I think I first became a fan of Beyoncé in 2013. A little late, I know! But 2013 was the year I started caring about music. I don’t think I knew that Halo, Run the World, and Crazy in Love were by Beyoncé before that. Back then, I knew more of the rumours about famous people than what made them famous. I remember that during my Level 2 Biology externals, all I could think of was how amazing Beyoncé was because I had been watching clips of her on YouTube the night before. The self-titled Beyoncé album was the first album I bought on iTunes, and I guess it’s the only one as well, because I started listening to music through streaming sites and haven’t bought an album since. I would religiously watch the Beyoncé album music videos in Year 13. The song XO was my alarm for the longest time. I remember watching her 2014 MTV award performance in awe. She is a good singer and dancer. Just amazing.

My admiration for Beyoncé continued all these years, and her determination would motivate me. I printed the lyric “I’ma keep running cause a winner don’t quit on themselves” on my wall. I was disappointed each time she didn’t win album of the year, and when she finally did for Cowboy Carter, I too felt happy for her. At the beginning of the year, Beyoncé released her world tour dates. I didn’t have any hope she would come near me. But I remember thinking one day I would go to a Beyoncé concert. Later, when we were floating the idea of going to Europe, I remember thinking that Beyoncé was going to be in Europe at the same time. Would it be possible to go? My sister and dad were like Whatever, go. Lucky for us, tickets for London were still available, so before I even bought travel insurance, we bought tickets to Beyoncé. (Priorities!)

To prepare for the tour, I had saved a fan-made playlist for the rumoured Cowboy Carter setlist and was listening to that throughout my Europe trip. I noticed many stores were selling bedazzled denim and cowboy boots, which could be considered the theme. But I just found that to be engaging in fast fashion, and so decided to wear denim, maybe a cowboy hat, but then I thought about sweaty hat hair and got the ick. Sorry, Beyonce, there’s only so much consumerism I will participate in.

For the whole trip, I only had dread when I thought about going to the concert, like I really wanted to go, but I just kept thinking that something would prevent me from going there because I wanted it so badly. History is a witness to me not getting things I want badly, so I try not to want things and be okay with the idea of not getting them.

When we got to the stadium and our seats, I still believed she would cancel, and I wouldn’t see her. But then she did come out, and I saw her. I was in the same place at the same time as Beyoncé, watching her perform. I can’t believe it. The whole concert felt unreal, and I only managed to process my experience after I got home.

The Concert

The concert set list included Cowboy Carter, Renaissance, and Lemonade. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but watching the live performances of songs from Cowboy Carter did make me enjoy them more. I didn’t know Blackbird was one of her favourite songs, and I got literal goosebumps when she was performing American Requiem. Tyrant was a song I had on repeat the whole of last year, so seeing its live performance was neat. I am joking; it was terrific. She rode a mechanical bull performing that song! A mechanical bull!

She doesn’t give interviews anymore, and what we see of her now is exceptionally crafted, but I feel we get to see a bit more of her personality in her concert and a bit more of her family life. In the song Protector, she brings out her daughter, Rumi, and Blue Ivy, who also have some solo dance performances. You can feel a connection, and I can see how someone could want to go to all her concerts. (I don’t think that would be me.)

A lot of people consider her overrated, which is fine. But watching her live, singing, performing and dancing, it is hard to feel that the acclaim isn’t well deserved. We were at her last concert day in London, and this was her sixth day, but still, she didn’t seem tired or phoning it in, which, at this point, who would even fault her? Going to her concert gave me a new appreciation of her work ethic and sheer determination. She was barred from country music awards, made an album anyway and came away with a Grammy for a country music album. It also caused people to seek out country music from other Black artists.

Final Thoughts

Seeing Beyonce live was a dream come true, and I am so glad I got to see her for Cowboy Carter and the album I loved so much. She is a woman I have been inspired by and admired for years, and seeing her live was a truly bucket-list item.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Beyonce!