Beyonce kicks off huge UK Cowboy Carter shows with biggest performance yet – but fails to sell out stadium gigs

Scottish Sun

a day ago

It was a family affair on stage for the Carters
SPURFECT Beyonce kicks off huge UK Cowboy Carter shows with biggest performance yet – but fails to sell out stadium gigs
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FORGET the mighty Tottenham Hotspur, last night North London belonged to Beyonce.
She kicked off her run of six shows in the Europa League winners' stadium.
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Beyonce kicked off the UK leg of her Cowboy Carter tour at Tottenham Hotspur's stadium
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
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Beyonce smashed through The Star- Spangled Banner into Freedom
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
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Bey's choreo is, as always, high-energy and she doesn't put a step out of place
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
As I walked up Seven Sisters High Road, Lilywhite football shirts had been replaced by a sea of cowboy hats.
The US superstar's fans, complete with glittery boots and T-shirts, paid homage to her No1 album Cowboy Carter.
Some weren't happy after being told they had to bin their brollies, but they cheered up as they heard Beyonce tunes pumping out of the stadium.
The stadium lit up too, thanks to the Cowboy Carter glowing wristbands dished out on entry.
This isn't your average show, but a moment of theatre.
Beyonce is making a huge point of celebrating the genre's black roots and reclaiming country music as her forte with the finesse you'd expect from a global megastar.
As she begins the mammoth seven-act show, which lasts almost three hours, Beyonce's trademark megawatt smile lights up the stadium.
When the music strikes up, Beyonce lookalikes walk out on to the diamond- shaped stage dressed in gold capes and cowboy hats.
She nails the opener, American Requiem, while gold fireworks blast around her.
Dressed in white tasselled chaps and shades, her voice is unparalleled and the crowd are hooked on every word.
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle put on united front at Beyonce gig
'Ya'll look so beautiful,' Bey tells the audience. 'I feel so honoured to be standing on this stage.
"Thank you for the support over so many years.'
Referencing Blackbird, she adds: 'This song is dedicated to all the beautiful blackbirds who came before me.
'I want to thank Paul McCartney for writing this song and I'm going to sing it for y'all.
"I want ya'll to have a good time. The rain won't stop us.'
Beyonce smashes through The Star- Spangled Banner into Freedom, using the stage as her catwalk, before ripping into a Ya Ya mash-up with her 2008 track Why Don't You Love Me — a big screen in front of the stage showing the lyrics to keep her word perfect.
Daughter Blue Ivy's killer solo choreography on America Has A Problem, where she wears a newspaper-print outfit to match her mum, is insanely good.
She gives a wry smile to the cameras as she notices the whole crowd are up on their feet screaming for her.
It's easy to forget she's only 13.
'FAMILY AFFAIR'
And it's not hard to see where Blue gets it from.
Bey's choreo is, as always, high-energy and she doesn't put a step out of place.
Formation gets a rapturous reaction, as well as Cuff It, Thique and Jolene.
The show nods to her Renaissance tour, which saw her playing five shows right here in 2023.
Beyonce throws in fan-favourite hits to support the tracks from her latest No1 record, including Texas Hold 'Em, which has nearly every person in the 62,000-seater stadium singing in unison.
Youngest daughter Rumi makes the most of her big UK stage debut, appearing on stage after Beyonce started singing Protector, and tossing off a cowboy hat before sitting on her mum's lap.
The stadium roars as Rumi waves to fans while video clips of her and twin brother Sir Carter from Beyonce and husband Jay-Z's personal archive are shown on screens.
It's a real family affair for the Single Ladies singer, with ads for her Cecred beauty line and Jay-Z's SirDavis whisky everywhere.
Meanwhile, her mum Tina is in the audience.
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Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter Blue Ivy on stage
Credit: BackGrid
The concert's staging is impressive, with Beyonce reclining on a throne as a robotic arm pours her a whisky at one point.
Another moment sees her riding a mechanical bull, a move that whips the crowd up into near hysteria, just like when she rode Reneigh, her sparkly disco steed, the last time she was here.
It is a spectacle from start to finish and even the rain, which had thundered down in North London, can't wash the shine off Beyonce's crown.
Bizbit
THEY bonded as Deadpool and Wolverine, and now Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are going into business together after buying into an Aussie sailing team.
The duo said Hugh is an avid fan, adding: 'He'll also be bringing his overly clingy emotional support human along for the ride.'
MADGE'S RAY REMIX 25 YRS ON
MADONNA has delighted fans by announcing the release of her Ray Of Light remix project – more than 25 years after she shelved it.
Veronica Electronica features eight remixes inspired by her 1998 album.
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Madonna has announced the release of her Ray Of Light remix project
Credit: Getty
The singer put it on ice due to the success of the original.
But you will finally get the chance to own it on vinyl and listen online when it is released on July 25, while the first taste, Skin (The Collaboration Remix Edit) came out yesterday.
Elsewhere, Faithless have released Forever Free, featuring the final recorded vocal from their late frontman Maxi Jazz.
It is also the title of the first instalment of their eighth album Champion Sound, which will be out in full later this year.
Also released today is Ellie Goulding And Marshmello's summery dance banger Save My Love, Sabrina Carpenter's Manchild and Newton Faulkner's Hunting Season.
And Mimi Webb has dropped Love Language, from her second album Confessions, which will be released on September 12.
Bizbit
JODIE COMER says fans heading to see Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later, in which she stars, should pack extra undies.
She said of the film, out on June 20: 'I was scared. There is a kind of tension.
'When you are in these high-intensity situations, it's exhilarating, thrilling, terrifying.'
HAVE AN APPY TIME AT GLASTO
IF you are heading to Glasto this year, Vodafone has created a free app to help crowds on the ground – and it sounds brilliant.
Its Official Glastonbury Festival App will allow users to share which acts they are watching with friends.
And because it updates automatically, you will always be able to know where they are at Worthy Farm.
A map has been added too, which helps you track down new stages and merch stands, and it will count your steps so you can compare notes at the end.
Last year the Bizarre team clocked up 160,000 steps each in Somerset – and we'll be sure to do more this year.
Bizbit
PIXIE LOTT and Rizzle Kicks have been confirmed in the entertainment line-up for this summer's Formula E racing finale.
The artists will take to the stage at Excel in London on Saturday July 26 and Sunday July 27, as the World Champion-ship reaches its climax.
Pixie said: 'I'm very excited that the finale is in my hometown of London.
"It's going to be a lot of fun.'
SLAYER'S SABBATH THRILL IN UK RETURN
METAL fans rejoice – it's International Day of Slayer.
And to celebrate, the US thrash metal band's guitarist Kerry King spoke to me about returning to the UK for two huge shows this summer.
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Slayer legend Kerry King
Credit: Getty
The rockers were last on our shores during their 2019 Farewell tour, but will now play Cardiff's Blackweir Fields on July 3 and London's Finsbury Park on July 6.
Kerry admits they were inspired to come back after agreeing to play at Ozzy Osbourne's huge farewell show with Black Sabbath's at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5.
'It's an honour just to be mentioned in the same breath as the people playing that event,' Kerry tells me.
'Even if Slayer had never come back to do any shows,
"I would've really pushed to come back just for this one.
'Sabbath means a lot to me musically, they're where I come from.
'They're my heroes. To be part of their final show and perform one of their songs is just massive.
'I'll be there early, watching every performance, hearing songs I've loved for decades.
'So all our shows are anchored with the Black Sabbath date.'
Each of the bands performing, including Metallica, Pantera And Anthrax, will all play one of Black Sabbath's songs in tribute to the group.
But Kerry is staying tight-lipped, as when I ask if he could give me a clue about their performance, he laughs and says: 'Of course not.
'I think Sharon Osbourne would cut my tongue out if I said anything.'
He's got a point.
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