After such a busy weekend, I was feeling a little peaked. All I wanted to do was relax but… Beyonce was in town! After getting married, SMS and I walked down the aisle together to “Love on Top” and we have always talked about seeing a concert together. I missed buying tickets through LiveNation so I sort of wrote it off. But, a few days prior, I started looking on StubHub and I realized that tickets were being sold below face value. So I started thinking…
By mid-Monday afternoon, I was decided. We were going! SMS and I met up after work and bought our LightRail VTE tickets. After dinner at home, we went to the train station and took the packed train to Levi Stadium. It wasn’t packed to Japanese standards but a couple people really smooshed their way in and would definitely fit in during Tokyo rush hour!
We got to the stadium and, small annoyance, no bags bigger than 4 x 6 inches are allowed into the venue. Argh, I really wished I knew that before I left home! After checking my bag, we went into the arena where DJ Khaled had a good set. I’m sure it was very cool since I didn’t know any of the songs.
After his set, we waited. The show didn’t start until 9, which I somewhat suspected would happen because the focal point of the stage is a 5-storey LED screen. By waiting until it was dark, the effect was much more dramatic.
The show was amazing. Beyonce sang a lot and sounded amazing. Some songs were arranged differently than the studio version, which always makes a live show a treat. A few songs were more dance numbers where Beyonce wasn’t singing but instead, the studio track was playing. There was no attempt at trying to lipsync, which I appreciated.
Although we had good seats, the highlight of the show was the last four songs. SMS and I were between the main stage and a smaller stage that was at the end of a runway. Every time the group went down the runway and performed on the smaller stage, so many people from our section ran forward like the Running of the Bulls. Finally, I decided I wanted to join the crowd so I asked SMS if he wanted to go too and off we went. It was amazing timing because it was near the end of the show and the staging was great. First, the smaller stage had been transformed into a large, shallow pool that Beyonce and her formation danced and stomped through. Also, we were so close! I felt like such a fan girl! Finally, we were super close for the last song “Halo,” which was absolutely gorgeous.
After the show, we got home fairly easily. I left my bag (on purpose) and will pick it up from lost and found this week. The VTE was crowded but not unmanageable. If Beyonce comes to a city near you, I highly recommend the show!
