Review: The Beyonce Experience (Wembley, London)

The Beyonce Experience tour made a stop in London last night, for the first of two dates here. Since purchasing my tickets way back in September, my interest in Beyonce had waned slightly after being let-down by her sophomore effort ‘B’Day’. However after yesterday’s show, I’m sold on the woman all over again. Absolutely fantastic.

After arriving at the arena around 7.30pm and purchasing the expected rip-off tour booklet (£12/$23!), we made our way to our seats. Once seated, I was surprised to see Matthew Knowles, as well as production trio The Bamma Boys, appear on stage to hype the crowd and introduce the opening act – Soul singer Katie Shotter. 20 year old Shotter was the winner of Matthew’s UK TV show ‘Chancers’ and is signed to his label Music World. She was generally well-received by the audience and her material was promising. Yet, by the third song it was like ‘hurry up and get off the stage’. Well, at least that’s what I was thinking Lol…

An already-hyped audience erupted at 8.50pm, when Beyonce finally hit the stage. The spectacle of her entrance alone was pretty amazing; raining pyro served as the backdrop to her grand entry. Beyonce then launched into a rousing performance of mega-hit ‘Crazy in Love’, which set the tone for the rest of the evening. I’d seen her live a few times before and she was great, yet it was evident yesterday that she was performing with increased vigour. She commanded that stage; it was if she was possessed. Sasha was officially in the building.

There were many highlights during the show; including the steamy ‘Baby Boy’ (which was remixed with Reggae classic ‘Murder She Wrote’) and her near-flawless rendition of ‘Dangerously in Love’. The Destiny’s Child Medley was also a standout, with Knowles singing a string of the group’s big hits- crowd participation here was off the charts. Knowles’ vocals were on-point throughout and all songs were sung live – aside from the passable ‘Suga Mama’.

Of the newer songs performed, I was most impressed with ‘Upgrade U’ and ‘Get Me Bodied’. Both performances stayed true to their video counterparts-hence the choreography was hot. Unfortunately the version of ‘Get Me Bodied’ she performed wasn’t the Extended Mix – so no ‘Naomi Campbell walk’ lol– but it was still great nonetheless. Even the limp ‘Flaws & All’ was brought to life via Beyonce’s raw stage presence; she shed a genuine tear during this performance.

The WHOLE arena – women, men, boys, girls and even the arena staff- went into a frenzy when the last song ‘Irreplaceable’ was sung. ‘To the left, to the left’, she encouraged us to sing ‘…even you gangstas too’ she added. At that point I let go of any reluctance and flung my hands up lol. Soon after, we we’re thanked for coming and she walked to the back. I knew that could not be the last song though. ‘Bass…High-Hat….808’ rang out and the audience went CRAZY, as Beyonce gave an encore performance of ‘Déjà Vu’.

So the night ended as just as it began – with a bang. The concert definitely lived up to its billing; it was an ‘experience’ and then some. On the night Beyonce showed just why – hate it or love it – she is the ‘Hottest Chick in the Game’.

* Kelly Rowland was heavily promoted throughout the show – her ‘Like This’ video was played, Matthew spoke about her album and numerous promotional posters/handouts were spotted/given out

* Matthew Knowles sat right behind us for the entire concert at the mixing/recording pit

* Crowd was hyped all the way through

* Her band was incredible…very talented.

* She gave both her band and dancers time to shine.