All hail Beyoncé: How Queen Bey’s show at the Stadium of Light unfolded
5th July 2016“If y’all came to slay tonight, say ‘I slay’! If you slay today or every day, say “I slay”! If the rain’s not gonna stop you from having a good time, say ‘I slay’! If you’re proud of who you are and where you come from, say ‘I slay’!” – Beyoncé chose these words to welcome fans to her Formation World Tour at the Stadium of Light.
The rain, which had been pouring throughout the day and Bey’s turning up 45 minutes later than scheduled did not stop the crowds euphoria when the first beats of Formation dropped and Beyoncé finally took the stage.
The rest, as they say, is history. A two-hour extravaganza, which left an audience of more than 51 000 breathless and cemented Beyoncés status as one of the biggest music artists in the world.
Fans were treated to renditions of Hold Up, Don’t Hurt Yourself, Sorry, All Night and Daddy Lessons from the singers latest album, Lemonade. Arguably, one of the most impressive moments of the night was when she performed Freedom, dancing on a runway of water.
All time favourites such as Crazy In Love, Naughty Girl, Run The World and Destiny’s Child’s Bootylicious and Survivor did not miss from the set list either.
The focus was purely on Beyoncé’s singing and dancing skills, her energy and charisma, rather than fireworks and visual effects: an artist with such a talent does not need much of that to put on an amazing show. A giant monolith was towering at the centre of the stage, slowly revolving as images and special videos appeared on the screen, featuring Jay Z and Blue Ivy at one point.
Bey did not miss to pay tribute to Prince, who died in April this year – the stage was lit up in purple under the sound of Purple Rain in memory of the artist.
Yoncé, Queen Bey, Sasha Fierce – there is definitely a lot of mystery surrounding the personality of Beyoncé, but one thing is for sure: she can rule the stage and the audience as smoothly as nobody else and sing incredibly without even the slightest hint of an effort.