“Are you able to hear me?” Beyoncé sang through the opening notes of “Ameriican Requiem.” “Do you’re feeling me?”
The following yells from the group at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Thursday evening illustrated simply why Beyoncé’s excursions are primed for stadiums; they carry an power that may hardly be contained. Thursday’s efficiency kicked off the worldwide celebrity’s first evening of her Cowboy Carter tour four-day cease in Atlanta. It’s been two years for the reason that metropolis was graced along with her presence the place liberation, self-love, and renaissance ringed true amid a flurry of sparkles and futuristic aesthetics.
Now Beyoncé has ventured extra deeply into her nation music roots — a journey that lastly introduced her the coveted Album of the 12 months on the 2025 Grammys — and has slipped firmly into the position of a genre-bending artist.
The stadium was stuffed with cowboy hats galore, boots to the bottom, and ever-present folding followers as the group danced, shimmied, and sashayed to hits from Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” album. For practically three hours, the singer-songwriter took her followers via a formidable setlist of 40 songs and 10 acts, from her newest album to hits from her earlier eight studio albums.
It was a nonstop blitz of music, creative interpolations and mixes, choreography (and hairography), seamless manufacturing, and storytelling made extra poignant by visuals and historic archives.
The visuals celebrated Black historical past and its contributions to American tradition whereas additionally highlighting how African Individuals have carried the nation music style far past 2024. The evening’s theme was reclamation, and whereas the emotions of belonging and patriotism could reverberate discordantly with some, contemplating the local weather of America right now, they problem what the American dream is meant to appear to be.
With every tour, followers get extra of a glimpse behind the scenes of Beyoncé’s private life. Nonetheless, this time, these glimpses are entrance and middle on stage. Blue Ivy and Rumi, Beyonce’s daughters, had been highlights of the evening. “Supervisor” Blue Ivy confirmed off her dancing chops in a number of dancing numbers, which have been going viral on social media, and Rumi joined Beyonce for a efficiency of “Protector,” her bubbly grin and childlike pleasure on show.
And it might have been the Cowboy Carter tour, however Beyoncé made positive to indicate like to her different eras. “Welcome again to the Renaissance,” she declared earlier than singing a medley of songs from the Act I album. She additionally carried out a phase the place she sang throwback hits from “Lemonade,” “B’Day,” “Beyonce,” and “I Am… Sasha Fierce.”
Bits and items of her different ventures, whiskey model SirDavis and haircare line Cécred, had been scattered all through the present, exhibiting simply how a lot her attain extends past music. In celebration of the tour, many spots in Atlanta hosted Cowboy Carter-themed occasions with specialty drinks. For these on the lookout for a couple of locations, the Marriott Marquis, Pasha, Nouveau Bar and Grill – Jonesboro, and the W Lodge Downtown invite followers to sip on SirDavis earlier than they saddle up for the live performance.
The evening ended with Beyoncé hovering via the group on a golden horse suspended within the air whereas singing the penultimate tune on her setlist, “16 Carriages,” a brand new change after experiencing a malfunction along with her typical pink Cadillac throughout a tour cease in Houston.
It was a present that encompassed simply how genre-bending Beyoncé will be. Like she rapped on the tune “Spaghetti:” “I ain’t no common singer, now come get the whole lot you got here for.” And Atlanta did simply that.
Beyoncé will proceed the Atlanta leg of the tour on July 11, 13 and 14.
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