When Beyoncé Knowles Carter comes to town, everything seems to come to a standstill.
In the lead-up to the first stop of Bey’s highly anticipated “Renaissance World Tour”, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, last Wednesday, the city was flooded with tourists and fans from all over the world as anticipation for the iconic star’s first solo headline tour in seven years reached fever pitch.
A few days before opening night, one fan tweeted: “Just the thought of queuing for hours and standing up through the concert is a bit terrifying, as I’m 20 weeks pregnant lol. But Bey’s worth it!”
The multiple videos and fan accounts that flooded social media quickly made clear that the opening night was indeed worth it as Bey set out to remind us that she’s still the most show-stopping act on Earth.
Fans queued for hours to try to get in early and camp as close to the stage as possible. Many of them paid thousands of dollars to fly in from across the world to witness the occasion.
Some were even decked out in official tour merch from head to toe. There are numerous threads on Twitter highlighting and contextualising every custom outfit she’s worn thus far.
This is the kind of fanfare reserved only for Queen Bey.
In awe of all the dizzying pyrotechnics and the breathtaking showpiece, a fan on Twitter wrote, “Beyoncé what the f*** was the budget for the tour b****?”
On Sunday, which was also Mother’s Day, Bey followed up her stellar Sweden opening by wowing a hyped-up crowd in Brussels, Belgium.
That this stop marked the 20th anniversary of her iconic hit single “Crazy In Love” speaks to Bey’s incredible longevity and consistency. She has not lowered the standard since her early days – if anything, she’s raised it.
These first few shows are part of a 19-leg tour of Europe, which will see her visit the UK from Wednesday before heading to Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Poland.
In total, Bey will be playing 57 stadium dates globally from now until late September. According to Forbes, she’s projected to generate more than $2 billion in revenue from tickets over the course of its five-month run.
The media outlet also pointed out that the tour has the potential to generate more revenue than all her previous concerts combined.
Last week, in the days leading up to the start of the tour, Bey’s father and former manager, Mathew Knowles, took to Twitter to share his pride at this latest milestone in his daughter’s storied career.
“Beyoncé kicks off ‘The Renaissance World Tour’ this week. Believe it or not, I’m often still in awe as I watch her continue to soar to heights that few in history have ever been able to…
“I told Vishen the very thing I want to share with you as Beyoncé embarks on her historic tour this week; we never once during her childhood had to tell her to show up when it came to music.
“She was never distracted from her inner drive. She knew what she wanted and she went after it. For me, the start of Beyoncé’s tour this week isn’t just an addition to an already historic year where she now holds the most Grammy award wins ever.”
Prior to her latest album, last year’s “Renaissance”, Bey hadn’t released a solo album since 2016.
But in that time she executive produced and directed a film (“Black Is King”), released a collaborative project with Jay-Z (“Everything Is Love”), curated the soundtrack album for a huge Disney film (“The Lion King”), launched a live album and concert movie documenting her famed Coachella festival set (“Homecoming”), and spearheaded the global explosion of her sportswear line brand, Ivy Park.
Two decades into one of the most impressive careers in entertainment ever, she still manages to capture the world’s attention in unique ways.
Prior to “Renaissance”, she enthralled us with her headline-grabbing sixth solo album, “Lemonade”.
On it, Bey shrewdly lifted the veil on the infamous elevator incident and the subsequent turmoil in her notoriously private relationship with husband Jay-Z for a headline-grabbing moment in pop culture.
With “Renaissance”, Bey utilised her globalist sensibilities to compile a compelling, kaleidoscopic ode to disco and house music.
It divided opinion, perhaps more than any Beyoncé album in recent memory, but it grabbed the spotlight as forcefully as she’s ever done.
While at this point in her career she seems to generate buzz by her mere existence alone, it’s a marvel to witness how Beyoncé still makes a huge effort to make a moment of everything she does.
Moments that are so captivating and awe-inspiring that they’re almost impossible to ignore. The opening of this new tour makes clear that Beyoncé is still in the moment.
And I wouldn’t bet on that changing any time soon!
