Tens of thousands of Beyoncé fans descended upon the Welsh capital last night (May 17) as Queen Bey kicked off the UK leg of her Renaissance World Tour in Cardiff. The pop icon entertained 70,000 fans at the city's Principality Stadium, who dressed to the nines in silver ensembles to hear the former Destiny's Child singer belt out all of her hits and cult favourites.
Scores of fans began queueing hours before the stadium doors opened for what was the first date of eight UK shows for Beyoncé. The global superstar last performed the other side of the Bristol Channel back in 2018, when she and husband Jay-Z brought the Welsh city to a standstill with the opening night of their joint world tour, On The Run II.
Not only had fans travelled from all over the country to see Beyoncé live, bringing the M4 to a standstill, but some had flocked to the UK from continental Europe and beyond. Ashleigh Rainbird, the Diary Editor of our sister site The Mirror, attended the first UK show in Cardiff last night, describing the experience of seeing Beyonce as "mesmerising".
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According to Ashleigh, all the travelling from fans was "worth the effort" as Beyoncé rose to the stage to a screaming round of applause and cheering from fans. "She kicks off by applauding all the cowboy hats she can see in the crowd before launching into a three-hour disco extravaganza of 40 of her greatest hits," she wrote.
"She starts with a slow number, which is unusual for a stadium gig, but it’s Beyoncé, so it works. Dangerously in Love and 1 + 1 get the audience warmed up."
Beyoncé then performed her latest release and tour namesake, Renaissance, in full, before effortlessly flicking back through time to some of her greatest hits, including Crazy in Love and Run the World (Girls). "She fuses a riff on Madonna’s Vogue with BREAK MY SOUL, which includes a shout-out to Lizzo and her former bandmate Kelly Rowland, to the crowd’s delight," Ashleigh added.
"She has so many hits that there is a giant screen placed in the middle of the stadium showing her lyrics, should she require it. Even if she didn’t, it helps the crowd sing along."
The concert is divided into different phases, with Renaissance, introduced with I'M THAT GIRL, being the focal point of the second instalment Ashleigh wrote: "It features a futuristic robotic Beyoncé on screen before the real thing bursts out of metal shackles and walks down a few steps to an eruption of cheers.
"Yes, Beyoncé literally gets celebrated for walking down some stairs – but, in fairness, she even makes that look like art. Her outfits are certainly artistic triumphs.
"She wears Tiffany jewellery, a shimmering, sequinned suit by Alexander McQueen, a beautiful bodysuit adorned with arms by Loewe, and holographic designs by David Koma. And, of course, there’s a bee-inspired corset dress by Mugler, in homage to her hive.
"She looks incredible and she sounds phenomenal. And, with apologies to all those who didn’t manage to get a ticket, it’s just a brilliant show."
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