Queen Bey’s return to London could never be quiet or without upheaval – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium breached its own license in order to host a full-blown, five night residency for the London leg of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. And as Beyoncé took to the stage for the first time, she set forth the vision of a bedazzled alien invasion; our supreme mother coming to take us to a new planet.
Ahead of the show, there was a Pride progress flag on screen; an indication of the delights awaiting. Beyoncé emerged in a custom International Klein Blue gown by London-based designer Roksanda as she performed her own opening act – a set of Dangerously In Love, Flaws and All, 1+1, and I Care. Standing in front of a stage of mosaic mirror tiles, she delivered a dazzling vocal performance resplendent with riffs and melisma. “London is in the house!” she shouted. There was also a tribute to her icon Tina Turner, who passed away last week; a slow tempo rendition of River Deep, Mountain High.
The Renaissance show itself was an enthralling, dizzying display of spectacle – with references to the cyborgs of science fiction, the philosophy of time, and the linguistics of ballroom. The latter, explicitly pioneered by Black queer people, is one of the major sonic influences of the Renaissance album. Amid a spectacular run of I’m That Girl into Cozy, into Alien Superstar, Beyoncé was stripped by articulated robot arms. “Come build this we’re never pressed, no stress regret renaissance yes!” announced a ballroom commentator. As the arms lowered a silver frame, Beyoncé posed within it.
Such props made the show fun – the arms wafted fans for a rhapsodic performance of Heated, and after Cozy, Beyoncé fell into a silver duvet. For Partition, a lunar roving vehicle carried her through a red-lit stage like a visiting Martian. The real gag was the arrival of Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy, fresh from her Paris debut. As she coolly joined the dancers for My Power and Black Parade, the crowd was thundering and emotional at her presence.
The show is narrated with the language and movement of black queerness. A ‘House of Renaissance’ ball takes place, walking through the categories old way, vogue fem, and sex siren. Beyoncé herself walked face (a category that is judged solely on the perfection of the contestant’s visage) the entire show, which also gleefully leaned into sex. At moments, the stage became a set of open robotic legs. For silky, elegant performances of Plastic Off The Sofa and Virgo’s Groove, Beyoncé lounged in a glittering clamshell, her skin-tight sparkling Loewe jumpsuit printed with arms reaching around her body.
The closing performance of Summer Renaissance was faithful to Beyoncé’s infatuation with the mythology of Bianca Jagger’s Studio 54 moment – she ascended on blinding, glittery horse, Reneigh. Later, the screens revealed an image of her mother and late Uncle Jonny (namechecked in Heated). Between this and the introductory flag, Beyoncé’s message was clear – this was a show indebted to Black queer people, past and present.
