The
Beyonce’ Experience
Northernstar
|Northernstar@excapethematrix.com
The Hottest Chick in the Game…Or What?!?!
It’s only been two years since we’ve last seen Beyonce’ perform with her best-selling female group, Destiny’s Child, at D.C.’s Verizon Center. On August 9, 2007, Beyonce’ performed hits from her two solo efforts “Dangerously in Love” and “B-Day.” “Ladies and gentleman, are you ready to be entertained?” the diamond-studded star with a long silver evening gown shouted, the curtains revealing her nine piece band, three bountiful back-up singers and a disco setting that included a huge ball above the stage and an electronic multi-colored staircase that changed colors within every beat. But what a viewer will notice is that every person on the stage was a FEMALE with the exception of a few male dancers; talk about GIRL POWER. The all-female band consists of two drummers, two keyboardists, a percussionist, a three-woman horn section, a bass player and a guitarist. As the music dropped, Beyonce’ sashayed her way up the stairs and proceeded into her smash single “Crazy in Love,” to which she snatched off the bottom portion of her dress to reveal a shorter version of it. She also sang a snippet of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” reminding everyone that she is indeed a powerhouse.
Of course Beyonce’ is
popular for high-octane performances such as “Déjà vu” and getting gritty on the
dance-floor for
“Get Me Bodied.” However, Ms. Knowles shined the most when she slowed the pace
down in a green sheer costume that showed off her great feminine body and sang
the mid-tempo hit, “Me, Myself, and I,” instantly taking the focus off her
beauty and centering on her vocals. This particular performance displayed how
strong she is as a female (mentally) and that she loves to sing songs that
empower women. Her voice filled the arena, whether she was doing riffs and runs
on “Dangerously in Love” (wherein she shifted into Jill Scott’s “He Loves Me,”
making the song her own) or even grunting her way through “Listen.” “I don’t
know why you love me, and that is why I love you,” Beyonce’ sings on the
beautifully written “Flaws and All.” The song explains that she is simply
“flawed” and she doesn’t know why someone could love her unconditionally. It
could pretty much be sung about her beau, Jay-Z, but when “real” tears ran down
her face, it was clear that the song was dedicated to the fans. What was even
more beautiful was to see that this “glammed-up” person would reveal herself to
everyone. It could be argued whether the tears were “real” or “fake,” but those
tears came from somewhere deep within. Another highlight was the Destiny’s Child
medley, which was probably EVERY song off their “# 1’s” album. It was
interesting to see Beyonce’ take on all these songs solo and still create the
same feeling that existed when she was in the group.
After seven costume changes and about 30-plus songs, Beyonce’ closed out the two-hour show with the 10-week #1 hit, “Irreplaceable,” in which the audience sang the whole first verse. It was obvious how grateful she was to see the audience know the words to her song (it must be amazing to take all that in) since she’s one of the biggest female singers right now. And she’s not slowing down anytime soon!!!
A+