Afrofuturism, disco ball cowboy hats, and metallic silver set the theme for the first of two back-to-back sold-out nights of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour at Fedex Field recently. The worldwide tour is in support of her 2022 album of the same name. The massive stage covered the entirety of the football field, with smaller pockets of fans in between its walkways and the large NFL stadium (regardless of its condition) set the stage for the most amazing show I’ve been able to see in person.
This was absolutely the biggest, most detailed stage production that I’ve ever gotten to see live and I can only hope I get the chance to actually photograph a show like this in the future for myself.
After several giant signboards played on the screens welcoming everyone to FedEx Field on August 5, Beyoncé rose up from underneath the stage in a long sparkling white dress and started the night off with a ballad from her Destiny’s Child past, “Dangerously in Love,” which was featured on her final album in the group, as well as her solo debut of the same name.
After thanking the sold-out DMV crowd for supporting her over her 25-year-long career in the music industry, Beyoncé sang “Flaws and All” as the massive crowd sang along in tow. Bey headed to the left side of the massive main stage and sat on a metallic silver piano, as she sang “1+1” and a cover of Rose Royce’s “I’m Going Down.” She finished the first act off by returning to center for “I Care” before doing a tribute to her idol, Tina Turner as she performed the classic, “River Deep, Mountain High,” before disappearing behind the massive moving screens on stage.
The second act opened with another video segment, where a silver bionic Beyoncé is being built in some kind of futuristic metallic structure before the lights came up and she appeared at the top of the stairs in the bionic costume. Bey vogued her way out of each layer of the chrome outfit before depending the stairs and began the intro albums intro, “I’m That Girl” along with her dancers. After a dance break backed by legendary House music emcee Kevin JZ Prodigy, Beyoncé continued through the album in order performing “Cozy” and “Alien Superstar” before doing a shortened version of “Lift Off,” her feature on the 2011 “Watch the Throne” collaborative album from her husband, Jay-Z and Kanye West. The act ended with a dance break from her famed dancers “Les Twinz” as Bey exited the stage.
The tempo picked up even more after the third video segment with a digitized Bey covered in motherboard pattern flickered on and off the screens as several legendary House songs including “The Percolator”played and she introduced the shows third act: Motherboard. The circular center screen pulled back revealing Beyoncé in short golden dress with matching sunglasses, reminiscent of her character “Foxy Cleopatra” from the Austin Powers Goldmember movie. Backed by a full band, she performed some of the albums biggest hits including “Energy,” “Cuff It,” and an extended version of “Break My Soul,” where a massive silver horse was wheeled out to center stage as Bey and her dancers took over the entirety of the circular walk way. Beyoncé’s website even declared DC as the “Eerbody on Mute” challenge winner for staying the quietest so far on the tour when she says the line while performing “Energy.”
Check out Beyoncé’s latest album Renaissance on Spotify:
Act 4 was entitled Opulence, opening with another signboard before cutting to a compilation of clips from the vogue/house music scene over a mix of “PURE/HONEY,” “No Angel,” and “Ghost” with more voice overs from Kevin JZ Prodigy. Beyoncé rose back up from underneath the stage in a sparkling blue bodysuit & knee-high boots performing “Formation” and by a version fo “Diva” that was mixed with Lil Uzi Vert’s “I Just Wanna Rock.”
She followed up with “Run the World,” featuring a dance break from her daughter Blue Ivy. As the 11-year-old Blue took over the stage like a pro, her mom left the stage just to return riding on top of a silver chrome tank that resembled a mars rover. Bey rode around on top of the tank for the rest of act as she performed “Black Parade,” “Partition,” and her feature from Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix”; before riding off behind the center circular screen once again.
Watch the teaser for the North American leg of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour on YouTube:
Clips of people of all different, cultures age’s and races dancing all over the world played over house music version of “Yonce” before lasers shot from the back of the arena on to the screens zapping “Anointed” the act’s title on the screens before creating these church like metallic structures as the song switched to her feature on Jay-Z’s “Family Feud.”
Beyoncé’s dancers walked down the stairs at center stage in all white choir gowns that became colorful like stained glass windows as a black light machine scanned over them before they descended the stairs. Bey came out in a sparkly silver outfit, performing “Church Girl,” “Get Me Bodied,” and a shortened version of “Freakum Dress” that ended with her covering Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go.” She let the packed room sing along with her during “Love on Top” as the beat switched to The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” before dropping out completely as she held the mic out to the people and two stepped along.
“Crazy in Love” started to play while a giant disco ball was raised up over Beyoncé and her dancers as they made their way down the center walkway before ending with a performance from just the band and background singers as they covered “Love Hangover” by Diana Ross.
The disco ball returned to the stage for a giant sparkling silver clamshell to be brought out on the stage shimmering in the light. The shell opened up just as the music for “Plastic off the Sofa” started to play, revealing Beyoncé laid inside like a pearl, dressing in another sparkling gold outfit as she sat up and sang out to the crowd. Songs like “Virgo’s Groove,” “Move,” and “Naughty Girl” filled out the second half of the fifth act as the songs all mixed in and out of one another, including an interpolation of Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby.” She told everyone that if they brought their fans it was time to get them out as she walked up onto the platform where the clamshell once sat and let the crowd know it was her favorite song to do every night as she pulled out a fan of her own and performed “Heated.” Les Twinz headed back out for another dance performance to wrap up the act.
Clips of a spinning bee hive and the words “mind control” flashed screen followed by images like a waving American flag made of prescription pills, crowds of paparazzi, a raging fire and more before Bey appears in black and white on the screens lifting a newspaper to her face which read “America has a Problem” on the cover. The center screen switched to a crowd cam and showed different people enjoying themselves and singing along all over the arena as a mix of “Ghost,” “Single Ladies,” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious”played. A bright red “On Air” sign appeared at the top of the screen just before Beyoncé appeared in a yellow and black “Queen Bee” style outfit, multi-eyed sunglasses and all. She came up from underneath the stage one last time along with a news desk as multiple news screens appeared around her on the screens and performed “America Has a Problem” and ”Pure/Honey” before giving the spotlight to all of her dancers by allowing them to have a full on vogue-off at the center of the walkway. She ended the night off performing “Summer Renaissance” on the back of a metallic silver horse in a matching sparkling outfit before rising up over the crowd as the confetti rained down and she floated back to the stage thanking everyone for coming out, wishing them a goodnight and letting them know that they’ve just experienced the Renaissance.
As you can probably tell from the small novel at this point that this is show is not like any other concert that I’ve been to. The sold-out crowd, both young and old came out in costume with their fans ready to flap and wave. They screamed, cried, sung and danced all night long proving just how loyal the “Beehive” really is.
The North American leg of the Renaissance Tour is just about a third of the way finished and will wrap up in New Orleans on September 27th. It’s honestly like no other concert I’ve ever been to and if you can afford the pretty penny it’ll costs to get in, you should absolutely take the opportunity to see it.
Below are some more photos from Beyoncé’s performance at Fedex Field on August 5, 2023. Rights granted for the use of these photos in conjunction with coverage of the Renaissance World Tour. Photos by Julian Dakdouk, Leah Nardos Takele, and Tyler Simien.
