Beyonce Stuns With ‘Lemonade’ Debuts, Rousing Hits at Tour Kickoff
How does a queen get in formation? First, she books 41 concerts across 15 countries. She then fills 36,742 seats in the 305 on opening night. Three days before showtime, she drops a 12-song album and hour-long movie and causes a sonic boom online. She incites thousands of conspiracists to tear up the Internet and says not a single word. She performs more than 30 songs in two hours and whips fiercely through six costume changes with the support of 16 backup dancers. There’s only one woman that could pull all this off and come off so, to quote Beyoncé Knowles herself, “flawless.”
Beyoncé stunned Miami Wednesday on the opening night of her Formation World Tour. Marlins Park was packed with adoring fans across a spectrum of ages, genders, sexualities and lifestyles. Hubby Jay Z and old Destiny’s Child pal Michelle Williams were also in attendance. The screaming hoard was amazed, aroused and inspired, but if anyone came looking for controversy or hoped for another spin of the rumor mill following the incendiary, infidelity-themed Lemonade, those nosy creatures must have left disappointed.
There was no police boycott as had been threatened in February. The powerhouse pop phenom, whose marriage has become the object of intense scrutiny since Saturday’s Lemonade release, dedicated her final song, “Halo,” to her family, the memory of Prince, God and her “beautiful husband.” Even the line “Becky with the good hair,” the jumping-off point for so many questions and concerns, was delivered twice in a row with hardly an ounce of venom or ceremony.
What fans did walk away with was a prime example of entertainment and a vision of an artist at her apex. Even before Yoncé stormed the stage, the evening was certified massive. Snapchat mastermind and loudmouth Miami champion DJ Khaled warmed the audience with a star-studded performance that jammed seven special guests – Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Yo Gotti, Trick Daddy, Lil Wayne, Kent Jones and Future – into a rapid-fire 30 minutes.
Bey took the stage 45 minutes later. The glow of a giant, rotating obelisk and thousands of cell phones pierced the dark sky. Illuminati she’s not, but she does have good weather karma. Not a drop of rain or gust of unruly wind marred the electric atmosphere. As she opened with titular anthem “Formation,” her hair blew wildly in manufactured air as her black lace get-up glittered under the spotlight.
Throughout the performance, she epitomized dichotomy. Onstage, Beyoncé embodies both the masculine and the feminine, softness and strength, innocence and wisdom. She’s the only artist in her class who can whisper a vengeful curse, turn to belt a wail of sorrow, then melt into a girlish giggle and have you believe every moment. No wonder fans can’t help but find Lemonade both emotionally powerful and utterly confusing.