Who else could go on a world tour without any new music and sell out every show? Beyonce’s “Mrs. Carter Show” tour kicked off in Europe back in April and finally made its way to Vancouver, British Columbia yesterday. Accompanied by R&B singer Luke James, the 32 year old superstar gave the fans a show that they will remember for the rest of their lives.
The sold out crowd was ready to rock as Luke James and his band got on stage. Luke performed a medley of a few songs from his EP “Whispers in the Dark” including “Be Bad” and “Hurt Me” as well as his singles “Make Love To Me” and “I Want You”. Luke also gave a shout out to some of the R&B greats by covering songs by Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. A lot of the fans had no idea who Luke was in the beginning, but his energy kept them interested as you could hear a lot of people singing along to “I Want You” near the end of his performance. The powerhouse singer only had about 20 minutes to make a good first impression and succeeded with his powerful vocals and incredible falsetto. After Luke left the stage, the lights turned back on as the fans (or the Beyhive) anxiously waited for Beyonce. After what seemed like an eternity, the lights turned off as a video clip started playing on the big screens. These videos were a very nice addition to the show as they would play every time she had a costume change. This kept the audience engaged even when Beyonce wasn’t performing. After the first video ended, Beyonce’s all-girl band “The Suga Mamas” and her dancers got on stage one by one. All of a sudden, explosions went off and Beyonce appeared on stage with pyro effects behind her. Wasting no time, She kicked off the show with “Run The World (Girls)” and let the fans know that they were in store for. The performance was full of energy. She then performed fan favorites like “Party” and “Naughty Girl” before flying over to other side of the arena where her Bey Stage was. The Bey Stage gave fans an opportunity to get up-close with her as she performed “Irreplaceable”, “Love On Top” and “Survivor”. Beyonce flew back to the main stage and finished off the show with “Crazy In Love”, ” Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” and “Halo”. She also did a tribute to Whitney Houston as she covered “I Will Always Love You”. One thing interesting to note about the show is that Beyonce omitted a handful of songs from her set including “Grown Woman”, “I Miss You” and “I Care”. No word if that was due to time constraints.
YouKnowIGotSoul had an opportunity to catch Beyonce live in New Orleans when she performed at the Essence Festival back in July, but the experience was completely different this time around because we were able to watch the concert as music fans rather than members of the press. The number one complaint about the tour has been the ticket prices, but Beyonce did not cut any corners when it came to stage production. The entire set was put together very well with a lot of special effects and had fans on their feet the entire concert. At this point in her career, there isn’t really much that Beyonce needs to prove. She’s had platinum selling albums, number one singles and a ton of accolades. If there is one thing that Beyonce can take away from this tour, it’s that she’s solidified her legacy as one of the best live performers ever.