The countdown is on to Friday and the release of Beyoncé’s concert movie Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé—and after its world premiere last Saturday, more details emerge about what did and didn’t make the cut in the film.
“It’s more than a concert,” the performer said near the beginning of the movie, per Variety. “It’s a culture. It’s a state of mind. It’s a release. It’s a fantasy come true.” Those who attended one of the tour’s stops during its run from May to October can attest to the validity of that statement, where attendees weren’t just concertgoers—they were a community. And the public responded; the Renaissance World Tour was the highest-grossing tour by a Black artist and the eighth-highest-grossing tour of all time. All told, the RWT netted $579 million worldwide.
And even if you didn’t get to see the show live during its five-month run, you can experience it for yourself on the big screen this weekend. Beyoncé—who wrote, produced, and directed the film—“handled the production with precision and care, spending a painstaking four years putting together the aural spectacular and battling a knee injury that required surgery in the run-up to the tour’s start,” Variety reports. In the film, Beyoncé describes the tour as a “machine” and details how it all came to life, “from the women in harnesses who built the screens panel by panel to the nurses, editors, tailors, choreographers, catering, and more who ensured it went smoothly,” Variety writes.
“In order to perform as many times as we perform, we have three stages,” Beyoncé said. “As one is getting set up, the other two stages are traveling to the next city and getting built.”
The show had a runtime of over three hours, so the concert movie couldn’t include every song she performed. In place of some of the songs is a gift of another kind, though, in the form of vignettes where Beyoncé describes her family life and the experience of seeing her eldest child, 11-year-old Blue Ivy Carter, take the stage alongside her. Variety reports that many of the songs cut were from the album 4, dropping “1+1,” “I Care,” “Rather Die Young,” and “Love on Top,” as well as her Rose Royce cover of “I’m Going Down.”
“There’s plenty for fans to feast on,” Variety continues. “In the end, audiences will have their fair share of Beyoncé, with a glimpse into what it takes to pull off such a big production.”
Without further ado, prepare yourself for this setlist:
1. “Dangerously in Love 2”
2. “Flaws and All”
3. “I’m That Girl”
4. “Cozy”
5. “Alien Superstar”
6. “Lift Off”
7. “Cuff It”
8. “Energy”
9. “Break My Soul + The Queens Remix”
10. “Formation”
11. “Diva”
12. “Run the World (Girls)”
13. “My Power” (editor’s note: watch for Blue Ivy here!)
14. “Black Parade” (and here!)
15. “Savage” with Meghan Thee Stallion
16. “Partition”
17. “Church Girl”
18. “Get Me Bodied”
19. “Before I Let Go”
20. “Crazy in Love”
21. “River Deep, Mountain High”
22. “Love Hangover (Diana Ross Intermission)”
23. “Plastic Off the Sofa”
24. “Virgo’s Groove”
25. “Naughty Girl + Love to Love You Baby”
26. “Move”
27. “Heated”
28. “Kitty Kat”
29. “Thique”
30. “All Up in Your Mind”
31. “Drunk in Love”
32. “America Has a Problem” with Kendrick Lamar
33. “Pure/Honey”
34. “Summer Renaissance”
