"The Beyonce Experience" reviews [Archive]

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 01:55 PM

Beyoncé
David Sinclair at NEC, Birmingham

4 out of 5 stars

Birmingham became the first British city to undergo “The Beyoncé Experience” when the former Destiny’s Child opened the UK leg of her current world tour at the National Exhibition Centre. Rising from beneath the stage, wreathed in smoke and white light, while a curtain of fireworks cascaded from the roof behind her, she stood for a moment like an Amazon warrior, arms held above her head. “Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to be entertained?” she yelled, as if throwing down a gauntlet. If not, tough luck.

The 25-year-old superstar and ten-times Grammy-winner from Houston, Texas, stamped her mark on the 2½hour extravaganza which followed with such authority and vigour that it seemed at times as if the audience were not quite able to keep up. “You’re a little quiet for me,” she told the crowd on more than one occasion. This may have been, in part, because most of them were busy trying to lift their jaws from the floor. It may also have been a measure of just how loud this new queen of R’n’B likes to play it.

Combining the dance moves and dress sense of the young Tina Turner with the vocal firepower of Patti LaBelle, Beyoncé surged through Freakum Dress and Green Light, both from her multimillion-selling second album B’Day. Her 13-piece backing band, including horn and vocal sections, was staffed entirely by women. In addition six lithe female dancers disported themselves in a variety of costumes, loosely based around an unfinished negligée theme. Four male dancers also made an appearance and soon ripped off their shirts to reveal rippling torsos.

Beyoncé returned from the first of many costume changes kitted out in a bellydancer’s outfit. With her tummy undulating like a slab of brown marble placed under water, she sang Baby Boy and her recent No 1 hit Beautiful Liar with pulverising intensity while her thick tresses swirled around her head as if caught in a high desert wind.

The entire history of Destiny’s Child flashed before our eyes, courtesy of a swift medley of hits, which found the dancers stretched out in a line behind a dancing bar. Stomping, shaking, snorting and shrieking, Beyoncé hammered into the climactic verse of Survivor, her delivery a cross between a show pony and a raging lioness.

Her attempt at an introspective ballad, Flaws and All, was less convincing. She certainly gave it her best shot, even mustering an impressive crocodile tear which rolled down her glittering cheek bang on cue during the last verse, but Beyoncé hasn’t quite got the hang of doing sensitive, let alone vulnerable.

Faced with such an overwhelming and sustained display of show-womanship, it seems faintly churlish to mention other occasional shortcomings such as the use of taped raps from a ghostly Jay-Z on Upgrade U and the encore of Déjà Vu. However, it had become obvious long before then that resistance to The Experience was futile. You know when you’ve been Beyoncéed.

—Tour continues on June 5 at Cardiff International Arena

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article1878431.ece

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 01:57 PM

What an experience... a night with bold Beyoncé

By John Aizlewood, Evening Standard 04.06.07

Billed as The Beyoncé Experience rather than a mere concert by Beyoncé Knowles, last night's second of two Wembley dates proved the point in majestic fashion.

Backed by a 13-piece, all-female band, including a heavily tattooed guitarist, a drummer who ate a banana during her solo and three unashamedly tubby backing singers, Knowles offered a high-energy spectacle from the moment she ascended on stage in a puff of white smoke to belt her way through Crazy In Love (which briefly morphed into Gnarls Barkley's Crazy) to a head-spinning Deja Vu, two hours later.

Big, brave and bold, the Beyoncé Experience is how pop music would work if it were choreographed by Busby Berkeley.

Knowles was at the centre of everything, bar a few brief costume changes and whatever her four male and four female dancers did, she did better and for longer.

Hair extensions billowing in what appeared to be a permanent onstage gale, she was a superfit force of nature whose energy level remained never dipped whether she was throwing herself around stage to Ring The Alarm or wrapping her vocals around the ballad Flaws And All, during which she began to cry seemingly real tears, although when it ended with a sheepish dancer dressed as a giant, pantomime angel, enveloping her in his wings as if taking part in some misguided school nativity play, the audience's tears were somewhat more laughter-based.

The angel, though, was a brief and rare misstep. For all her astounding work-rate, Knowles kept her distance, bar a few thank yous and, oh dear, a mystique-shattering competition where someone won a T-shirt for knowing that the Beyoncé Experience began in Tokyo. As the Queen Mother understood so well, silence breeds mystique. There will, you suspect, be no tacky competitions next time.

The hits of Knowles's group, Destiny's Child, were dismissed in a medley. However, as medleys go, it was a treat, with each song granted separate, stunning choreography (especially Bills, Bills, Bills) until the finale, a gripping, fists-clenched Survivor. Celebrating her past, yet consigning it to history was cynical but brave: it worked marvellously.

If anyone had the temerity to doubt Beyoncé's star quality and her place in the diva pantheon, they would doubt no more after last night. She's the real deal and there is surely much more to come from one who is not 26 until September. An Experience to savour.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig-23363846-details/Beyonce/gigReview.do?reviewId=23399248

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:26 PM

I confess that before seeing her perform live, I was pretty indifferent to her work.

Sure, her songs Crazy in Love and Bootylicious (with Destiny's Child) are first-class dance-floor fillers, but there also seemed to be a lot of indifferent R'n'B featuring interchangeable rappers and that insufferable trilling that Idol contestants aspire to.

There were also plenty of crossed messages, politically speaking. Was she really an Independent Woman, or did she just want a man to pay her Bills? Her videos, heavy on skimpy outfits and trademark booty-shaking, seemed to suggest the latter.

I take it (almost) all back. On stage, she's a force of nature.

Rarely has an artist been so suited to the image-obsessed video age of pop. But unlike almost every other pop starlet, Beyonce doesn't need the airbrushing or the prerecording. Underlining that, she swapped the high-sheen digital production of her records for a raw, sweaty 13-piece band: three drummers, a three-piece horn section, two keyboardists, a guitarist, bass player and three backing singers. That was great and unexpected, but even more fabulously, all the band members - arranged on a lit-up stepped stage - were women.

They had plenty of opportunity to show off their virtuosity, too, during Beyonce's several costume changes - from one glittering ballgown to another, from crystal-laden satin leotard to champagne-coloured baby-doll dress and gold shorts. Note-perfect all the while, Beyonce dropped effortlessly into formation with her 10 dancers, strutting in sparkling heels. Talk about working hard for your money.

After the opening-set high of Crazy in Love, the pace proved unsustainable for the almost two-hour show. The costume-change shifts were disjointed (and occasionally just bad - as in an

E! news-style video montage of her red-carpet appearances). There was a surfeit of showy, belter-style ballads, but such is her voice that they weren't totally unbearable. Set highlights such as a 10-minute Destiny's Child medley and the Middle Eastern-feel version of Naughty Girl made it all worthwhile.

It was a show reminiscent of Prince at his peak: a consummate entertainment professional who knows every trick in the book to push an audience's buttons, but makes it look natural and easy.

By Kelsey Munro,
The Sydney Morning Herald

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:30 PM

She came on stage in a shimming silver outfit and stood on stage alone in dry ice and lights, posed and let the Acer Arena crowd of teenage girls scream (and I mean scream) their little lungs out in rapturous delight and adoration. Beyonce is in the house complete with pyrotechnics, flashy video backgrounds and a tight, all female, ten piece band.

The girl can sing. The girl can dance. She’s taken some good advice about theatrics. The simple staging, in stark contrast to Australia’s own Diva, Ms. Minogue’s huge set, worked a treat. This was all about Beyonce’s voice, front and centre and that takes some talent. A tiered, stepped stage where the band held court, showcased some awesome video wizardry and lighting. The stairs became a video screen and lit up to superb effect.

Miss Knowles went through most of her hits including a great Destiny’s Child medley including Survivor, Bills Bills Bills and the very fabulous Independent Woman. Of course, the pre-pubescent crowd was here to hear the songs from BDay, her latest album and she didn’t let the audience down, the highlight being an awesome high energy rendition of Ring The Alarm.

She knows how to hold her audience. During an extended version of Dangerously In Love, she showed off her vocal gymnastics and swanned around the stage teasing the crowd with long acapella notes and the crowd went wild. The biggest reaction of the night was for Irreplaceable – you know, “to the left to the left”. The audience ate it up.

As I said, the girl can dance and she can dance and sing at the same time, and she really looks like she enjoys it rather than going through the motions.

There were a number of costume changes where she went offstage and we saw the band and the dancers do their thang but that did slow things down. She only arrived in Australia that morning so maybe she needed rest breaks? At the end of the day the crowd were there to see her and the musical breaks were just too long. She kinda lost the crowd at times when she sung some less familiar songs but that is standard when everyone wants to hear all the big hits. And big hits we got, Beautiful Liar, complete with Shakira accompanying on video screens, Crazy In Love, Naughty Girl, Check On It, but where was Deja Vu?

Towards the end of the concert she seemed to get a bit tired and the show ended suddenly. No encore. No encore! I think she was over it. My friends said they saw her action to the band that that was it. No more. And there we have it.

She came, she performed, she gave herself. She’s loves the people in the back of the arena, and up at the top and at the sides. She knows how to work it but personally, I came away wanting more.

She is the #1 pop diva of the moment after all.

By acidjasmine,
samesame.com.au

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:33 PM

Looking every inch the diva she is, Beyonce opened her first Australian show last night wearing a stunning, glittery silver floor-length gown and belted out one of her biggest hits, Crazy In Love.

In a showstopping move, she waited until halfway through the song before she ripped the long skirt off the costume and turned it into a sexy minidress, showing her impressive and world-famous curves, much to the delight of the crowd at Acer Arena. Her all-female band included three voluptuous backup singers and there were three separate drum kits.

She worked the stage, dancing and waving her hands and playing up to the audience.

Fellow recording superstar and boyfriend Jay-Z, who features in some of her songs, was not there to join her on stage.

His vocals were prerecorded and played through the sound system instead.

She teased her fans by singing only snippets of her hits Baby Boy and Love To Love You, preferring to spend more time showing off her carefully choreographed dance moves.

It was left to her backup singers to make up for her lack of vocals.

It might have been the jetlag, as the star flew into Sydney Airport from Japan only yesterday morning, but she took long and frequent breaks between songs.

Fan Katie Agnew, 24, said: "She's been my favourite singer since her Destiny's Child days. She is one of the hottest stars for sure."

By Louise Hall,
The Sun-Herald

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:35 PM

The stunning 25-year-old American R&B star has the class and grace of a true professional. Considering she's been in the entertainment game for a decade, this comes as no surprise.

Knowles performed to an adoring capacity crowd at the Entertainment Centre last night. She hasn't performed here in two years, but it's easy to see the dream girl hasn't been taking a nap.

Not only has Knowles firmly established a singing career releasing two high charting albums in the last four years, but she's burst on to the Hollywood film scene and become a trendsetter in the fashion arena, releasing her own label with mum Tina, House of Dereon.

Opening the show in a dazzling silver frock, performing Crazy In Love, a hit off her debut album Dangerously In Love, Knowles demonstrated to her fans she's come a long way - on her own - since her last Adelaide appearance in 2005 with Destiny's Child.

Her repertoire of chart-topping hits had everyone singing and busting a move. Highlights included early hit Naughty Girl, and recent radio regulars Irreplaceable, and sole encore track Deja Vu.

Highlighting the strength and depth of her voice, Knowles enjoyed a sweet ballad set with little else on stage but herself and a huge pair of lips - not her own, but a seductively shaped seat.

However, it was during her high energy tracks such as Baby Boy and Bonnie and Clyde 03, when the reigning queen of R&B, a mere shadow of her former curvaceous self, performed at her best.

In stunning gowns and risque outfits, Knowles belted out hit after hit. Most interesting was the number of Destiny's Child tracks she performed, from Independent Woman to Bills Bills Bills.

The show-stopping numbers of the evening weren't necessarily of the musical variety - her awe inspiring and always risque outfits were as much a part of the show as Knowles' three back up dancers, or Knowles herself for that matter. Completely couture, her costumes were beautifully crafted and left just enough to the imagination to send tingles down any guy, or girls, spine.

Most in the arena envied the mocha skinned beauty - for her sass, her talent and of course, her booty.

Support act Chris Brown, renowned for his first single Run It, was another testament to stars making it big at a very young age. At only 17, Brown was able to captivate the audience with his super slick styling.

His set was more about his moves than actual singing, not that anyone minded, with his cheeky routines reminiscent of Michael Jackson - with an R&B edge of course. However there was no evidence he could shake his booty better than the professional who followed the young stud.

It was a well rehearsed, well executed flurry of excitement, sparkle and soprano sounds.

By Candice Keller,
Adelaide Now

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:38 PM

When media were informed Beyonce Knowles would allow television crews and print media to photograph her on stage just for one solitary minute at her first Melbourne show, alarm bells rang.

Most bands open their show to media for the first three songs; Beyonce wanted photographers in and out of Rod Laver Arena before she even started her first.

The last Australian tour by the now dormant Destiny's Child had a cheap stage set that wouldn't have looked out of place at a rock eisteddfod. But last night Melbourne finally got a Beyonce show with a budget.

More importantly Beyonce is fast transcending being a mere R&B performer and reaching the level of a female Prince.

Using the same kind of effortless sexuality and stage presence, Beyonce is an old-fashioned, all- round entertainer.

And while many female pop stars spout off about girl-power, Beyonce has got herself an all-girl band, including two drummers and a horn section.

Their energy boosted some of her patchier solo material, as well as revving up hits like Naughty Girl, Deja vu and the excellent Crazy in love, which included a burst of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley.

The tour is not called the Beyonce experience for nothing.

The mainly female audience are treated to songs from her movie Dream Girls, as well as a Destiny Child's medley, arguably featuring some of her best songs.

And in Irreplacable, she's got herself a genuine classic ballad.

The music world is full of celebrities, but Beyonce is a star.

By Cameron Adam,
Melbourne Herald Sun

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:45 PM

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/AnastaciaInspirated/scan0002-1.jpg

Nadia

Jun 4th, 2007, 02:48 PM

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/AnastaciaInspirated/scan0003.jpg

Nadia

Jun 6th, 2007, 05:12 AM

4/5 stars

Beyonce Knowles, Wembley Arena London
By Jo Ellison
Published: 05 June 2007

Some might say that opening your show with your most popular - and arguably one of the most recognisable songs written in the last five years - would be a high-stakes move. That to use the strongest artillery in your arsenal in the opening breaths of a two-hour performance would be an act of over-confidence. But when Beyoncé Knowles bounced into Wembley Arena on Sunday night, sheathed in the barest of sequined dresses to the strains of "Crazy in Love", that's exactly what she did.

Kicking off Arts Council England's season of R&B concerts, celebrating 60 years of the genre, The Beyoncé Experience was exceptional. In a venue capable of sucking oxygen out of big stars, Knowles's energy, stamina and sheer vocal strength filled the arena with the same warmth and intimacy she found performing in her mother's hair salon as a child. Never mind the numerous costume changes, the visual pyrotechnics, the backing dancers, the almighty all-female band or the giant video screens, Knowles' charisma carried the day.

That, and her hair: luxuriant extensions, which whipped around the stage with such force they should have received special billing. Or her thighs, of such girth and magnificence, I half expected her to crack walnuts off them in her breaks - not that her wardrobe-changing schedule allowed time for snacks. Or her legendary derrière, which my companion suggested be cast for posterity alongside the handprints of George Michael and Dolly Parton outside the arena.

Of the show's highlights, Destiny's Child fans were grateful for a whistle-stop tour of the back catalogue - "Independent Women", "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Survivor" included. Elsewhere, a vigorous rendition of "Green Light" surpassed the pale interpretation on B'Day (possibly the worst album title ever) and the empowering "Irreplaceable" sent 'em home singing. The emotional "Flaws and All" featured real tears, blown up for full effect on screen, and a pair of giant angel wings into which Knowles was transported - a moment of unparalleled high camp.

Considering the field - the tortured vocal gymnastics of Aguilera, the kooky girl-next-doorism of Stefani; the accomplished roboticism of Madonna - Beyoncé stands tall. But despite her skill as a performer, her greatest act of theatrical generosity on Sunday was to look as though she was genuinely enjoying herself, as though she truly loves to be on stage and truly loves to sing. Any time Knowles. Any time.

Nadia

Jun 6th, 2007, 12:31 PM

Beyoncé dazzles WalesJun 6 2007

by Karen Price, Western Mail

SUPERSTAR Beyoncé Knowles made her Welsh debut last night in true diva style.

In a puff of white smoke, the glamorous American singer ascended on to the stage of Cardiff International Arena to perform a string of hits for her adoring fans.

Dressed in a long, silver gown, with her hair billowing out behind her, she opened the show with her massive hit Crazy In Love.

Although the concert may not have been a sellout, the mainly young female audience loved every minute.

And Beyoncé proved once and for all that although she may still be only 25, she is well on her way to becoming one of the great female singing legends.

The Cardiff appearance was just one of a handful of gigs Beyoncé is performing in the UK.

The former Destiny’s Child singer, renowned for such upbeat tracks as Crazy In Love, Deja Vu and the recent chart-topper Beautiful Liar, kicked off the mini tour in Birmingham.

And after two further gigs at Wembley Arena, she brought her show, billed as The Beyoncé Experience, to Wales – which was a late addition to the bill.

Backed by a 13-piece, all-female band, Beyoncé offered a high-energy spectacle from the moment she arrived on stage.

Even as part of the Destiny’s Child trio, Beyoncé – recently engaged to rapper Jay-Z – stood out from the others.

And as a solo artist, she has the tracks, the vocals and the moves to put her peers to shame.

Although Beyoncé certainly knows how to put on a spectacle – with costume changes and dancers galore – she doesn’t need any gimmicks. Her amazing voice is the only tool she really needs.

The star gave a nod to her former band – and the Destiny’s Child fans in the crowd – by including a medley of their hits, including Bills, Bills, Bills. But last night the real reason they were at the CIA was to see her – and her alone.

Nadia

Jun 8th, 2007, 05:51 AM

Beyoncé @ M.E.N. Arena
Chris Osuh
8/06/2007

4 out of 5 stars

07/06/07

BEYONCÉ is bigger and better than any other solo female artist in the game right now.

Latin belter Shakira may have hips that don't lie, but her charms haven't caught the eyes of the beauty companies that pay Beyoncé millions to promote products black girls don't even use.

Big-voiced Christina may well be a fighter, but she hasn't had a world No.1 single since 2002.

A few years back the young ladies of Tokyo's most fashionable shopping section took to over-tanning their faces and dying their hair to look like Beyoncé.

Somehow it seems unlikely the girls of 'Shibuya 109' would risk their parents' wrath to ape Britney's K-Mart meets Betty Ford look.

The Beyoncé Experience tour is the B-Word's opportunity to show the world the considerable talents that have seen her outshine the biggest names in pop. On Thursday night at the M.E.N. Arena, she grabbed it with both hands, before dancing all over it on powerful legs.

The show opened with a shower of sparks and the brassy wall of sound that is Crazy In Love. Beyoncé, resplendent in silver, stepped, strutted and writhed across the luminous stage like Ike Turner was lurking in the wings.

Innovative

The song featured an excerpt of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, setting a precedent for a night of innovative arrangements and displays of rock showmanship from the all-female, all-talent band.

After 15 minutes on stage Beyoncé left it, returning in a bellydancer's get-up to segue Chaka Demus and Pliers' Murder She Wrote into Beautiful Liar, her hip-twisting duet with Shakira.

The Arabic thread in Liar's backing track wove neatly into Naughty Girl, which ended with raucous, call-and-response scatting and showcased Beyoncé's incredible dancing skills.

Shimmering

One costume change later, this time a shimmering debutante-style dress, and Beyoncé powered out big ballad Dangerously in Love.

The song was a little tainted by an excess of warbling, but nicely followed by a Jill Scott sample, and a pure-voiced, dewy-eyed version of Flaws and All, which in slightly overwrought fashion, ended with an 'angel' descending from the rafters.

A Destiny's Child medley of sex-charged, materialistic 'girl power' anthems was lapped up whole by the overwhelmingly young and female crowd, as was Upgrade U and numbers from the film Dreamgirls.

Finally, chart-topper Irreplaceable was given an acoustic makeover before a playful bassist led into the encore, De Ja Vu. At the very end of the night Beyoncé sang 'Happy B-Day' to fans and pointed out faces in the crowd, which she claimed were the best in the UK.

The r'n'b beauty had sung and danced for a good two hours, and very well she did too.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/live_reviews/s/1008/1008675_beyonc__men_arena.html

Nadia

Jun 8th, 2007, 05:51 AM

Nadia

Jun 11th, 2007, 07:21 AM

Queen of pop: brilliant Beyonce is brash but fun

By Beyoncé
Monday June 11 2007

BEYONCE Giselle Knowles isn't just content with being a member of the world's best-selling girl group of all time. After successful stints as a fashion designer, producer, actress and model, now the Texan is launching her bid to put on the best pop show on the planet.

The tour is subtitled 'The Beyonce Experience' and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Beyonce makes her entrance from underneath the stage, immediately bursting into the all-singing and dancing superstar that has sold out two nights with ease.

Her best ever single and perhaps the greatest R'n'B track ever recorded, 'Crazy in Love', announces her arrival, but Knowles takes a trick out of Kylie Minogue's book and segues a short cover of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy' into her calling card anthem. As curtain openings go, they don't get better than this.

The all-female 10-piece backing band are also fantastic.

Of course, there has to be several costume changes to facilitate Miss Knowles' array of sparkling outfits.

Sometimes, the interval music works perfectly, such as when they drop the Pink Panther theme tune, but two excruciating drum solos are absolutely unnecessary.

It almost goes without saying that Miss Knowles looks absolutely stunning. I have to confess that the sight of Beyoncé ripping off a short cocktail dress to reveal a barely there bodysuit will linger in my memory for years to come.

While a few more hit tunes wouldn't go amiss, Knowles is still only 25. I wouldn't be too surprised that if over time she accumulates a catalogue of hits to rival Kylie or Madonna.
EAMON SWEENEY

- Beyoncé

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/qu...fun-695627.html (http://www.independent.ie/national-news/queen-of-pop-brilliant-beyonce-is-brash-but-fun-695627.html)

bluepurple

Jun 12th, 2007, 11:35 AM

dayumn thats a lot to read

Nadia

Jul 7th, 2007, 04:51 PM

Beyonce electrifies at revived Essence
Posted by By Keith Spera July 07, 2007 2:19PM
Categories: Breaking News

All those people who didn't turn out for the Essence Music Festival's sparsely attended opening night? They showed up Friday.

Harvey seemed even more on edge than usual, which may or may not be related to his status as a newly married man. He locked in on the woman, even dropping an f-bomb in anger. He demanded to know what she did for a living. A writer, she said. "A writer? You don't have a damn dollar to your name."

Ouch, Steve. That one hit a little too close to home.

Tyler Perry briefly joined Harvey onstage. The New Orleans native is an entertainment industry powerhouse thanks to his hit "Madea" movies, a bestselling book and a recent deal to produce 100 episodes of his "House of Payne" sit-com for TBS. Perry urged visitors to "go see the real people" who are still struggling to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina, both black and white. "Pray for our people," he said.

Harvey then riffed on Perry's burgeoning wealth. "You know how much money Tyler Perry has? I'm surprised you women are still in your seats. I'd have my top off." Harvey also encouraged the younger people in the audience to check out Frankie Beverly and Maze on Saturday "so you can hear what instruments sound like."

He could have said the same thing about Beyonce.

During her opening overture, giant video screens announced the arrival of "The Beyonce Experience." That it was. The curtain rose on a spectacle and a sound that was, from where I sat in section B of the floor, overwhelming. It was almost too much to take in. The standard Essence stage props had been moved aside in favor of Beyonce's custom set, a broad, stepped platform that functioned as an enormous strobe. Thirteen musicians and singers - all of them women, including two drummers and a percussionist - attacked "Crazy in Love" with the aggression and intensity of a rock band.

At the center of this audio and visual extravaganza stood Beyonce in a sparkling silver dress. For the next 90 minutes, she presided over the most entertaining and impressive pop show I've seen in recent memory.

She is, simply, a force of nature. In three inch heels, she was in constant motion. She fell in step with her six female backing dancers for crisp choreographed sequences. In floor-length red cloaks that looked like something out of "The Matrix," they bent over backwards and "ratcheted" themselves ever lower, a move worthy of "Rhythm Nation 1814"-era Janet Jackson.

She wailed, but never over-sang. And she knows not to take herself too seriously. While holding and modulating one extended note, she glanced at her wrist as if consulting a watch, then shrugged and grinned like, "Hey! That wasn't half bad!"

To flawlessly execute the choreography, cues and singing in such an airtight production is an accomplishment worthy of praise. Yet she did not seek to elevate herself beyond the status of the empowered and self-reliant woman celebrated in the likes of "Me, Myself and I." She came across as warm, engaging and sweet-tempered. At one point, she noticed a small girl with glasses waving meekly from the fifth row. Beyonce paused, locked eyes with the girl, smiled and waved back - a small moment that that young girl will remember for years.

I cannot recall another star of Beyonce's level surrounding herself with a band made up entirely of women (not counting such self-contained all-girl bands as The Go-Go's and The Donnas). This was, of course, by design, in keeping with the girl-power theme inherent in much of Beyonce's music. (cont...)

Nadia

Jul 7th, 2007, 04:52 PM

Motivated and well-rehearsed, these players understood that, both individually and collectively, they were an integral part of the show. During Beyonce's frequent costume changes - there were at least six - they took over. One drummer pounded a fill with one hand while chugging a bottle of water with the other; the second drummer soloed while blindfolded. The striking Divinity hoisted her five-string bass behind her head while soloing, then ran her tongue down the side of the instrument for good measure.

If pressed to find fault, I'd trade a couple of costume changes for another vocal showcase or two. Beyonce is fully capable of holding a room as vast as the Dome rapt with the unflinching power and beauty of her voice; she absolutely tore up "Listen," one of her contributions to the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack. The various midriff- and thigh-baring costumes were not without their charms, but her radiant voice reigns supreme.

The first Essence in the Superdome since Katrina's miseries warrants some kind of comment, even if the event's purpose is to party. Unlike most performers so far, Beyonce managed to seamlessly acknowledge the setting within the context of her show. She introduced "Survivors" with "this song is so appropriate"; later, she encouraged audience participation with "I know this place is filled with survivors!" Earlier, she stated "I'm so proud of this city" without further elaboration. None was needed; everyone understood the reference.

She also acknowledged that the stuttering "Get Me Bodied" borrowed heavily from New Orleans street rhythms and dances, and reminded everyone that her video for "Dejà Vu" was filmed in the city.

For the final "Irreplaceable," she let the crowd sing the opening "to the left, to the left" refrain, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. We - caught up in the unexpected camaraderie of the show, I was certainly among them -- obliged. She and her fantastic band then finished it off.

Kelly Rowland, Mary J. Blige, Lionel Richie, Ne-Yo, Maze and the rest of the closing night Essence acts now know what they must live up to: The Beyonce Experience

http://blog.nola.com/living/2007/07/beyonce_electrifies_at_revived.html

Nadia

Jul 7th, 2007, 11:06 PM

ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2007: About Last Night: Chris Brown/Beyonce
Posted Jul 7th 2007 9:09AM by Karu F. Daniels
Filed under: Entertainment Newswire

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

The 13th Annual Essence Music Festival got into full swing during its second night of performances at the Louisiana Superdome.

Out of the four performances (which also included blue-eyed soul crooner Robin Thicke, and multimedia funnyman Steve Harvey), I caught an up, close and personal glimpse of R&B hottie Chris Brown, and literally had gotten chills up my spine from Beyoncé Knowles.

Brown previewed some songs from his upcoming sophomore opus -- two of which included collaborations with his label-mate T-Pain -- along with what seemed like an endless stream of his own radio hits from his multi-platinum selling debut.

The 6'2 tall 18-year-old crooner seemed to bring the audience much delight with his new remix of Rihanna's chart-topping single 'Umbrella' -- which substitutes the repetitive refrain from umbrella to Cinderalla.

Brown was later joined by his partner-in-rhyme Bow Wow, the former pubescent rapper named Lil' Bow Wow who isn't so little any more with his husky voice. The two youngins performed their hit song 'Shorty Like Mine' and Bow Wow did a solo of his song 'Outta My System.'

One of the most memorable moments from Chris Brown's set included his musical homage to King of Pop Michael Jackson, which included his renditions of 'Rock With You,' 'Billie Jean' and 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin''). See the exclusive clip below ...

And then it was time for the main event: Beyonce, who the swelling audience waited for with what seemed like bated breath.

The Bootylicious beauty stormed the stage like a lightning rod, opening with an electrifying version of her hit song 'Crazy in Love' -- which she blended with Gnarls Barkley's chart-topper 'Crazy' -- and moving into a hot and heavy version of new tracks 'Freakum Dress' and 'Green Light.' The former Destiny's Child front-woman did not only change outfits several times, she also changed musical styles: from the reggae-tinged 'Baby Boy' mixed in with the dancehall classic 'Murder She Wrote' to the Broadway musical-themed introduction of 'Ring the Alarm' -- which sent the audience into a frenzy.

People can say what they want to about Beyonce, but the girl is a lightning rod on the stage.

She's a force of nature, unlike anything I've seen her generation, as is evidence with this clip below (courtesy of AOL Black Voices' celebrity columnist Jawn Murray). Check on it ...

http://blackvoices.aol.com/blogs/2007/07/07/essence-music-festival-2007-about-last-night-chris-brown-beyon/

Essence Festival video:
Listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP243CsI3wU

Me, Myself and I:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqMR5aMXzk

Dangerously In Love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxJZswDFGvU

Deja Vu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtI6ShED5ak

Get Me Bodied
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9Ae92lSyE

Nadia

Jul 9th, 2007, 07:44 AM

"This was Beyoncé night, marking the first show of the singer's North American tour — a high-production spectacle that showcases her supple voice with complex choreography, dramatic lighting and numerous costume changes. Touching on material from her Destiny's Child days to latest album B'Day, Beyoncé also took time to present numerous solos by members of her expert all-female band."- USATODAY

Nadia

Jul 9th, 2007, 07:45 AM

Memphis review:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/live_music/article/0,1426,MCA_508_5620460,00.html

Super diva Beyoncé officially kicked off her new U.S. tour in Memphis Saturday night before a crowd of 12,000at the FedEx Forum.

Beyoncé was visually stunning in high-octane show
By Mark Jordan
Special to The Commercial Appeal
July 8, 2007

Fresh off winning R&B artist of the year at last week’s BET Awards, super diva Beyoncé officially kicked off her new U.S. tour in Memphis Saturday night before a crowd of 12,000 at the FedEx Forum.

Between the awards show wins, the heavy radio rotation, music videos, and film roles, Beyoncé seems in danger of being overexposed these days. And she laid it on even thicker this night. Three giant video screens flashed her perfect face and body constantly, including one sequence that alternated glamour shots of the singer with footage of her crying fans with the inferred message being: I am gorgeous and adored.

But as much as you might want to hate her, at the end of the night Beyoncé delivered, presenting a lavish, visually stunning, high-octane show that proved she is not just beautiful but talented and hard working as well.

The glitter was in full effect from the start as the singer descended to the tiered stage in a shimmering silver dress and launched into "Crazy In Love," quickly revealing her secret weapon, a 13-piece all-female backing band. Though all lovely, these ladies were not mere eye candy; they could play, a fact Beyoncé showcased throughout the night by giving the stage over to them when she stepped off for her frequent "freakum dress" changes. In the middle of an extended "Green Light," for instance, the trumpet player stepped up for a solo followed soon by turns from both drummers, with one laying down lightning fills with one hand while taking a drink and the other delivering a precise pounding blindfolded.

Later Beyoncé, notable for being one of the least vocally flashy divas on the scene today, took a melisima-ladened solo turn herself. But mostly she stuck to straight-ahead interpretations of her hit-heavy catalog, including material by her trio Destiny’s Child like "Survivor" and selections from her films like "Listen" from the Oscar-nominated musical Dreamgirls. The biggest applause were reserved for her current hits, however, including a set-closing "Irreplaceable," sung as much by the audience as the singer, and an encore of "Déjà Vu," both from her current album B’Day.

Ultimately thought the concert was as much a triumph of staging and choreography as music. Utilizing lights, video, set pieces, and costumes the star and her crew gave each song its own distinctive, memorable look. And the singer and her 10 backup dancers remained in constant motion. At times there were two dozen performers on stage at once, and it was difficult to know where to even look. Given the contributions of so many, it’s all together fitting then that this was the first concert this reviewer has ever seen that ended with a credits roll.

Nadia

Jul 9th, 2007, 01:46 PM

St. Louis Review:

Beyonce
By
Kevin Johnson
POST-DISPATCH POP MUSIC CRITIC
07/09/2007

Sometimes you really have to sit back and just give it up to Beyonce.

Just when you thought you’d had all you’re going to take of the big-haired dynamo and her omnipresence, she comes along and gives a show like the one she unleashed Sunday night at the Scottrade Center.

Beyonce’s near two-hour show is a well-oiled machine that further confirmed no other young pop diva is doing it like her in concert, mixing equal amounts of flash and frills, costumes and choreography, and a library of songs stretching into next week. It’d be nothing without actual talent to pull it all together, and she has that to spare, though her strong performance fails to allow actual personality to come through.

Her show, which drew a medium-sized crowd of about 7,800, is just shy of reaching Madonna/Janet Jackson levels of spectacle, but she and her crew worked tirelessly in giving fans what they came for.

After walking up from beneath the stage amid smoke and pyro (more on the out-of-control pyro in a bit), Beyonce unveiled a generous heaping of songs from her two solo CDs "B’Day" and "Dangerously in Love." Those included "Crazy in Love," "Déjà vu," "Listen," "Get Me Bodied," and of course female anthem "Irreplaceable."

An appropriately-lengthy Destiny’s Child medley brought on "Bootylicious," "Soldier," "Say My Name," "Survivor," "Independent Women," and more, and left us missing her former group mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. But she fared just fine without them.

Nearly each song during the quickly-paced show came with its own distinct production. "Baby Boy" oozed with dancehall flair. "Beautiful Liar" featured a Middle Eastern twist. "Naughty Girl" harked back to ‘70s disco, complete with an array of mirrored disco balls. "Ring the Alarm," all sirens and rage, featured a homage to "Chicago," as well as a series of robotic dance moves not unlike Jackson.

The ballad "Dangerously in Love," always one of Beyonce’s big vocal show-off pieces, cast the singer inside of a faux picture frame while her vintage-dressed dancers struck perfect poses. The song segued into Jill Scott’s "He Loves Me." Another well-conceived segue was her "Crazy in Love" moving into Gnarls Barkley’s "Crazy." "Flaws and All" was another strong vocal showcase, and wrapped with tears streaming down the singer’s face.

As far as near-opening nights go – this was only the third U.S. date on her tour -- hers went smoothly after a rough start. Just before opening song "Crazy in Love," some of the streaming pyro malfunctioned and concert-goers in the front rows were accidentally showered with sparks that shot straight at them. A couple of concert-goers were seen escorted off the floor by staff, and were reportedly treated for minor injuries.

Near show’s end, Beyonce turned to that section of the crowd and asked if they were OK. She also reportedly went to Barnes-Jewish after the show to check on fans.

Special shout outs go to several performers who originally hail from St. Louis who are touring with Beyonce – drummer Kim Thompson, dancer Clyph McGhee, and singer Montina Cooper (Bethany Strong assisted with choreography) did their city proud. Beyonce gave plenty of extra room for her large all-female band and her dancers to shine expertly.

Opening for Beyonce was Robin Thicke, the musically-inclined son of Alan Thicke. Thicke, with his often disarming falsetto, delivered a cool set of songs from his "The Evolution of Robin Thicke" CD including "Lost Without U." The set also included the salsa-soaked "Everything I Can’t Have" and smooth ballads "Teach U a Lesson" and "Can U Believe."

What Thicke might want to lose, quickly, are the corny ways he skipped, scooted, and moonwalked his way around the stage.

Nadia

Jul 14th, 2007, 10:33 AM

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20046320,00.html

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/julietn528/beyonce_l.jpg

TOUR DE FORCE Beyoncé's rousing stage show is a true display of (Dream)girl power

By Chris Willman Chris Willman
Chris Willman is a senior music writer for Entertainment Weekly

If you like women, you'll love Beyoncé's new live show. There's a veritable cast of thousands of 'em in The Beyoncé Experience, which bowed July 7 in Memphis (the tour continues throughout the summer; see the full schedule at Beyoncé's website: a trio of curvy backup singers, a half-dozen dancers, and, not to be neglected, a 10-piece band. (The only dudes allowed on stage were four additional hoofers.) It's as if Cecil B. DeMille lived long enough to direct a rock & roll go-go epic about Amazons, a revue spectacular enough in its colossal divadom to put off proclamations of — it's all right, we've all felt it — Beyoncé fatigue. At least for a couple of months, till her tour has safely passed through town.

Though you'd figure she's as mass-appeal as it gets, at least two-thirds of Beyoncé's opening-night crowd fit into a fairly specific demographic — women over 25 — thus making the sing-along of ''Irreplaceable'' a glorious sound to behold. When the tour hits cities with larger -male turnouts, medics should be on hand: The true defibrillator moment, all freakum dress changes aside, is ''Flaws and All,'' during which Beyoncé weeps real tears (nightly, according to reports from earlier overseas shows) while apologizing for being such a . That's a rare campy, melodramatic performance in an otherwise energized two hours, wherein the star jubilantly puts the kibosh on lesser divas' claims that it's impossible to dance and croon live simultaneously. And God created woman, indeed. Rating: A-

Nadia

Jul 14th, 2007, 10:39 AM

Dallas Review:

Destined to dazzle

POP REVIEW: Beyoncé seals her diva-licious fate at AAC

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, July 14, 2007

By LORRIE IRBY JACKSON / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Glittering, glamorous, goddess-inspired girl power: Championed by her female band and nearly 15,000 frenzied followers, the sultry supernova known simply as Beyoncé tossed the haters' lowered expectations "to the left, to the left" and gave Dallas a superbad concert experience when she performed at American Airlines Center on Friday night.

From the moment her sequined silhouette materialized beneath a shower of sparks and smoke, one could tell that Ms. Knowles had every intention of giving her fans all that they expected from her larger-than-life persona. The stage was dominated by a ginormous glowing staircase, occupied by her three Dreamgirls-styled background singers and her tight 10-piece band, Suga Mama. The evening's deadline only permitted viewing an hour of her set, but it was one jam-packed with couture costuming, crisp choreography and, of course, the Houston native's amazingly empowered vocals.

Everything about Beyoncé was ethereal and out of this world – including her diamond-covered lashes, voluminous cloud of hair and masterfully made-up face – but her stage patter was warm and sincere. "It feels so good to be home in Texas," she gushed to an already intoxicated crowd, which was mostly – surprise! – of the female persuasion. "I've been waiting the whole tour just for tonight!"

And fans who caught her debut world tour certainly noticed improvement from the first go-round. The band played invigorating solos and made the set changes seamless as Beyoncé changed costumes and sashayed the stage with her dancers while singing hit after hit, often blended with another artist's song simultaneously, proving confidence in her own catalog.

Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" was woven into her opening number, "Crazy in Love" (complete with her patented booty bounce), and the operatic "Dangerously in Love" included an interpolation of Jill Scott's "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)" and was easily one of the evening's most hypnotic moments as her soprano dipped and soared with the expected gymnastics, but also with heartbreaking depth and clarity. She also took it back to her Destiny's Child years, at times simply holding out the mike with a knowing grin as fans parroted every verse to "Jumpin' Jumpin'," "Bills Bills Bills" and "Cater to U."

Robin Thicke also earned a healthy supply of screams and swooning. Whether he was tickling the ivories or dancing around in his ivory kicks (memo to Mrs. Thicke: He's going to need a style "evolution" soon; the customary skinny slacks and button-down shirt are getting a bit old), the handsome blue-eyed crooner maintained his hold on fans with the slithery funk of "Shooter," bared his heart with "Complicated" and earned instant shrieks of approval as the chorus of "Lost Without U" floated through the air, accompanied by a naughty swivel of hips to keep the ballad from becoming too mired in melancholy.

Nadia

Jul 14th, 2007, 10:53 AM

Over the top is just right for Beyonce
By PRESTON JONES
Star-Telegram staff writer

Special to the S-T/Richard W. Rodriguez

Beyonce gave an energetic show in Dallas on Friday. DALLAS -- The ticket promised "The Beyonce Experience," and that's exactly what was delivered at a packed American Airlines Center on Friday night.

The Houston native touched all the bases -- pop star, movie star, choir girl, fashion plate, diva -- in an extravaganza that wouldn't be out of place in a Vegas casino. From the fiery opening moments through myriad costume changes, Beyonce never missed a step in the elaborate, precisely choreographed pageantry.

The plan seemed to be to cram the stage full of as much as possible, as often as possible. The 10-piece backing band, enough backup dancers to form a starting lineup for the Texas Rangers and video screens capturing every well-lighted angle dominated the music, overpowering rather than enhancing it. It was just too much.

But that was the point. Every moment was designed for maximum impact; there were no subtle, solemn or soft segments. A deadline prevented me from seeing the entire show, but the energy hadn't dipped as I left, and I can't imagine it did.

Speaking of dips, there's also the matter of her look-at-me vocal runs near the conclusion of Jill Scott's He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat). Beyonce has never met a sustained note she doesn't like and it did nothing to advance the song emotionally. For that matter, I'm not buying the crocodile tears at the end of Flaws and All, either. It was startling, but that's called acting class, not connecting with your material.

Opening act Robin Thicke, who has to be glowing from the heaps of adulation piled upon his third album The Evolution of Robin Thicke, sweated through an intense, soulful set. His passionate grunts and suggestive gyrations -- not to mention that feather-light falsetto -- raised the temperature in the room by a few dozen degrees.

pjones@star-telegram.com
Preston Jones is the Star-Telegram pop music critic. 817-390-7713

Nadia

Jul 15th, 2007, 03:48 AM

Beyoncé reigns supreme at homecoming concert

Billy Smith II: Chronicle
Beyoncé brings the goddess drama Saturday in Houston.

In name alone, the Beyoncé Experience Tour evokes a multi-sensory mission. It's no surprise, then, that the Saturday night stop inside Toyota Center featured generous helpings of glitter, glamour and gyrating.

But for a few moments, early in the two hours-plus of performance, Beyoncé beamed like a high school homecoming queen.

"It feels so good to say Houston!" she shouted to the packed arena.

"I'm a H-town girl. I grew up on the Southside. I went to Welch Middle School. I went to the High school for the Performing (and Visual) Arts.

"I love Frenchy's Chicken."

It sent the crowd into rapturous roars, but the same would've likely happened without the hometown shout-outs. Simply put, Beyoncé is one of contemporary music's most thrilling live entertainers.

Yes, all the hits--and then some--were there, including almost every track from 2006's feverish, sometimes fantastic B'Day. But what elevated the Beyoncé Experience above standard diva fare were the inspired song alterations, setlist surprises and relaxed musical arrangements.

Her appearance earlier this year at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo was billed as a sneak preview of the current tour. But there were few moments of deja vu (aside from the hit song, of course).

The seductive Baby Boy morphed into dancehall ditty Murder (S)he Wrote. Naughty Girl ran the gamut from disco steamer to full-on band jam. And aggressive cheating anthem Ring the Alarm was preceded by a clever take on Chicago showtune the Cell Block Tango.

Even the requisite onstage fan bit, during soul sizzler Speechless, worked effectively. It was largely thanks to a beaming male participant, who could only utter "I love you, B" when the singer asked his name.

The blaring strains of Crazy in Love proved a perfect kickoff, Beyoncé ascending from under the stage amid a cloud of smoke and lights. It was pure pop-goddess drama: flowy silver gown, windswept hair and a downpour of pyrotechnics.

Staging was impeccable, a manic display of (mostly) girl power. Dancers jumped in and out of sight, and the 13-member female band (three from Houston) offered tight riffs under a blaze of disco balls and Vegas lighting.

The frenetic calls of Freakum Dress were acompanied by a barrage of runway poses and fierce attitude. And Beyoncé sported a beaded bellydancing getup during Beautiful Liar, her recent duet with Shakira. (The Colombian superstar appeared via video.)

Ballads Me, Myself and I and Dangerously in Love 2 showcased a strong vocal range. But Beyoncé was at her best during Flaws And All, an artful, soaring ballad from the reissued B'Day disc. She played out the lyrics via animated facial expressions, even bursting into tears at the song's end.

Calculated sentiment? Perhaps. But it made for great drama. (cont...)

Nadia

Jul 15th, 2007, 03:49 AM

Simpler fun came during a generous medley of Destiny's Child hits, which ran from debut hit No, No, No through Independent Women, Bootylicious, Survivor, Soldier and slow jam Cater 2 U. It was a show in itself, highlighted in part by Beyoncé's Wonder Woman-meets-Barbarella costume.

Workout groove Get Me Bodied, already a winning tune, made for a moment of pure, unpretentious joy. It had the walls quivering with its calls to "Do an old-school dance" and "Walk across the room like Naomi Campbell." The crowd gladly obliged, and even a few security guards seemed to be swaying to the beat.

Dreamgirls hit Listen was another powerful showcase, and nearing the end of her show, Beyoncé was ready for a break.

"I've been on this stage for almost two hours," she told the crowd. "Now, y,all gonna sang for me."

With that, the arena launched into lilting megahit Irreplaceable, crooning the entire first verse, chorus and--of course--the ubiquitous "To the left, to the left" command.

It was a spectacular exchange of energy and a perfect close to the show. But Beyoncé wasn't done. She returned in an orange minidress to vamp through hit Deja Vu before delivering thank yous and shout-outs to family members in the audience.

Southern girls--even those with multi-platinum careers--always remember their manners.

http://blogs.chron.com/handstamp/archives/2007/07/beyonce_reigns.html

Nadia

Jul 16th, 2007, 11:07 AM

San Antonio review:

Hector Saldaña
Express-News Staff Writer

The Beyoncé Experience?

It's so much more than simply Bootylicious these days. Though it certainly is that, too.

Her new, all-female band concept is ambitious — as hard charging, rocking and sexy as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Sly Stone or Madonna, pointing to a new direction for the R&B side of the hip-hop nation.

Put it this way: divas Janet Jackson and Cher never staged anything as soulful and musically satisfying as this. This was beyond flashy costume changes and lip-sync tracks.

Beyoncé stepped up through the floor at AT&T Center on Sunday at 8:28 p.m. in a silver dress and with pyrotechnics firing off like giant sparklers overhead for the irresistible "Crazy in Love," which included a generous taste of Gnarls Barkley's monster hit "Crazy" amid its "Hold On I'm Coming" synth-horn bounce.

Two drummers, three-piece horn section, two keyboardists, percussion, three back-up singers, guitar and bass and several male and female dancers created an effect and wallop that can only be described as ooh baby.

Especially delicious was Beyoncé's "Freakum Dress," a female empowerment anthem of the supercharged sexual nature variety that's fun, too.

Later, in a sheer harem skirt, her dance moves successfully conjured Shakira on "Beautiful Liar."

Her sheer youth, beauty and likeability factor is light years beyond most performers. This lucky audience found itself in the presence of something truly special, without a doubt.

It was evident when Beyoncé directed the saxophones with her voice.

It was evident when a tearful performance of "Flaws and All" brimmed with real emotion, easily visible on the three giant video screens.

Then there was the fun of "The Pink Panther" moment. Fan ate it up, cheering wildly.

A short tribute to Destiny Child's was tastefully broached. "Bug A Boo" sounded as fun and danceable as ever. "Bills, Bills, Bills" was another guilty, tongue twisting pleasure. As was "Say My Name," with its dramatic synth stops and lush harmonies. "Survivor" worked as motivational testimonial onstage.

The beautifully illuminated stage set, at times, looked like the New York skyline, disco and strip clubs, the Solid Gold dance floor and "Dreamgirls" soundstage.

Synchronized dance moves would put Britney Spears to shame. And Beyoncé's stripper's pole moment was more bravado than action.

The night's highlights included Beyoncé's moving treadmill moves during "Déja Vu," her killer Diana Ross vocals on "B'Day" and the gorgeous and bouncy kiss-off, "Irreplaceable," that tells take-you-for-granted types where to get off.

hsaldana@express-news.net

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/happens/2007/07/concert_review_beyonc_beyond_b.html

Nadia

Jul 19th, 2007, 12:14 PM

Nashville Review:

Review: Beyoncé and her all-female band inspire, uplift

By BILL FRISKICS-WARREN
Staff Writer

There was no shortage of costume changes or fan-blown hair, but Beyoncé's enthralling show at the Sommet Center last night was anything but frivolous or superficial. Backed by a large, all-"girl" band and a trio of gospel-steeped singers, the Houston native captivated her predominately female audience with a two-hour celebration of womanly uplift and solidarity.

Had it all been about Beyoncé, as her show's billing as The Beyoncé Experience reasonably would have led one to expect, things could easily have become mired in self-congratulation and grandiosity. With each member of her funky ensemble taking a turn in the spotlight, though, as well as with songs that persistently elevated her sisters in the audience, the star of the movie Dreamgirls transformed what might have been just an entertaining evening into a stirring communal event.

"Me, Myself and I," a paean to female empowerment from her 2003 solo debut Dangerously in Love, had the crowd on their feet singing along with every chorus and verse. Interpolating the salacious moaning from Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby," the vamping funk workout "Naughty Girl" had the women in the audience sighing for an entirely different reason.

"Check on It," a wry call-and-response, modeled ways that women can take control in the bedroom. Beyoncé dedicated her abbreviated take of Destiny's Child's "Survivor," itself a part of a melody of hits from her former trio, to those in the audience who had endured sexism and racism.

It wasn't like Beyoncé's club jams weren't a focal point of her show. If anything, the juking "Suga Mama" was even sexier and more gutbucket than on record, while on her fevered take of "Get Me Bodied," the singer whipped her audience into a libidinous lather.

The show featured more up-tempo numbers than ballads, but at least three or four of the latter proved vehicles for Beyoncé's deceptively voluptuous vocals, even if a couple of her melisma-rich, a cappella codas might have overdone things a bit. "Upgrade U," meanwhile, testified to her perhaps underutilized gifts as a rapper.

Maybe the evening's biggest surprise came when, in lieu of her beau Jay-Z's rhymes on "Dangerously in Love," Beyoncé sang Cee-Lo Green's freaky part from the chorus of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."

We might have done without a few of her other gestures, such as the pole-dancing during "Suga Mama" and the lip-shaped sofa she suggestively used a set piece for "Speechless," but employing an all-female band was inspired. The horn section evoked the heyday of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, the guitarist played an Eddie Hazel-meets-Eddie Van Halen interlude at one point and the bass player made like Bootsy Collins on a break that included everything from OutKast's "So Fresh, So Clean" to the schoolhouse ditty "Pop Goes the Weasel."

It's no wonder, in any event, that Beyoncé chose to run images of each of her musicians above the stage during her set-closer "Irreplaceable." They were.

http://www.dicksonherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070719/ENTERTAINMENT0106/707190414

Nadia

Jul 28th, 2007, 06:15 PM

Palm Beach:

Blue-eyed soulster Robin Thicke was just finishing up his set when I walked into the BankAtlantic Center. So like any good girl on a Sunday night, I head straight to the bar for a little Jesus Juice. Unfortunately, that umpteenth toll en route to the BankAtlantic Center had left my wallet cashless so I settled for a bottled water and hopped on the escalator to my seat high in the rafters. A little irked by my sobriety and even more annoyed by the loong ride out to Sunrise, I sat back and waited for the Beyonce Experience.

First things first, I am a Beyonce fan. Not a rabid groupie, but I do love her music and I admit to being just a little excited to be at the show. Okay, okay. I was very excited. And from the time she rose from underneath the stage in an explosion of lights and glitter to the time she exited stage left two hours later, I was completely entranced. In the nosebleeds, we had to rely on the Jumbotrons but even on screen, the energy of the show was staggering.

Backed by a ten-piece all-female band, B performed like her life depended on it; fresh to death choreography, flawless vocals, crazysexy wardrobe and her trademark lioness mane all in A+ form. She ran through all of her hits, from the Destiny’s Child era to her critically acclaimed debut solo project to Dreamgirls to her latest B’Day. Beyonce gave the crowd all that they expected, and multiplied that by 1000. The creative risks that she took proved that musically Beyonce is the real deal, or at least someone on her team is. Her hit “Crazy In Love” morphed into a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” she scatted call-and-response style with her horn section, and transformed her uptempo hits into flirty, coquettish ballads.

At some points I felt like I was at a Vegas show, with all the elaborate costumes, sets, and over-the-topness of the whole thing. But that’s what made the show so much fun. Beyonce was acting, dancing, and singing her ass off. When the younger R&B/Pop chicks like Ciara and Rihanna hit the scene, people thought that Beyonce should be threatened. But after being a witness to the “Experience” that is Beyonce, I now know exactly who she was talking to when she sang “You must not know bout me…” Translation: Sit down, bytches.

Nadia

Jul 28th, 2007, 06:20 PM

Orlando:

Beyonce falls, but Orlando concert an awesome spectacle
posted by JimAbbott on Jul 25, 2007 2:13:53 AM

"If you've got it, flaunt it!"

That's what Beyoncé exclaimed near the end of a generous, high energy show Tuesday at Amway Arena.

That's what she did all night, too, tearing through two hours' worth of songs from her solo career and days with Destiny's Child.

As spectacles go, this was a dazzling one: A fun, sexy, exuberant romp that administered a massive (and welcome) jolt of charisma into material that's often nothing more than overblown ballads and predictable bump-and-grind workouts.

CoIt was unreasonable to expect that Tuesday's show could morph that raw material into something fiery and fantastic, no matter how frequent the costume changes and fireworks. After all, I'd seen Destiny's Child twice in recent years, walking away unimpressed after witnessing noisy messes both times.

Not so this time. Anyone with a pulse would've been impressed.

Compared with previous shows, the "Beyoncé Experience" was a vivid transformation, like the explosion of colors when Dorothy lands in Oz.

Yes, there were plenty of special effects, starting with Beyoncé's arrival. Rising out of the massive stage accompanied by a regal fanfare and a cloud of smoke, she launched into "Crazy in Love" beneath a shower of fireworks.

Positioned on the massive staircase was a cast of thousands, or so it seemed. Actually, it was a stylishly dressed 10-piece band, augmented by three backup singers and a half dozen dancers — all women. Even with the presence of four additional male dancers, the scene looked like one of those old Robert Palmer videos.

It didn't take Beyoncé long to lose her glittery gown, making the first of roughly half a dozen costume changes before getting funky on B'Day's "Freakum Dress." With the big band behind her, the song was more muscular in concert, offering plenty of opportunities for hair tossing and air-guitar.

Beyoncé was a kinetic presence all night, often looking like a new-era Tina Turner with her long legs and flowing hair. Many songs were presented with elaborate choreography that sometimes involved a moving walkway that stretched across the stage.

One move obviously wasn't planned, when the singer executed an unceremonious face-plant at the bottom of the stairs in "Ring the Alarm." She picked herself up, however, and waited until after the song to admit: "That hurt so bad!"

It was perhaps the only misstep in an evening that skillfully emphasized Beyoncé's strengths, such as they are. An excellent sound mix, a rarity in the arena, didn't hurt either.

Oh, she still loves the big finish on those melodramatic ballads, extending gratuitous vocal flourishes well past the point of interest. And a long medley of Destiny's Child songs didn't unearth any hidden charms, despite her gospelly fervor on "Survivor."

Less impressive was opening act Robin Thicke, doing generic sounding pop songs off The Evolution of Robin Thicke.

The son of TV star Alan Thicke, he looks a lot like his dad. Alas, his "evolution" seems to have become mired in Justin Timberlake's DNA somewhere along the way.

Beyoncé, on the other hand, looks to be adapting just fine.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_music_blog/2007/07/beyonce-an-awes.html#more

Nadia

Jul 28th, 2007, 06:27 PM

Palm Beach:

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER

Monday, July 23, 2007

The ticket read, "The Beyoncé Experience," a grand, bold declarative statement that says, "This is more than a mere concert where Beyoncé Knowles will sing and dance for you. This is a happening."

(It also sounds disturbingly like the title of a show made up of drag queens or tribute artists, where it's not really Beyoncé but the experience of what it would have almost have been like if you were, indeed, seeing Beyoncé and not some chick in a Beyoncé wig.)

Thankfully, it was indeed Miss Beyoncé - former Destiny's Child lead singer, Golden Globe-nominated actress and neo-diva - up there on the BankAtlantic Center stage Sunday night. And it was, indeed, more than just "I'm singing this song now" - there was a full all-female rock band, backing singers dressed like the '60s chanteuses in her recent Dreamgirls movie, several criminally good-looking dancers, several costume changes and a wind machine.

Wind machines, in case you're wondering, automatically equal "a happening." Look it up.

With a theatricality that rivals the Vegas heyday of Ann-Margret or all 87 stops of Cher's farewell tour, the power-stomping of Tina Turner and the all-encompassing divahood of '80s-era Diana Ross, Knowles commanded the very large room from the moment she rose from a hole in the stage to sing Crazy in Love. That's a heck of a show-stopping first number - it throws down the concert gauntlet and says, "I'm so fly, I can start with one of my signatures because I've got more where that came from. Recognize!"

The dancing, stomping and costume changing continued with the naughty Freak'em Dress, the excellently sassy Greenlight, Beautiful Liar, which in its recorded version is a duet with the equally diva-tastic Shakira, and Baby Boy, during which she shimmied in a green sparkly bra top and probably knocked out half the dudes (and a few of the ladies) in the audience.

It's not just that Knowles is ridiculously beautiful or that her blond hair blows so luxuriously in the fake wind or that she's got a great, distinctive voice. It's that she can combine all that stuff into a good performance - during Greenlight, she ran from one end of the stage to the other, singing "Green means go," moving steadily on crazy high heels at a speed most runners in fancy track shoes can't manage.

If there was any criticism, it would be that there were occasionally too many people onstage, what with the band situated in tiers and all the singers and dancers and disco balls.

Then again, it's all about the experience, and sometimes an experience has to risk being overwhelming to slam its theatrical point home.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2007/07/23/s3b_Beyonce_0723.html

Nadia

Jul 28th, 2007, 06:32 PM

Hampton:

The good news is that Beyoncé Knowles did not tumble down any stairs at Hampton Coliseum on Friday night.

On stage, she pranced up and down them several times rather gracefully -- in high heels, thank you very much.

The singer even made a joke about her triumph. After successfully descending during "Ring the Alarm" -- the same tune during which she did a face plant in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday -- Knowles sat down for a breather and a bit of self congratulation.

"I'm so happy I didn't fall down those stairs," she told the crowd of about 7,000. "I'm going to have myself a sip of Kool-Aid."

The bad news about Friday's show was that Knowles got a bigger ovation for walking down stairs than she did for most of the songs she performed in the first half of her set.

Maybe it was because the Friday crowd was still a bit weary after a week of work. Or maybe the hour-long wait between the end of opener Katy Shotter's set and the beginning of Beyoncé's show sucked the wind out of some sails.

But for whatever reason, the audience at Hampton Coliseum took a little while to fully get behind the night's main attraction.

To her credit, Knowles worked hard on stage and won over the crowd by the end of a dazzling, carefully choreographed 2-hour show. You've got to hand it to her; Beyoncé certainly has endurance.

Vocally, there was hardly a note out of place. Knowles excelled on ballads early in her concert. She showed off her vocal range in "Me, Myself and I" and "Dangerously In Love." And, yes, there were tears streaming down her face near the end of "Flaws and All," a song about love and gratitude.

The pace -- and the crowd's interest -- picked up after a medley of Destiny's Child songs that included pieces of "Bootylicious," "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Soldier" among other hits from Knowles' previous act.

"Get Me Bodied" and the show-ending "Irreplaceable" had the crowd cheering and singing along.

For younger performers, there was a lesson in Friday's show. Persistence pays off.

So does being careful on those stairs.

http://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/music/dp-now-music-beyonce-review,0,92513.story?coll=dp-news-columnists

Nadia

Jul 28th, 2007, 06:37 PM

Hampton
HAMPTON -- There's just no other way to put it: Beyonce gives a flawless performance.

The entertainer rendered a superb show to a packed house at the Hampton Coliseum on Friday night, proving why her stature as a new icon has been well-earned. Sure, one could find tiny criticisms of the set, but frankly, they'd be be nit-picky and unkind. Though she is woefully overexposed -- her name appearing in print, it seems, just as often as "President Bush" -- the truth of the matter is that Beyonce is a stellar performer, probably the best of her generation, and the throng of united, googly-eyed fans at the Coliseum would certainly agree.

It's hard to believe, but Beyonce Knowles' solo career is still in the infant stages; she's been a solo act since just 2003. But she works a stage like a veteran, and when she opened the show by rising to the stage from a lift to a shower of firework, her tough stance suggested she's rightfully on top of the world.

Beyonce, who had no opening act, wore a shimmery sequin silver gown and jumped right into "Crazy in Love." Soon after, the train of the gown broke away to make the dress a mini, a smart move since she then proceeded to hammer guests over the head with a two-plus-hour show packed with dance, stunning visuals and terrific vocal skill. Beyonce has been called an amalgamation of several other icons -- Tina Turner, Micheal and Janet Jackson, etc. -- and the mini-skirt clad ladies in her all-female band wearing synthesizers over their shoulders suggested vintage Prince.

Indeed, the Beyonce show crams an encyclopedia of pop history imagery and high art into a short time. A jazzy sax solo against a cityscape background preceded "Baby Boy." An expert ballet routine with a male and female dancer came before "Dangerously in Love." Short dramatic scenes between songs paid homage to "The Pink Panther," "Chicago" and "Sweet Charity." Lulls in the show, mostly during her weepy ballads, were few but never long, because scenes changed quickly, like a film.

To her credit, Beyonce made the experience seem easy. Through "Upgrade U," "Deja Vu," "Get Me Bodied" and then hits from her group Destiny's Child, Beyonce really never missed a note, never a step. Her determined, intense face said she takes the show quite seriously but not herself; after she stomped down the steps to perform "Ring the Alarm," she poked fun at herself, saying, "I'm so glad I didn't fall down those steps, y'all."

In the real world, Beyonce's endless TV appearances, magazine spreads, songs, movie roles and so on are overwhelming. In concert, however, the singer's "more, more, more!" mantra works. She is the hardest working woman in shobiz, for sure, and likely the hardest working woman on a stage we'll see anytime soon. Watching the beauty shimmy and sing, her domination makes perfect sense. Nobody can do it like she can. This was one of those shows you just had to see to believe.

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=129314&ran=45831&tref=y

Nadia

Jul 31st, 2007, 09:52 PM

Charlotte:
Beyonce's U.S. tour was looking like it might be cursed after stray pyrotechnics injured fans in St. Louis and -- last week -- the star's much-YouTubed face plant at a concert in Orlando. So all eyes (and video phones) were on the diva as she took the stage Sunday at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as she descended the stairs during the opening of "Ring the Alarm" (during which she'd fallen in Orlando). The place erupted in screams as she completed her walk.

The only inclination she gave of a rough week were a few tears sliding down her face during "Flaws and All" as she sang the lyrics "you catch me when I fall."

Thicke and voluptuous

White soul singer Robin Thicke opened, performing an hour of tracks from his recent album "The Evolution of" The crowd exhibited the best sing-along skills this side of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" during Thicke's "Lost Without U" and continued the booming choruses for Beyonce's set.Fans ran to their seats as the lights went down shortly after 9 p.m. Beyonce and her 13-piece all-female band hit the stage to "Crazy In Love." The crowd delighted in the singer's voluptuous backup dancers shaking it at the front of the stage along with their boss. It was the night's most empowering moment for plus-size ladies.

The catwalk-ready "Freakum Dress" followed. The fashion maven's eight different costumes, ranging from garish to glitzy, took a cue from Barbie, going from evening gown to micro-mini in a snap. A vision of blonde hair and body glitter, she emerged in a sequined green-and-black bra top and skirt for the Latin and island-flavored "Baby Boy,{quot} "Beautiful Liar,{quot} and "Naughty Girl."

Vegas-style gyrations

The rest of the show was a Vegas-style spectacle, especially the female dancer's revenge-themed intro to "Ring the Alarm." Beyonce and her ten dancers gyrated through a lengthy medley of Destiny's Child hits. The sing-along heavy "Soldier" and "Independent Women Part 1" stood out from the mix. Because of her near-perpetual state of movement, Beyonce didn't sing every word of every song, of course. She saved her vocal theatrics, which sometimes appeared to border on an out-of-body experience, for slower numbers but certainly proved she's every inch a singer.

The final segment of the show saw her breaking out of a space-age bee-pod wearing a black-and-yellow fringed bikini for "Get Me Bodied." Following "Listen" she ended the show with the kiss-off anthem "Irreplaceable."The dynamite crowd sang the entire first verse and chorus alone.

The show was without an encore. Instead the celebrity actress/singer stood at the front of the stage humbly taking in the applause before handing a sweaty towel to the man up front that she recognized had known all the words and moves during the show. She then sang "Happy Birthday" to a few fans before exiting the stage.

As the crowd filed out of the arena, credits rolled as if we'd just witnessed a movie. The comparison wasn't a far stretch considering the special effects were just as spectacular as a summer blockbuster.

By Courtney Devores,
The Charlotte Observer

tharealdeal

Aug 1st, 2007, 12:25 PM

Yo she is recieving GRAND reviews for this tour!! I cant wait to see her in September!!

Nadia

Aug 2nd, 2007, 05:23 AM

Uncasville:
Beyonce balances pop and pomp

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, August 2, 2007

BY RICK MASSIMO

Journal Pop Music Writer

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Beyonce’s show at the Mohegan Sun Casino’s arena was billed as “The Beyonce Experience.” That makes the singer sound a bit like an amusement park, and at times the show took on that kind of air, particularly when she appeared from a column of smoke and set off fireworks with a wave of her hand. And as the two-hour show went on, there was a flurry of costume changes, video backing and backup dancers providing a different stage picture for nearly every song.

Fortunately, there was enough musical muscle to raise last night’s show above spectacle status.

The set list came from Beyonce’s two solo albums, 2003’s Dangerously in Love and last year’s B’Day, as well as a smattering of one-off singles, a couple songs from the soundtrack of Dreamgirls and a medley of songs from her former group, Destiny’s Child.

On all of it, Beyonce’s voice, often seemingly liposuctioned on record, had a lot more guts than on even some of her biggest hit singles. This was made most clear on “Suga Mama,” from B’Day, when the choreography required that the first verse be canned. When Beyonce came in with live vocals, the effect was like going from 2-D to 3-D.

About as importantly, Beyonce put her money where her feminine-empowerment mouth is and hired a full 10-piece all-female band, a crack outfit that gave new dimension to songs such as the opener, “Crazy In Love,” where the real horns gave a punch that the recorded sample lacked, and the ’70s funk of “DéjÀ Vu” and “Get Me Bodied.” And metallic guitar solos nicely complemented the slightly psychotic of both “Freakum Dress” and the atonally shouted chorus of “Ring the Alarm.”

Similarly, “Green Light” was more sinuous and behind-the-beat than the recorded version (produced by The Neptunes), and “Naughty Girl,” with its jagged guitar hook, keyboard bleats and “Love to Love You Baby” hook, couldn’t lose.

But the band really made its presence felt on the ballads, breathing human life into songs which are too often wan and synthetic on record, particularly “Speechless” and “Me, Myself and I.”

With so many visual changes and so little besides run-of-the-mill patter from the star, it’s hard to say what anyone exactly experienced during The Beyonce Experience, other than a ton of unforgettable pop songs expertly played and sung. But that was plenty.

I missed the first few songs by opening act Robin Thicke, but the smooth-voiced singer’s neo-soul went over better in previous shows. His falsetto worked well on “How Does It Feel?,” but the lilt of “Can You Believe?” suffered from too-heavy bass drum.

Concert

Review

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:25 AM

Madison Square Garden/Hollywood Reporter Review:

Beyonce dazzles Garden audience with pop-diva goods

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - It's not for nothing that they call this show "The Beyonce Experience." Like the summer blockbuster movies crowding theater screens, this tour by the pop/R&B icon resembles not so much a concert as a series of thrillingly staged set pieces. It's safe to say that her fans will not be disappointed by the two-hour extravaganza.
From the diva-style opening, when she rises from beneath the stage amidst a blinding sparkler display, to the final audience sing-along on the female-empowering hit "Irreplaceable," the star delivers a crowd-pleasing spectacle that offers as much visual as musical stimulation.

Regarding the former, to say that Beyonce looks terrific is probably redundant. Her fashion parade of form-fitting, eye-catching costumes -- most notably a belly dancer's get-up in which she demonstrated some hip-shaking moves that indicated Shakira better watch her back -- provided ample opportunities for shameless leering.

Fortunately, the star has much more to offer than just eye candy. Even in the midst of her strenuous dance numbers she sounded amazing, only occasionally lapsing into vocal histrionics on a few of the ballads. It was a brilliant stroke to employ an all-female band, dubbed Suga Mama after the "B-Day" cut. They were given plenty of chances to shine on lengthy solos delivered during the star's numerous costume changes.

The stage picture was completed by a plus-size female backup trio, some male dancers providing the necessary testosterone, and a large dance corps delivering routines inspired by "Chicago" and "Sweet Charity," among other things.

The largely uptempo show featured some surprising arrangements that gave the material freshness, such as the singer's interpolation of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" into her smash "Crazy in Love" and an injection of "Love to Love You Baby" into "Naughty Girl." The evening's highlights included a fast-paced medley of Destiny's Child hits, a pulse-raising version of "Get Me Bodied" and a "Dreamgirls" segment that included the title song and her Oscar-nominated hit "Listen."

The show included a generous opening set by blue-eyed soul crooner Robin Thicke, whose falsetto voice and suggestive dance moves clearly struck a romantic chord with the largely female crowd.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/070805/5/14in.html

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:26 AM

Madison Square Garden/ NY DailyNews

Beyoncé besieges Garden

BY JIM FARBER
DAILY NEWS MUSIC CRITIC

Sunday, August 5th 2007, 4:00 AM

Beyoncé on stage at Madison Square Garden.

Beyoncé mounted the stage at Madison Square Garden last night like a warrior eager for battle. With her triumphant gait, statuesque figure and steely stare, the singer seemed primed not just to perform but to vanquish.

From the opening number, the valiant "Crazy in Love," Beyoncé sang with a fiery determination, stressing cries and shouts that had no use for subtlety and even less for vulnerability. She danced at an equally mad clip (and didn't repeat her YouTube tumble), hitting every mark with a vengeance.

A Beyoncé show (or rather, a "Beyoncé Experience," as the event advertises itself) has everything to do with power and nothing to do with nuance. It's the kind of thing meant to inspire awe, not intimacy. So is it any surprise that for all the show's dazzle and dash, one left the building feeling at least a bit pummeled?

That's hardly a new approach for this hyperkinetic star. From her start in Destiny's Child, Beyoncé's trademark has been to toughen the backbone of R&B with the strutting ego and unforgiving rhythms of hip hop. She sang her songs last night with the force of a rapper, stressing pieces from her two solo albums in a way that made every sound seem percussive.

For a twist, Beyoncé hired females exclusively for her 10-member band. While that made a fetching visual, the women's chops proved their gender to be more than a gimmick. Beyoncé also made clever use of candy-colored lighting and a kick line of limber backup dancers.

Unfortunately, she has an unsure repertoire of songs to call on. Many of her tunes prove too skittish to sink in, and some of her rhythms are too robotic to find a groove.

The best songs plowed through the din, including a metallic "Freakum Dress" and a funky "Suga Mama."

But the pervasive tone of overstatement even bled into some of the ballads. Beyoncé sang "Me, Myself and I" like it was "The Star-Spangled Banner."

There's no denying the burliness of Beyoncé's voice, or the lure of her charisma. But in her relentless quest for the "wow factor," she often wound up seeming less like a flesh-and-blood singer and more like pop's bionic woman.

jfarber@nydailynews.com

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:29 AM

Madison Square Garden/ Variety Review:

Beyonce Knowles

(Madison Square Garden; 19,400 seats; $150.75 top)

By DAVID SPRAGUEPresented by Live Nation. Opened and reviewed Aug. 4, 2007. Closed Aug. 5, 2007.

Band: Beyonce Knowles, Bibi McGill, Divinity Walker Roxx, Marcella Chappa, Crystal J. Torres, Tia Fuller, Carmalita Glaspie, Kimberly I. Thompson, Rie Trhui, Brittani Washington, Montina Cooper, Crystal A. Collins, Tiffany Riddick.

She's arguably the most popular R&B singer in the world at the moment, so it's easy to understand why Beyonce Knowles would have the hubris to dub her current concert extravaganza "The Beyonce Experience." The multimedia presentation, replete with video screens, intricately choreographed dance routines and showers of both sparks and confetti, certainly had plenty of sound and fury -- but unlike many similarly structured presentations, there was something significant lurking beneath.
That "something" is Beyonce's distinctive, decidedly personal spin on topics orbiting female empowerment. Yes, she's modeled herself on fierce divas of bygone days, but her personality -- with a veneer of Southern-belle charm that's sheer enough to allow the steeliness beneath to show through -- isn't a carbon copy of any of her predecessors.

That persona drove "The Beyonce Experience" for the better part of two hours, flowing through the sexually charged "Freakum Dress" (an apt description for the skin-tight number she was sporting while singing the tune) as well as the jazzier "Naughty Girl." It also got in the way from time to time, imbuing Knowles with a pushiness that turned back-to-back renditions of "Soldier" and "Survivor" into athletic events rather than artistic expressions.

Lack of subtlety also proved to be the undoing of a passel of melisma-laden ballads -- particularly "Dangerously in Love" -- that emphasized lung power over litheness. Ms. Knowles did manage to balance those elements beautifully elsewhere in the perf, notably in a medley of Destiny's Child hits and a version of "Baby Boy" that showcased some Shakira-worthy belly dance moves.

Knowles' uniformed, all-female backing band -- assembled via a series of well-publicized nationwide casting calls -- initially conjured up images of the simulated combo depicted in Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible" video, but the women (particularly lead guitarist Bibi McGill) demonstrated more than enough sharpness to put accusations of gimmickry in their rear-view mirror.

Although she occasionally had to work a bit to make herself seen and heard amid the sensory overload, Beyonce ultimately did an impressive job of tying together its elements -- and proving it's worthwhile to pay attention to the woman behind the curtain.

"The Beyonce Experience" lands at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 2.

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:33 AM

Madison Square Garden/ NY Times Review:

Beyoncé in concert: the voice, the moves, the clothes.

By JON PARELES
Published: August 6, 2007

Beyoncé walked onstage at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, made a quick commanding gesture, and sparks rained down. Her band kicked into the funk beat of “Crazy in Love,” and she started to sing and dance, alternating stop-motion angular poses and serpentine shimmies, switching between robot and seductress. Her face was angry and exultant; she belted the song with bright swoops and vehement rasps. Like many of Beyoncé’s songs, “Crazy in Love” treats romance as a power struggle, and it’s hard to imagine her not winning in the end.

She can coo, she can rage: Beyoncé at Madison Square Garden.

She’s the woman with everything: the voice, the moves, the songs, the ideas and the clothes. Her two-hour set was a brilliant pop extravaganza that kept the songs at its center.

Beyoncé needs no distractions from her singing, which can be airy or brassy, tearful or vicious, rapid-fire with staccato syllables or sustained in curlicued melismas.But she was in constant motion, strutting in costumes (most of them silvery), from miniskirts to formal dresses, flesh-toned bodysuit to bikini to negligee.

The wardrobe entices men, but it’s also a means of self-assertion. “Stop, I ain’t ready yet — wait, let me my hair,” she chanted to the beat in the introduction to “Freakum Dress,” a hard-rock song about every woman’s most seductive outfit. Desire is her ally, yet also, in some songs, her undoing; men inexplicably will mess up a good thing. And while Beyoncé can coo when she wants to, what makes her songs memorable is a streak of rage that’s perfectly groomed but unmistakable. Her second solo album, “B’Day” (Columbia), grows downright furious in songs like “Ring the Alarm” and “Green Light.”

As the leader of Destiny’s Child and now on her own, Beyoncé presents herself as a hard-working, self-guided, amorous woman amid men who can be undependable but irresistible. Destiny’s Child sometimes aimed for songs of female solidarity like “Independent Woman” and “Survivor” — part of a Destiny’s Child medley during the set — while Beyoncé on her own usually keeps things one to one, addressing her man with passion or anger. Onstage she had an all-woman band, and the show used men only as dancers: decorative beefcake for her primarily female audience.

The set was full of minithemes: bee references (as in B for Beyoncé), homages to predecessors like James Brown and Donna Summer, reminders about Beyoncé’s celebrity and her fashion tie-ins. It revolved around her star presence. When she wasn’t thanking her fans, she was demanding louder sing-alongs. Along the way the concert was a showcase for her consistently expanding music, from the kinetic dance beats of songs like “Get Me Bodied” to dramatic ballads like “Flaws and All,” which Beyoncé sang wide-eyed in a video close-up.

As the concert ended, Beyoncé had the audience sing while she became a gracious celebrity, strolling the stage and pointing to individual fans. “I see you!” she said, describing their clothes or the signs they held; the performer became the spectator. Then she picked up the song herself. It was “Irreplaceable,” a gentle guitar ballad with an edge; it tells a man in no uncertain terms to move out because he’s being replaced. Capping her moment of communion with the fans, she reminded them that desire can be fleeting.

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:16 PM

Madison Square Garden/NY post Review:

BEYONCÉ BELLY UP
By DAN AQUILANTE

Beyoncé shows off her finely crafted carriage by prancing and dancing instead of singing at Saturday's MSG concert. August 6, 2007 -- BEYONCÉ'S on top of the world. That's why when she toppled down the stairs that serve as her concert set a couple of weeks back, the humbling spill became an instant YouTube classic.

At Madison Square Garden for the first of her two-show series that concluded last night, Miss B made it down the steps without incident and managed to put on a two-hour concert of singing 'n' posing. While the predominantly female audience will hail the show as a triumph, it was one of the weakest Garden outings she's ever had.

Her all-girl band - four brass blowers, a trio of backup singers, three drummers, a pair of keyboard players and guitars and bass - didn't sound bigger than a typical four-piece rock outfit.

The band was for show, not sound.

That could also be said for a lot of this performance, where Beyoncé showed off her finely crafted carriage by prancing and dancing instead of concentrating on the croon.

The result was that she screeched her way through the faster tunes with a nails-on-slate quality. They say Beyoncé never lip-synchs, although that might have been helpful, especially during her cringe-inducing version of "Ring the Alarm" played late in the concert.

On the ballads, she hit all the notes and kept the time, but without the big production she was a snooze. Up front (you know, in the topple zone), the crowd stayed on its feet from start to finish. But in the back of the Garden, the fans nearby would plop back into their seats whenever the pop piffled to a slow tempo.

It may have seemed that Beyoncé was having moments of dementia by repeatedly asking, "Where am I? Am I in New York?" But what she was saying was she expected the crowd to be more vocal in its appreciation. I never heard Mary J. Blige or Mariah Carey say they couldn't hear the cheers.

There were some memorable moments at this show - good and bad.

Beyoncé in her Arabian nights belly dancing routine - a total Shakira rip-off - was great, although I don't really remember if she sang.

Her between-song interludes, like the "The Pink Panther" tribute and the ballet sketch, were as cheesy as her late show nod to the film "Dreamgirls."

Musically, she hit her stride in the late show when the songs of her "B'Day" album, such as "Upgrade U," "Deja Vu," and "Get Me Bodied," were laid down. Unfortunately, the too-little, too-late equation equals too bad here.

Did I mention the belly dancing?

dan.aquilante@nypost.com

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:20 PM

Madison Square Garden/ MTV.com review:

Beyonce Puts On Flawless — And Fall-Less — NYC Show With Robin Thicke

After her tumble heard 'round the Web, B is on point for high-energy two-night stand at Madison Square Garden.
By Shaheem Reid

NEW YORK — If God made a badder chick than Beyoncé, she must be behind the Pearly Gates entertaining Biggie and 'Pac, because right now there isn't one walking the Earth.

B took over the city this past weekend for a two-date conquest of Madison Square Garden. As the hook of the new hit record by Def Jam recording artists Dream goes, "Shawty is a 10." There are few (very few) chicks out there who can really sing, a lot who can dance, a lot more who look good, but really no other lady who can combine all three and add iconic star power like Miss Knowles, arguably the best all-around stage performer in the game right now.

Sunday night's show started with the lights going out, the screams turning on and a small square of the stage opening up. From below the stage, Beyoncé emerged in a sparkly silver dress with a long train. She walked to the front of the stage, did a couple of snaps of her neck and started "Crazy in Love."

While singing, she walked up a huge staircase where her all-female band and three backup singers were positioned. The staircase moved forward in two places, with the top part moving just a little while the bottom poked out more. At the very top of her staircase/mini-stage, she tore off her train to reveal a better view of her glorious legs and walked back down to the main stage. Her three backup singers came down as well and did the famous "uh-oh" dance with her.

"Crazy in Love" transitioned into a short rendition of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," with Beyonce singing, "Who do you, who do you think you are?/ Ha, ha, ha, bless your soul."

When the song was over, she asked one question: "Are you ready to be entertained?" Wait, what? You just left 20,000 people (both MSG shows were sold out) breathless, and there's more?

Later, during "Green Light," Beyoncé brought out her squad of six female dancers. All the women moved with the precision of a Navy Seal strike force, slaying the crowd with their synchronized dances.

The singer also gave her band time in the spotlight during various breaks in her show. There was the drummer, who played with one arm while drinking a bottle of water with the other; another drummer played blindfolded; and one of the bass players actually walked down to the main stage and riffed freestyles of a couple of records, including Jay-Z's "Ain't No N---a."

Beyonce returned wearing a belly-dancer-type outfit for "Baby Boy." She descended the staircase holding an umbrella and was met by three guys wearing fatigues. A short section of the reggae classic "Murder She Wrote" was incorporated into "Baby Boy." A microphone then came from the ceiling, Michael Buffer-style, for "Beautiful Liar," during which the Houston native paid homage to the song's co-star, Shakira, by shaking her hips rapidly. "Naughty Girl" closed out that brief section.

Beyonce also did snippets of Destiny's Child hits, such as "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "No, No, No."

For all the dancing she did, Beyoncé got an equally big — if not more resounding — response for displaying her undeniable vocal ability on the ballads "Me, Myself and I" (she sang a slower version than the two-step-friendly pace we all know) and "Dangerously in Love." Once again, she worked another singer's song into her act, this time it was Jill Scott's "He Loves Me." (cont...)

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:22 PM

A few minutes later was the moment: "Ring the Alarm." Not that anybody expected a misstep on the record, but the vision of her falling down the steps in Orlando, Florida, while performing the very same record a few weeks ago is still fresh in everyone's mind (see "YouTube Yanks Videos Of Beyonce's Tumble, Citing Copyright Infringement"). It made national headlines. But like Jay-Z joked on the radio the other day, it showed that while she's a great performer who's on point 99 percent of the time, she's still human.

So on Sunday she came out, same long red overcoat we saw her in that infamous footage. Not only was she able to walk down to the main stage, but she in fact jumped down a few stairs on her way down. No flaws. There were also no guest appearances from Jay-Z on records such as " '03 Bonnie & Clyde" and "Upgrade U."

"Get Me Bodied" was another roof-burner, with Beyoncé starting off in the robot outfit like she did at the BET Awards. This time, though, she was dressed in yellow and black like a bumblebee. She declared that she was the queen bee — or Queen B.

"Irreplaceable" ended the night, but before the main attraction crooned one note, she told the audience that she sang two hours for them and it was time they sang for her. So the whole Garden sang the first verse of the record; "To the left, to the left/ Everything you own in a box to the left/ In the closet, that's my stuff/ Yes, if I bought it, please don't touch."

Beyoncé herself officially closed out singing her own song though.

"She's just amazing, phenomenal," the tour's opening act, Robin Thicke, said on Monday (August 6). "Me and my whole crew, we're all blown away with what she can do. How she can sing, dance, it's ridiculous. She's a superstar, born and bred."

Thicke, who's developed a very strong following the past year with his critically acclaimed The Evolution of Robin Thicke, is one opening act that you won't miss, if you're smart. The crowd at the Garden filed in early because no one was going to get cheated from seeing one of the most soulful singers out now.

"That's what a lot of New Yorkers are telling me," Thicke said about the fans not treating him like the regular opening act. "It made me feel real strong."

Thicke recently had his own headlining tour of smaller facilities and says he definitely has to bring more to the table for the arenas.

"In the smaller places, you have the chance to see and feel people's energy," Thicke said. "People get to share in it, it's a little more intimate. When you're in the arenas, you want to make sure it is as special as it is for the people in the back as it is for the people in the front. So you have to find a way to reach the people in the back with your energy. And when you're opening up for Beyoncé, you better not f--- up. You're in the big time now.

"It's a dream come true," he added. "You dream big, and some of your dreams come true. And you don't realize how big you were dreaming until it comes true. I'm just trying to take it serious enough to create magic. One day I'm going to be old and I want to tell my grandkids, 'I was hot. Look at your granddad when I was hot.' "

Thicke's stint at the Garden went over well. His album cuts got major help from the crowd as did his singles, such as "Lost Without U" and the finisher, "Wanna Love U Girl." He surprised people with some of his own dance moves.

"I try to include all the different sides of my personality into my music," he laughed.

The Beyoncé Experience runs through September.

For more sights and stories from concerts- mtv.com
.......................

Nadia

Aug 6th, 2007, 02:26 PM

Madison Square Garden/ Newsday Review:

Why, during a slow, sultry version of her come-hither song "Check On It," was Beyonce Knowles bouncing violently up and down while slapping herself on the head as if she'd made a terrible mistake? For a moment, it was hard to imagine anyone checking up on this woman, except in a concerned, clinical fashion. In a two-hour concert full of strangely memorable moments, this was a standout.

It was also, somehow, wonderfully representative of Beyonce, a superstar who seems appealingly human. She's pretty but not perfect, elegant but sometimes awkward, and never too cool to make a fool of herself. Those are endearing qualities, and they probably served her well after taking that now-famous, head-first spill on an Orlando stage recently. There was no outpouring of sadistic glee as there would have been for a Britney or Paris. Those women are merely desirable; Beyonce is likeable.

Friday night, Beyonce delivered a wildly entertaining if massively overstuffed two-hour concert, cramming in nearly every apsect of her personality and career. Accompanied by an all-female band, she turned cartwheels with her voice (impressive), tried to pop-lock (no dice), strutted around in glittery short-shorts (yowza), enacted some silly dance steps on "Get Me Bodied" (fun) and openly wept on stage (whoa). By the end, there was nary a hit left unsung or an emotion left unexpressed.

Beyonce kicked off with "Crazy in Love," from her 2003 solo debut "Dangerously in Love." She wore a floor-length gown, but half of it disappeared for "Freakum Dress," from her follow-up album "B'day" (Sony Urban), released last year. Beyonce allowed a blast of air to raise her skirt, Monroe-style, blended a version of the club track "Baby Boy" with the reggae standard "Murder She Wrote."

In other words, coherence and organization were not Beyonce's strong suits. But why complain when she was trying so hard to please? During "Flaws and All" she sang, "I'm a host of imperfections," then patted the flab of her lower left arm to prove it. By the final verse actual tears were streaming down her cheeks -- but there was little time to marvel, because out of the shadows emerged an angel with six-pack abs who embraced her in his white wings.

Moving on: A medley of Destiny's Child hits, including "Bootyliciouis" and "Bug-A-Boo," was followed by a rowdy version of "Ring The Alarm" and a perfunctory nod to the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack. Finally came her hit single "Irreplacable." It's a breakup song whose lyrics perfectly suit Beyonce's quirky style: "To the left, to the left," she sang, as if that made perfect sense. "Everything you own in a box to the left."

BEYONCE. One of pop's nuttier stars reveals herself, flaws and all. With Robin Thicke. Friday at Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ, and Saturday and Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Seen Friday.

Nadia

Aug 7th, 2007, 11:49 AM

Philly:
Beyonce

The superstar's mostly female 'Experience' tour is a paean to empowering women

A talent for all FOR ONE SO young, still just 25, Beyonce is surely wrapping up a lot of show-business knowledge and history in her current tour, billed as "The Beyonce Experience."

One reviewer has described this all-singing, all-dancing event - stopping at the Wachovia Center and Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal this week - as a pop extravaganza to rival the best of Busby Berkeley, that most fanciful movie musical director/choreographer of Hollywood's 1930s Golden Age.

Another has pointed out "Experience's" bold allusions to the Broadway shows "Chicago" and "Sweet Charity."

Beyonce - no need anymore to add her surname, Knowles - has been hailed as "a force of nature," "a female Prince" and "the hardest working woman in show business." She's got "the dance moves and dress sense of a young Tina Turner" and the "vocal firepower of a Patti LaBelle," drooled another writer.

Boundlessly energetic, the performer is center stage and in motion for more than two hours, tearing through tunes from her two solo albums, the "Dreamgirls" film and a medley of smashes from the Destiny's Child catalog.

She's on fire, literally, from her bathed-in-fireworks opener, "Crazy In Love" (also nodding musically to Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"), to her show-capping "Deja Vu." The glamour girl disappears only for the occasional costume change (or six).

Also like the troupers of yore, Beyonce really is belting the tunes, even during her most strenuous dance routines. You'll never catch her lip-synching like so many other modern divas, though the pre-recorded voice of her absentee boyfriend Jay-Z is summoned up for duet purposes.

And Beyonce wiggles live, in stereo, with an on-screen, video-recorded Shakira for their hit collaboration "Beautiful Liar."

Beyonce also uncorks the instant emotional karma of a Judy Garland. During the confessional ballad "Flaws and All," the singer manages to break down and shed a real tear or two (magnified on huge video screens) almost every night.

But most interesting, from a historical perspective, is that all nine tour band members, three backup singers and most of the 10 dancers in "The Beyonce Experience" are women.

Here, in her own subtle way, Beyonce is paying tribute to a once-famous, all-female jazz band of the 1940s called the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, clued Crystal Torres, the Philadelphia-based trumpet player who's taking part in the "Experience."

"The Sweethearts were put together in a time when all the male jazz players were off at war," Torres shared in a recent phone chat. They added "International" to their name because the ensemble featured a mix of races and national origins - pretty daring back then in largely segregated America.

"We're kind of a re-creation of that. African-Americans, Latinos, Asians - all kinds of people," said the trumpeter, who agrees that the band was "probably" cast for diversity and youth (she's 24), as well their ability to wail in a variety of genres.

"Some are jazz-, funk- and Latin [music]- oriented players like me, others are into rock or hip-hop, R&B - all kinds," said the young trumpeter who, likewise experienced well beyond her years, has past credits that include stints with Clark Terry's big band, Terry's Young Titans of Jazz; Dr. Billy Taylor's Jazz and the New Generation II; and Roy Hargrove's fusion group, RH Factor.

And when she's got the time, Torres fronts her own Philly-based, straight-ahead-jazz quartet and a Latin-fusion band, Cosa Rica - with plans to record both.(cont...)

Nadia

Aug 7th, 2007, 11:50 AM

(Cont...)

"We're definitely the most publicized all-female band since the Sweethearts," Torres added with certainty about her current gig, which "almost all" of her jazz-purist buds encouraged her to take. And it wouldn't be wrong to call this troupe the "International Beyonce Experience."

"We've already been to Japan, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, England, Holland, Norway and France, playing to huge, responsive crowds everywhere," Torres ticked off. "It's been a great way to see the world."

Beyonce, as we all know from her anthem, is very much the stomping, storming "Survivor." Surrounding herself with this flock of female talents widens the circle, embraces and encourages all womankind, said her backup musician.

"It shows that successful, strong women can support one another and create more success working together," appraised Torres, who helped create some of the horn arrangements that she plays with her alto and tenor sax mates. The musician also gets to solo every night, and we hear there's some special scat riffing going down between Beyonce and the horn section.

"Of course, this band also demonstrates that women are talented on instruments not normally associated with females, like the trumpet," Torres said. "Beyonce gives everyone a chance to be featured. So it's a great thing she's doing."

Torres also can testify that Beyonce really is that driven, detail-oriented person she's perceived to be. The tour has been significantly tweaked along the way: songs coming in and others going out; the elimination of a third percussionist after the European run, and a change of costumes for the cast "from outfits in black, red and white to different ones in gold, black and purple or lavender that are more individualistic, created to fit our personalities and the instruments we play."

Explained Torres, "Beyonce notices everything. She studies videos of the show. She gives us notes after performances, but she's always nice about it.<