Concert Review: Beyoncé's "I Am... Tour"
July 20, 2009
Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto
As the sun was setting Monday night at the Molson Amphitheatre, a true star lit up the night sky. The curtain had parted to reveal the silhouette of 27 year old superstar Beyoncé Knowles, standing in a signature Sasha Fierce pose. For what seemed like minutes the superstar soaked up the thunderous applause before beginning her set with the 2003 song that launched her solo career, Crazy in Love.
With the inclusion of Crazy in Love at the beginning of the show, there was worry that perhaps the I Am… Tour would simply be a rehash of 2007’s acclaimed The Beyoncé Experience. But it wasn’t.
Still, if you were one of the lucky ones who saw that tour live or on DVD, you might think that this latest tour, with its less ambitious set list, is a bit of a comedown. Perhaps now that her status as a touring act is solidified, Beyoncé decided to do a more manageable, yet still very impressive show.
Upbeat songs like Naughty Girl, Freakum Dress and Get Me Bodied helped to get the party started before a trio of slower songs from her latest release, I Am… Sasha Fierce were showcased. Ave Maria was beautifully performed with an excerpt of Sarah MacLachlan’s Angel. Beyoncé also employed another excerpt from a Canadian singer later in the show: You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrissette during the hit If I Were A Boy.
One of the few missteps of the evening was when Beyoncé opted to use the infectious Sweet Dreams in a video interlude between songs rather than perform it live. The track, which is Beyoncé’s latest single, was a real departure for the singer with its electropop feel. It would have been interesting to see how she would have performed and interpreted the song live.
Probably the biggest highlight of the night was the performance of Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). The song—and especially its dance!—has become a cultural phenomenon. If you didn’t know that, a compilation of YouTube fan clips (including Justin Timberlake doing his own version on Saturday Night Live) got the crowd going.
The popular ballad Halo concluded the set. Beyoncé used the song to pay tribute to her idol, the late Michael Jackson. A touching moment came when home movies of young Beyoncé, excited about attending her first Jackson concert, were played.
Beyoncé, like her idol, is a star who is clearly here to stay. If anyone dared question that, all they had to do was look around at the capacity crowd which was filled with people of all ages, races, and economic backgrounds. Beyoncé, like another idol of hers, Cher, is a performer who manages to unite all sorts of people, if only for just an evening.
Yes, Beyoncé is here to stay.
