Hey! Here we go, here it is, my review of the Beyoncé (!!!) concert. July 20, 2009, at the Molson Amphitheatre. We had lawn seats, right in front of centre stage, and it was an absolutely gorgeous night, no rain, no clouds, no nothing! It was sunny and beautiful. We were there fairly early, in time to get good seats (marked out by our bright-orange-with-fuschia-flowers blanket), have a pizza, people watch (notably: a Jon-and-Kate-Plus-Eight Kate lookalike, and a hilarious man in a turquoise vneck dancing his booty off to RichGirl) and get BEYOND pumped for Beyoncé. :) Eva Avila and RichGirl were opening, and they were enjoyable. I didn’t realize Eva Avila had so many singles, but clearly she does. I liked both acts, I actually really liked Richgirl, but maybe that had something to do with the laughter I experienced watching this guy just lose it when they started singing. We waited a while for The Diva, having four false starts – we’d be sitting down and then people would start screaming due to some lighting change/Drake arriving (I admit, I was also excited), so we would all stand up. Then when nothing happened, we’d sit down. Four times. It got funny.
Then SHE arrived. It was so so so exciting. I should state for the record, before this concert, I enjoyed Beyoncé’s music, but I would in no way call myself a fan. At this point in the concert, however, I was really giddy. Caught up in Beyoncé-mania. And also for the record, I am now beyond a huge fan. I am OBSESSED (haha catch that Beyoncé reference?). I bought her CD, watched her movie on the plane from London, bought Marie Claire to read the interview with her. It’s at the point that currently listening/dancing to one of her songs puts me in a better mood.
Anyways..I can’t describe every song she played (well I could, but I won’t!) But here is her setlist:
1. Crazy In Love 2. Naughty Girl 3. Freakum Dress 4. Get Me Bodied 5. Smash Into You 6. Ave Maria/Angel (Sarah McLaughlin – shoutout to Canada!) 7. Broken-Hearted Girl 8. If I Were A Boy/You Oughta Know (Alanis Morissette – shoutout to Canada!) 9. Diva! 10. Radio!!!!! 11. Me, Myself and I 12. Ego 13. Hello 14. The Mama’s Medley 15. Baby Boy 16. You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No) 17. Irreplaceable 18. Destiny’s Child Medley 19. Check On It!! 20. Bootylicious 21. Bug A Boo 22. Jumpin’ Jumpin’ 23. Upgrade U 24. Video Phone 25. Say My Name 26. Survivor 27. At Last 28. Listen 29. Scared of Lonely
Encore: Single Ladies & Halo
Sew epic. As you can see, she played every one of her good songs and then some. She was an awesome performer: dancing all out, singing harder, smiling that beautiful smile, getting the audience involved, being a complete professional. She has a rockin’ bod, I had never really noticed before, but what with the ten or so leotards she wore throughout the concert, it was hard not to notice, and have her automatically replace any preconceived notions of ideal bodies. From now on, I just want to be Beyoncé.
We had an amazing night. We were all dancing our butts off (including Mom) and singing our hearts out. It was the best concert I’ve ever been to, no contest. If you ever get the chance to see Sasha Fierce Live, don’t pass it up. I guarantee she will make a fan out of you.
