed through a screen, a vessel through which her performances have enraptured me and millions of others many a time over the last 20 years. If this is the new way of live music, so be it, although it’s much cheaper and easier to watch Homecoming, Lemonade, or a VMAs tribute from your couch or computer chair. And you won’t have to worry about it starting late.