Beyoncé’s Formation Tour kicked off with a bang in Miami last night (April 27), with a setlist drawing on her whole career, peppered with several tracks from her new album. It was great to see ‘Lemonade’ represented so well, with fiery songs like ‘Don’t Hurt Yourself’, ‘Sorry’ and the stellar ‘Formation’. But it wasn’t all about ‘Lemonade’ – there was plenty more going on in the show, including water-walking, a throne, and dancing with fans. Here’s seven ways Beyoncé nailed it.
1. It kicked off with a rousing preface and her latest banger ‘Formation’
“If you came to slay tonight say ‘I slay’,” Beyoncé began. “If you slay every day say ‘I slay’. If you came to have a good time say ‘I slay.’ If you’re proud of where you come from say ‘I slay’. Are y’all gonna celebrate with me tonight? Say ‘I slay.’” Then she played ‘Formation’: this is how you start a Beyoncé gig.
2. There was plenty of new ‘Lemonade’ material
After ‘Formation’ Bey swerved into the brilliantly unbothered ‘Sorry’, also from ‘Lemonade’, during which all her fans yelled out “Suck on my balls / pause / I’ve had enough” along with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6APik2glQQ&start=338
There was also ‘Hold Up’, which mixed into ‘Countdown’ pretty well
Here’s the track with her favourite lyrics: ‘All Night’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L64dmpfgVOU&start=147
3. For ‘Freedom’ she literally walked on water
The album version featured Kendrick Lamar, but this was good too.
She also played of old hits, like ‘Bootylicious’ and ‘Crazy in Love’
4. She brought two fans onstage to dance ‘Single Ladies’ with her and they killed it
Beyonce called fans on stage at RANDOM to do her "Single Ladies" routine. Wow. This is amazing. https://t.co/5v1XrHOYnt
— // Venny // (@DarthVenn) April 28, 2016
5. She had a throne
https://twitter.com/emilymarieblake/status/725499504355622912
6. Closing track ‘Halo’ was dedicated to Jay Z
‘Lemonade’ features lyrics about infidelity and trust issues, before reaching the resolution of penultimate track ‘All Night’. She confirmed that happy ending with the following statement prior to ‘Halo’: “I want to dedicate this song to my beautiful husband. I love you so much.”
7. She ended with a Prince tribute
And instead of singing one of his songs herself, Beyonce let Prince’s music do all the talking.