Beyoncé, The Mrs Carter Tour 2014 in Antwerp: Review

Hi again!

I’ve been very busy lately, one reason being school and the other reason being reading too much. Some books are just too good to put down, right?
My plan is to write about anything I feel like writing about. This also includes music and concerts so here is my first concert review!

So in other news, I went to Beyoncé’s concert at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp last week. It was my second time seeing her in concert, I saw her at the same venue last year in May. Needless to say, the show was amazing as always. The crowd was so stoked before the concert started, people were singing her songs, Mexican waves were rolling around the arena: Belgium was ready for Beyoncé. The first leg of the Mrs Carter Tour didn’t include her new self-titled album, ‘Beyoncé’, yet. The second leg of the tour, which started February 20th in the UK, did include most of the songs of her new album, which was released without any warning or promotion and broke various records! (and which, in my humble opinion, was very refreshing in terms of what R&B music needed.)

So how was the concert? Around 21:30, the venue went dark and the giant banner, saying Beyoncé in bold pink letters, dropped and revealed the stage. A 2 minute long renaissance-inspired intro started on a gigantic video screen stretching all across the stage. The screen lifted, flashing lights everywhere, hysterical screams and sounds filled the arena, then darkness. Fireworks, more flashing lights and there she was: Beyoncé, standing in the spotlight in all her fierce and beautiful Beyoncéness. “Antwerp, y’all ready to have a good time?!” she asked while the Major Lazer beat of ‘Pon de Floor’ started, ‘Run The World (girls)’ blasted to the speakers and the crowd just lost it.

Immediately the concert went of like a rocket, taking people through a journey of self-empowerment, feminism, fierceness, a LOT of glitters, sexiness and so much more.
Up next was a song of her new album, ‘Bow Down/***Flawless’, containing parts of a passage from a TEDx talk on women and development in Africa given by the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Beyoncé’s affiliation could not be clearer: “Feminist,” the lights spell out: “a person who believes in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes.” This was followed up by a short song called, ‘Yoncé’, which had crowds chanting “Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor!”.

Bow Down!

***Flawless: “I woke up like this”

Next up, all lights came on and Beyoncé interacted with the crowds, challenging the left section, middle section and right section of the arena to scream HEY MRS CARTER as loud as they could: the arena went wild while an older Beyoncé song, Get Me Bodied started, guided by the amazing live band consisting only of women. Really, the band was so good and the fun thing was that you could actually see them on stage, they were not behind the scenes where no one could see them. Up next was half an hour worth of burlesque à la Moulin Rouge: ‘Baby Boy’, ‘Diva’, ‘Naughty Girl’, ‘Blow’ (“I can’t wait ’till I get home so you can turn that cherry out”, hmm maybe she really is a naughty girl) and ‘Partition’ (new single, performance almost similar to the music video, very/maybe too sexy for some people) where performed so well that I swear I saw some little puffs of steam coming from the crowds. Boyfriends who had to come with their girlfriends didn’t complain any longer, and were captivated by the way only Beyoncé can perform in a sexy way without it looking trashy and cheap (Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, take notes!).

“HEY MRS CARTER!!!”

Run The World (girls), Beyoncé in her Tom Ford outfit when coming on stage. . Everyone was singing, dancing and everyone with seats didn’t dare to sit down the whole concert, everyone was on their feet having a good time.

Various women started questioning their sexuality by now. Another outfit change, and ‘Haunted’, an intriguing balled with strong baselines and interesting instrumentals started. Chills went down my spine while she sang this, one of the highlights of the night. Beyoncé changed outfits again, which wasn’t that annoying because nice interludes were provided to keep the crowd entertained while she was gone for a minute.

‘Drunk In Love’ made the arena explode, along with the signature ‘Surfboard, surfboard’. The next twenty minutes were packed with classic Beyoncé songs like ‘Why Don’t You Love Me, ‘Irreplaceable’, ‘Love On Top’, ‘Crazy In Love’ and ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It). Beyoncé held the crowd hostage and no one was complaining.
Call and response demands for more love from her crowd during Why Don’t You Love Me were particularly mesmerising in their assurance, although perhaps the most telling story of Knowles’ confidence in her music and performance came with shortened versions of the formation-dancing Crazy in Love and Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).

Beyoncé on stage

The last part of the show was a calm and emotional set of songs, which really showcased Beyoncé’s voice without all the fancy costumes and show in which only superlatives are allowed. Starting with a cover of ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Dolly Parton followed up by her new song ‘Heaven’, she managed to silence the crowd that had been screaming for the past hour and a half. Everyone was left speechless. Next up was ‘XO’, a song which she wrote for her fans, the Beyhive. Only Beyoncé was on stage, no dancers (who where also excellent) and a true connection with the fans was made. Last but least was ‘Halo’, the classic Beyoncé ballad. After thanking her crew, band and dancers and having another chit-chat with the audience, Bey thanked everyone for saving up their money and buying tickets to see her show, and promised she will always give us her best and that she will definitely come back. After a standing ovation that never seemed to end, Beyoncé waved one last kiss at the crowd and then the show was over.

Critics and reviews of the show were amazing and the crowd seemed very pleased with the show. I can’t disagree on that, she truly is one of the best performers of our time. The only ‘negative’ comment about this concert might be that, because nothing goes wrong in this whole show and all the singing and dancing is so close to perfection, that it gives the impression that the whole thing has been rehearsed so much that it loses a bit of character sometimes. A little improvisation and a little mistake here and there would not be bad here. But other than that, she truly knows how to entertain and please crowds.

rating: ****(1/2) / *****

thanks for reading and stay tuned for more,
kind regards, Loïc