Bad bitches to the left, money bitches to the right, the Beyhive met in the middle and danced all night for Beyoncé’s stunning performance at Ford Field. OK, not literally all night, but certainly for the nearly three hours that Bey danced and sparkled around Ford Field, turning it into a sea of chrome and sequins.
She began the night somewhat understated, emerging in a shimmering gold dress and cowl that covered her hair before saying, “Detroit, Michigan, I love you.” In this opening set, Beyoncé appeared sweet and seemed to blush as she thanked her fans for their loyalty and showed gratitude for them keeping her going for the past 25 years.
Here, she let her vocals do the talking with powerful performances of “Dangerously In Love,” “Flaws and All,” and “1+1.” She even does brief renditions of “River Deep, Mountain High” for Tina Turner and Mary J. Blige’s “I’m Going Down.”
This is just a tease to get us warmed up before she comes out with a chrome scepter in a matching robe and bodysuit to ramp it up. It’s time for the “Renaissance,” the chrome-plated afro-futurist paradise with Bey performing “I’m That Girl,” “Cozy,” and “Alien Superstar.”
It’s like a movie and a musical packaged as a concert with large-scale visuals of Beyoncé as an anime-like cyborg in the space-time continuum sprinkled with footage of her throughout her career that kept the crowd entertained between sets. It was a clever way to keep the show going as Beyoncé and her crew of dancers (including Detroit’s Trinity Joy) changed outfits. We lost count after the fifth outfit but were impressed that it only seemed to take about five minutes for her to re-emerge from behind the stage as a completely new person each time.
And yes, 11-year-old Blue Ivy made an appearance, dancing with her momma during “Run the World (Girls).” If we had Beyoncé for a mom, we’d be on that stage every chance we could get.
The show was a celebration of Black music, with Beyoncé sprinkling in bits of songs like Maze’s “Before I Let Go,” the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” and “Love Hangover” by Diana Ross. Near the end of the show, a vogue dance battle broke out between Bey’s dancers full of death drops and splits reminding us that Renaissance is Beyoncé giving the LGBTQ+ dance community its flowers.
She showed us why her tickets start at $300 with a tightly planned, big-budget production that saw her emerge from an oversized clam, ride in on a sparkling chrome horse, slay with a queen bee headdress, and float above the stage like an angel from suspension cables. We all know Beyoncé can sing, but the production, choreography, and literal fireworks shooting from the stage are what make her live shows truly worthwhile.
The evening may have started off dreary but rain wasn’t going to stop the Beyhive from showing up and stunting as if they, too, were part of the show. Fans came out to the sold-out show in droves and didn’t seem too annoyed about having to wait what felt like forever for things to pop off.
Doors opened at 6:30 p.m. and the show was slated to start at 8 p.m, but Bey took the stage around 9:30. Fans took the extra time to make the floor their own personal catwalk, strutting back and forth with crystal fringe cowboy hats and boots, as their friends took video. A man behind me remarked, “You can find all that stuff on Amazon. They have a whole section of ‘Beyoncé outfits.’” That may be true, but why be regular when you can be like Beyoncé?
Even though her songs are about being a bad bitch and taking up space, Bey remains humble, thanking her fans one last time before disappearing into a blast of confetti and smoke to slay again another day.
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