standing in wooden boxes that resembled doll containers, her movements corresponding with light projections. She opened with the “Crazy In Love (Remix),” which can be found on the Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack. It was the perfect way to open her show, a dramatic entrance while also showcasing her soaring vocals.
Halfway through the song she heated it up for us and switched from the remix to the original version, complete with her classic choreography that we all know and love. After leaving us out of breath and in shock, Bey returned to perform a fan-favorite from her album 4 “I Care” for the first time. Once again she matched her movements with projections, and brought it with her flawless vocals.
After a quick outfit change that added bright red boots to her ensemble, Bey took the stage by storm to perform her most recent single, “7/11.” I can honestly say that it was my favorite performance of the night. The choreography was on point, the crowd’s energy was unprecedented, and she was clearly having a good time while performing it. Everything about the performance was fun, to put it very simply, perfectly capturing the essence of the song.
Another thing that Bey did throughout the performance that the crowd absolutely loved was integrating short samples of hip hop hits with her songs. During “Diva” from her 3rd studio album I Am Sasha Fierce, for example, Bey integrated instrumentals from “F*ck Up Some Commas” and “Where Ya At” by Future. During “***Flawless,” she broke away from the song all together to hit the whip as T-Wayne’s “Nasty Freestyle” blasted over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. While belting one of her recent hits “Drunk In Love,” Bey even substituted her instrumentals for Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen.” It was so entertaining to watch and to hear, leaving the Beyhive hoping for some possible collaborations with these artists in the near future.
Throughout her set, Beyoncé also made a clear effort to perform many Destiny’s Child hits. Usually she would draw the line at “Survivor,” but during the set she surprised all of us when she performed “Say My Name” and even “Jumpin’, Jumpin’.” Kelly was in the crowd which left us a little salty that she didn’t make an onstage appearance, but this was Bey’s show and nobody could take it from her.
Besides “7/11,” Bey’s “Feeling Myself” performance was definitely another one of the highlights. Though she was a little bogus for not bringing Nicki out (who we ALL knew was present since we saw her at Meek’s set only a few hours earlier) Bey brought it with dope choreography and a good connection to the crowd. One of the funniest moments during her set was when Bey said “World stop…… Carry on” and the entire crowd proceeded to rap Nicki’s verse. Everybody in that crowd was clearly waiting for that moment, and it was definitely one that I’m proud to have had the chance to experience.
To put it simply, Beyoncé’s set was completely worth the trials and tribulations that I went through during the day. She killed it, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more from her. I would’ve waited those 8 hours all over again, but I’d just try to sneak in a little more water. Made In America was an amazing experience, and I’m so happy I got the chance to go. Though I only went that Saturday, it was most definitely an experience to remember and I hope I once again get the opportunity to go and see some more amazing performances.
describe as crazy. We were in Philly, his home town, explaining why the crowd went insane. He once again performed my favorites, including “Monster,” “Been That” and “Amen” (excluding Drake’s verse of course). In classic Meek fashion he threw shade at Drake and OVO. At the point in his set when he let his DJ take over and play what’s hot in Philly, his DJ made the fatal mistake of playing “0 to 100” prompting an angry Meek to turn around, demand that he cuts off the music, and to not playing that “weak s**t” ever again. To put it frankly it was a mess. After that awkward moment wrapped up, Meek declared that he had his girl here, Nicki Minaj, and started playing some of her hits from “Itty Bitty Piggy” to “Only.” Before any of us knew it, Nic took the stage, performing “All Eyes On You.” This prompted a huge spring forward in the crowd, making everything all the more uncomfortable. After performing with Nic, Meek wrapped his set and we prepared for another 4 hours of waiting for Bey.
After Meek ended at 7:30pm, Modest Mouse came, a band that I didn’t personally know much about. They weren’t my type of music, but did put effort into their performance. I felt bad for them in an awkward type of way because the crowd clearly was not here for them. People looked like they were going to pass out of boredom and refused to cheer or clap. A security guard walking by the audience with a container filled with water bottles got more applause then them; no lie. We just wanted Bey, and after 8 hours of waiting for her lost all our willingness to listen to anything except for her.
Perhaps the worst moments of waiting for Bey were during the set changes. Between each performance, there was an hour of inactivity, which was quite clearly unnecessary. As big as the changes were, it took only 30 minutes to set up the new set and sound check all of the equipment, leaving the crowd standing there anxiously waiting for the next person to take the stage. It was an uncomfortable period of wasted time, and also caused major issues. After the push during Meek left the front half of the crowd in pain and unable to move even an inch, the security and the police took the stage demanding that everybody take a step back if we wanted to see the rest of the show. After 30 minutes of being told to do that, somehow it happened and the show continued.
After Modest Mouse left the stage, everybody in the crowd experienced a surge of excitement. The next person to take the stage was Beyoncé, the person that many of us had been waiting for until the early afternoon. I couldn’t have been more excited, thinking to myself that I could actually wait such a long period of time to see Bey herself. As they took down Modest Mouse’s set and put up Bey’s it was quite clear that this was going to be a major performance. Large boxes were being transported and placed all around the stage; lights were being placed in every direction; two different projection screens were being tested. Even before she took the stage, it was quite obvious that Bey did not come to give us some Podunk performance.
When the clock struck 10:30, the lights shut off and we all anxiously waited for Bey to make her grand entrance. To fully understand what I’m describing, I highly suggest that you check out her performance (for it was recorded and streamed online) but I’ll do my best to explain. The performance started with her and her dancers standing in wooden boxes that resembled doll containers,