An all-female band, thick sisters as background singers and a non-stumbling Beyonce filling the stage.
That was the scene on Sunday at Bobcats Arena as thousands of folks screamed and danced during a nearly two-hour performance that was part girl-power, self-love and romantic-love.
I wasn’t sure how much of Beyonce's hip-shaking I could take, but she balanced her signature moves with routines by dancers and solos by band members. I can’t stop raving about the all-female band, made up mostly of women of color. It sent such a strong message to the thousands of young girls in the audience.
Beyonce gave plenty of space during, before and after songs for each member to shine.
The best was the blond-dredlocked bassist who played OutKast’s “So Fresh, So Clean,” the hook to “Get Money,” and other fan favorites. She finished her solo by playing the bass behind her head and giving it a long lick.
During the nearly two-hour set, Beyonce played every hit from her albums, as well as Destiny’s Child favorites and songs from the “Dreamgirls” soundtrack. The best were “Get Me Bodied,” “Irreplaceable” (which she dedicated to men and women who’ve been hurt in relationships), and “Dangerously in Love” (which she blended with Jill Scott’s “You Love Me”).
Her cheesiest moment of the night was crying at the end of “That’s Why I Love You.” She cried after singing the song in ATL as well, so you know she's just putting her acting skills to use.
Her best moment of the night was when she wiped her face with a towel she then gave to a guy wearing a white golf shirt. She told him that he was her biggest fan, and she’d watched him sing all the songs and do all of the choreography to the dances. She made sure security handed the young man the towel. The gesture said a lot about how she cares about her fans, and how she paid attention to her audience. Nice.
I’m not a huge fan of Robin Thicke, who opened with a respectable 30-plus-minute opening set, in which he played piano during some songs. He’s cute as all get out and I love “Lost Without U,” but the blue-eyed soul singer has little singing ability.
Did you go to the concert? What did you think? Post your replies below.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Beyonce did the darn thang!
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6 comments:
what does the color of the back up singers have to do with anything? you call them "thick sistas" in one sentence and then "women of color" in another to sound PC.what message did they send? good grief...observer do you read the drivel on this blog?
seriously why must you point out race in everything? what color was the guy who got the towel? we know he had a WHITE shirt on?
Hands down the best concert of the year thus far! Beyonce deserves much love as she did her thing Sunday night. Singing was flawless, dancing flawless. I liked the reggae set she did and how she took the songs Dangerously in Love and He loves me and mixed them together. Would definitely go and see her again!
I have to agree with the second comment. Of all the headliners to come through Charlotte this year, this definitely was one of the best concerts so far.
Watching Beyonce sing and dance is like watching a finely tuned athlete. She's an amazing force and I am glad she came to the Carolinas. If she came to Charlotte again, my wife and I would definitely make the trip from Columbia to see her.
I have to also admit that the arena definitely is a better venue now than when I saw The Rolling Stones here in 2005. Things seem to roll smoothly this time around.
One annoyance however is about the fanatical nature of the ushers on the upper level. Several people from the row I was in had to be told not to take pictures during Beyonce's performance. It was not only distracting, but what's the point in enforcing something when people down in the lower levels are doing the same damn thing.
Beyonce! Wow. Awesome show. I didn't like the 45 minute wait for her to start, but I love the 2 hours she performed!
Ring the Alarm!
Get me Bodied!
Flaws and All!
Listen!
TO answer that comment about "color" of the musicians....you wouldn't understand until you have been in a "woman of color" shoes. Color has a big thing to do with it. The reason why women of color point these things out is that, it is rare that we see women of color in these particular settings, usually its a caucasian person playing those instruments, because "we" as colored people as some may want to put it weren't allowed to do many of things that we can do now, and to see other races (which some may even still dislike "us") pay to listen to "our" music, movies, videos, CD's ect. is great and phenomenal. These dislikes and racial discrimination still go on as we speak. If you think they dont you are blind, bc if you were to visit my world you would see them everyday. So like i said unless you have been in situations where you were taunted or teased because of your race, or your car vadilized, or noted left behind to teas you, you wouldn't know why this writer said the things that she did!!!
Hmmmmm, I've had my car vandalized and I'm a white girl, what does that mean? Seriously, I thought it was all about getting along together but it seems as if the only people that constantly bring up race are the black people! Please stop. It's annoying. Thank you.
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