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Whatever the record was for most Stetsons worn at a single gathering in the UK, it must have been smashed as Beyoncé’s tour arrived in London. The wide-brimmed hats were everywhere at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — including the stage, where the singer and her troupe of dancers resembled a glitzy Wild West revue.
The tour is in support of Cowboy Carter, which won the most garlanded performer in Grammy history her first album of the year award in February. It marks her triumphal entry into country music. But there are cracks showing in the official narrative of insurgent super-success that holds sway in the court of Queen Bey. Her gigs have been shadowed by claims of slow ticket sales and price discounts.
At the first of six London shows, the 60,000-capacity venue didn’t appear to be entirely sold out. But the concert itself was spectacular, the razzmatazz of American star power at its brightest, banishing the drizzle of a damp London night. And it also incorporated some judicious tweaks to the singer’s image.
The staging struck me as more mobile than her Renaissance tour of just two years ago, which she undertook after having knee surgery. There was the occasional static showpiece, as when she sang the grinding R & B of “Tyrant” from atop a golden mechanical bull, or the aerial journeys that she made around the stadium while sitting on a model horseshoe. But she made full use of the stage and a catwalk looping the length of the stadium’s pitch during a blockbuster duration of two hours and 40 minutes.
Cowboy Carter’s look and sound shaped the sprawling setlist. The choreography was filled with stylish western touches, mostly performed by the dancers; Beyoncé joined in when vocal exertions permitted. Stetsons were tipped over heads as dancing feet did a sort of drag-trot; hands were placed on belt buckles as though holding the pommel of a saddle.
The costuming was a big-budget take on classic Americana. Beyoncé wore high-fashion bodysuits with feathery chaps and elaborate denim-referencing affairs. (A malfunctioning chap during Renaissance’s house music standout “Cozy” required running repairs.) She and the dancers sported catsuits covered in newsprint for “America Has a Problem”, her clapback at the haters. The Stars and Stripes featured repeatedly in the tailoring, and also the imagery shown on the big screen at the back.
With an inverted V-shaped opening in its middle, this screen resembled a vast pair of sunglasses. The musicians and backing singers, dressed in gold, mostly performed within the upside-down V. So did Beyoncé at points, such as during a tossed-off medley of classics such as “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. She was hidden to thousands on the flanks of the stadium at these moments — a lapse in otherwise high-quality stagecraft.
Cowboy Carter’s songs worked well live. “Ameriican Requiem” was presented as Beyoncé’s version of a national anthem, beautifully sung with rich vocal harmonies. It was followed soon after by a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, overlaid by the guitar discordance of Jimi Hendrix’s famous rendition. The album’s theme of reclaiming country music for the Black musicians who have been written out of its history is conceptually weaker than Beyoncé’s previous exercises in superstar racial-justice activism. But its melodies and sense of drama suited her charismatic lower register, full of presence and gravity.
The country-and-western stylings also justified the role played by her 13-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, who did neat moves with the dance troupe. Her younger daughter, Rumi, appeared too, serenaded by Beyoncé during the ballad “Protector”. This was industrial-grade sentimentality — and thus entirely in keeping with the culture of country music, in which sequinned glamour is mixed with folksiness.
Bar a plug for the singer’s branded whisky SirDavis, the wealth flaunting that underpins her Black entrepreneurial take on the American dream was underplayed. It has become hazardous to her public image at a time when a humble carton of eggs is a political lightning rod. Luxuriously designed yet projecting down-home values of family and faith, the Cowboy Carter tour is the work of one of the great American entertainers.
★★★★☆
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