The Renaissance World Tour by Beyoncé started on May 10th, ending in the first week of October, during which she performed in Europe and North America.
This tour was nothing short of awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, and record-breaking.
Two writers of the Southern Digest, Jenna Bernard & Jodeci Ashford, attended this groundbreaking tour and shared their stories.
This tour has already broken records for being her highest-grossing tour to date, the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in history, and the highest-grossing tour by a Black artist in history.
You’re probably wondering how and why this tour has been critically acclaimed as one of, if not Beyoncé’s best tour?
Before even arriving inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, there were hundreds of thousands of the BeyHive, as Beyoncé’s fandom is called, walking towards the stadium in their most creative and fashionable pieces of chrome and cowboy hats. Some were covered in silver accessories from top to bottom, as the theme of the Renaissance album is to express creativity in a futuristic fashion but as yourself. Beyoncé said during the tour, amongst many explanations as to why the BeyHive hasn’t received any visuals for this album, that “YOU are the visual.”
Sitting in the 500-level seats, you could see a great view of the stage as well as the stadium. There were no seats left empty in the surrounding sections as well as floor seating. You could feel the energy of excitement and camaraderie between everyone, supporting and uplifting one another, whether queer or straight. It felt as if everyone came together to a gathering or a graduation of a shared loved one. You could feel that her concert was a safe space for her fans, especially queer folk, to have fun and experience this concert as she wanted us to.
The show lasted three hours, and the crowd was engaged from start to finish, and of course, Queen Bey had multiple outfit changes with each song mashup. It was simply a visual masterpiece, paying homage to New Orleans culture and queer culture, with elements of ballroom culture and disco in her show. Blue Ivy came out during “MY POWER” to dance alongside her mother and her backup dancers.
New Orleans also won the “Mute Challenge” as social media has coined it whenever the artist says the lyrics of her song “ENERGY,” “look around everybody on mute,” and the whole stadium has to be silent until she starts singing again. She tested the crowd a second time towards the middle of the show, as everyone understood the assignment once again.
Ariana Pryer, a concertgoer from Xavier University in Louisiana from Maringouin, Louisiana, said that Beyoncé definitely blew her away. “Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour gave me an experience of a lifetime that I will never forget. The energy in that stadium Wednesday night was unbelievable. I spent the whole show out of my seat screaming and dancing along with Bey, and I truly had the time of my life. The entire show blew my mind, but my favorite part was her performance of cozy and church girl!” Pryer declares.
The Renaissance World Tour isn’t your typical concert where you buy tickets and just attend. The A-list superstar Beyoncé believes that if you attend her concert up close and personal, you receive a legendary experience before the show even starts. Her team calls this “VIP Nation.”
The overall Floor Experience of the show in the Caesar’s SuperDome consisted of special seating in sections labeled by alphabets, A-N (excluding I), Club Renaissance (Middle of Arena) B-Hive A & B, and the VIP A&B (Stage Seats).
On the day of the New Orleans show, the hundreds of individuals entered the VIP Nation area receiving their sealed wristbands, personalized lanyards, and Renaissance Merch Bag. Tickets ranged from $1,200-$5,000. No matter where you were at the concert, if you had Floor Access, you were what Behive Fans would call, “That Girl!”
Celebrities like Jay-Z, Beyoncé’s twin children Rumi & Sir Carter, Big Freedia, Supa Cent, and more notable creators were present in the dome.
The gates were to open at 7:00 pm but opened up at 8:30 pm instead due to the 85,000+ attendance. That’s more than the average of a New Orleans Saints Game and a Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
According to Beyoncé’s Tour Management, she delayed her show opening to allow individuals who were still trying to arrive inside the stadium until 9:40 pm.
One of our writers, Jodeci Ashford, met up with Film Director, Madison Lymon during the show, who stated, “The anxiety of seeing Beyoncé in person before the concert was intense. I knew I was in for a show but didn’t know really what to expect emotionally except pure bliss.”
She continued to say, “It was a high that lasted 2-3 days post-concert, to this day I’m still feeling it, and it’s almost been a week!”
As Lymon expresses her Post-Concert Depression, the term conveys that a person will experience some form of clinical depression when we experience a high level of excitement.
This process releases levels of dopamine stimulating from endorphins which can create the symptoms of a person who actually feels “depressed” or “not motivated.”
Ranging from mild to severe symptoms – eventually, the feeling wears off.
It’s no secret New Orleans is one of Beyoncé’s favorite cities for numerous reasons. The Queen B made it her mission to bless the NOLA show with her “Big 3.”
The Big 3 consists of two songs off her Renaissance album, “THIQUE, ALL UP IN YOUR MIND, and the exclusive Dubai version of DRUNK IN LOVE.” Now what makes this remarkable is, Beyoncé has only performed this setlist in 8 cities out of all 56 shows.
That’s a combination of shows from overseas and in the states, let that sink in!
She opened up with the Big 3 Opening Night of the RWT in Stockholm, Sweden as mentioned before, May 10, 2023; but for 4 months straight, she would skip the Big 3 and just hop into performing AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM, PURE/HONEY, and close the show with SUMMER RENAISSANCE.
Fans spent thousands of dollars, started petitions, wishing and hoping that Beyoncé would perform the Big 3 in their city, but the Superstar is known for her surprises.
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CLUB RENAISSANCE: Beyoncé Takes Nola
October 2, 2023
Beyoncé performs onstage during the Renaissance World Tour stop in Inglewood, California.
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