Grandiose costumes, futuristic décor and melting fans... Seven years after the last, American superstar Beyoncé began Wednesday night in Stockholm a four-month solo megatour with a very big show. Successively perched on a lunar module, queen bee, flying on a diamond horse above the crowd, television news presenter, or pope, "Queen B" delivered a performance of more than three hours to launch its "Renaissance World Tour".
"I'm speechless, it was just amazing, extraordinary," said Shane Barkey, a 31-year-old Irish radio host. "She didn't promote her album, so there was a lot of expectation about what she was going to do," she said at the end of the concert. Many fans had come from across the Atlantic, from the United States a lot but also from Brazil, to make sure to be the first to discover the blockbuster, one of the most anticipated of the year.
"I just wanted to tell you: you make me so happy," Beyoncé said in front of a 60,000-seat stadium devoted to her "queen". "I see familiar faces from people who have flown from very, very far away to see the first show tonight," she said, covering the cheers of the crowd. The first, which has been the subject of major rehearsals near Paris and Stockholm in recent days, appeared already millimetered, without any hiccups. "I've seen her since her first concert (...) That was another level above Beyoncé, unbelievable," said Abdul Ibraimoh, a 33-year-old Londoner, who has tickets to London, Barcelona and Miami.
Only one date in Paris
Several hours before the appearance of the ex-Destiny's Child, on the stage of the Friends Arena, the great stadium of Stockholm, hundreds of fans had calmed their impatience by singing and dancing in the queues, covered in cowboy hats and fake diamonds that make up the new outfit of their idol. "She's the queen, that's why we're here," said Kasher Bloom, a 36-year-old Latvian from Riga.
Announced last February, the tour is the first solo tour for Beyoncé Knowles since 2016, as the Covid pandemic has long prevented stadiums from being filled. "It hasn't happened in that long, and this is the first concert, and we don't know anything about this one," said Gabriel Cardeal, a 27-year-old Brazilian who also crossed the Atlantic on purpose.
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Due to high demand in Stockholm, a second date was added on Thursday, ahead of the continuation of the tour this weekend in Brussels. In France, she will be in Paris - for a single date, to the great despair of her French fans - on May 26, then in Marseille on June 11. The tour currently has 57 dates in forty cities.
Jackpot?
In February, Beyoncé made pop history by surpassing the record for the number of Grammy Awards — the musical equivalent of the Oscars — previously held by conductor Georg Solti. But the supreme prize for best album still eluded the wife of rapper Jay-Z, in favor of British popstar Harry Styles.
"Renaissance", his latest house and dance album, has 16 tracks, including his latest R&B hit "Cuff it". It was released last July, sculpting a little more his statue of undisputed queen of the dance floor. At only 41 years old, "Queen B" has expanded in three decades an empire that she conquered with the group Destiny's Child - and its cards "Survivor" and "Say my name" - when she was still a teenager.
The jackpot of the "Renaissance World Tour" remains to be confirmed, however. According to Forbes estimates, the tour's revenue could reach $2.4 billion, but the low range drops to $275 million.
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