‘Welcome to the Renaissance’: Beyoncé shines in nearly 3-hour Kansas City show Sunday
Kansas City has waited 20 long years to see Beyoncé perform in person, and even longer to see her at a full-length concert.
And if that wasn’t long enough, her Renaissance World Tour concert Sunday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium didn’t start for nearly two hours after the posted start time.
No matter. The sold-out crowd was treated to almost three hours of the 42-year-old superstar dazzling through some of her greatest hits and the entirety of the 2022 album that the tour is named after.
Her first words back?
“Kansas City, I love you.”
This was the tour’s 56th and final stop. Kansas City wasn’t supposed to be the end; the original date was Sept. 18 and was delayed due to production logistics and scheduling issues.
The show was also historic since it marked the first time a Black woman has headlined a concert at Arrowhead. It’s also the first time a woman has headlined a stand-alone concert at there, meaning she was the only performer on the bill.
The show itself was more of a reminder of who Beyoncé is rather than a renaissance. She’s even better than she was five years ago during her performance at Coachella, which makes the fact that she sings, “Flaws and All” ironic since there are no flaws in her ability to perform.
Whether it was breaking out the rigorous choreography on “Run the World (Girls)“ in heels, commanding the crowd to match her higher than high pitch on “Love on Top” or letting her vocals shine through “I Care,” Mrs. Carter (as she asked the crowd to call her a few times) is still at the top and is seemingly getting better.
Kansas City even saw a glimpse of the future when her daughter, Blue Ivy, joined her on stage to dance for “My Power” and “Black Parade.”
The concert’s production served as a tribute to ballroom culture, dance and club music started by the Black and Latino queer community in the early 20th century, which inspired the album. The album is also a tribute to her Uncle Jonny, her godfather, a gay man who died as a result of AIDS.
Callouts with pre-recorded commentary from ballroom icon Kevin Jz Prodigy and songs like “Percolator,” by Chicago house DJ Cajmere were scattered throughout, adding to the tribute. A section near the concert’s end featured a few of Beyoncé’s backup dancers voguing to an extended outro of “Pure/Honey.”
On this tour, Beyoncé asked her audiences to wear silver, which she’s draped in on her “Renaissance” album cover atop a silver horse. The motifs call back to the disco ball and sequin designs of past icons in the Black queer community like Donna Summer and Diana Ross.
Light-up cowboy hats could be seen all the way up into Arrowhead’s 300s sections. Sparkly crop tops, glittery cowboy boots, silver skirts, shiny bodysuits and even somereplicas of the costumes Beyoncé wore during the tour were spotted in the crowd.
“Welcome to the Renaissance,” she said during the show.
When Beyoncé asks, her fans listen and that seemed to be the case during the highly anticipated mute challenge. Within the show’s first hour, as she has throughout her tour during the song “Energy,” she sang the musical cue: “Look around, everybody on mute.”
The “loudest stadium in the world” went silent immediately. Beyoncé held the silence longer than usual, and few screams were heard. One fan in the upper level of the stadium even yelled “shut up” to another.
It was silent enough for Beyoncé to declare Kansas City a winner, as she has for stops in New Orleans and Atlanta. With all eyes on Kansas City, the city delivered.
Enjoy these songs while you can because who knows if Renaissance album cuts like “Plastic Off the Sofa” or “All in Your Mind” will make the next tour set list in favor of smash hits like “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “Irreplaceable” or “Halo” — three monster hits she did not perform Sunday. It has to be a great problem to have when you can skip your radio singles and the crowd doesn’t seem upset.
Beyoncé is one of one, and she’s definitely number one. Let’s not make it 20 more years until she’s back in town.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance set list
- Dangerously in Love
- Flaws and All
- 1+1
- I’m Goin’ Down verse (Mary J. Blige cover)
- I Care
- River Deep, Mountain High (Tina Turner cover)
- I’m That Girl
- Cozy
- Alien Superstar
- Lift Off (from Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Watch the Throne”)
- 7/11
- Cuff It
- Energy
- Break My Soul (including Madonna’s version)
- Formation
- Diva
- Run the World (Girls)
- My Power
- Black Parade
- Savage (remix)
- Partition
- Church Girl
- Get Me Bodied
- Before I Let Go (Maze & Frankie Beverly cover)
- Rather Die Young
- Love on Top
- Crazy in Love
Love Hangover (Diana Ross cover, performed by Beyoncé’s band’s choir)
- Plastic Off the Sofa
- Virgo’s Groove
- Naughty Girl
- Move
- Heated
- Thique
- All Up in Your Mind
- Drunk in Love
- America Has a Problem
- Pure/Honey
- Summer Renaissance
