Concert Review: Beyonce Did It Big For the Ladies

Last night I was once again part of one of Houston’s oldest traditions… I attended the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Now, those of you who aren’t from H-town or haven’t lived here that long are probably saying to yourself “Rodeo? Why would you want to go to the rodeo?” Well, I’m about to educate y’all. Not only is this a big fundraiser, real cowboy competin’, rope ‘em & ride ‘em competition, but they also have a concert every night. Over the years I have seen just about everyone including Brian McKnight, Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, Mary J. Blige, Smokey Robinson & Boyz II Men. The rodeo has brought in an endless number of Grammy award winning artists of all genres over the past 50 years. Gotta luv it!

This was my 2nd time seeing Beyonce perform at the rodeo, my 3rd seeing her solo, & my 5th time if you count Destiny’s Child. So, I expected nothing but the best from her. And I’m happy to say she didn’t disappoint. The wardrobe color for the night was white which looked great. But there was one near wardrobe malfunction. There was a fan at the front of the stage that was there so her hair (well, whoever’s hair she had sewn onto her head) could blow in the wind. Well, Ms. Knowles almost had a Marilyn Monroe moment, but caught her dress just in time – lol.

The tightest & funniest part of the night was when Beyonce performed “Cater to You”. They actually pulled someone out of the audience to go on stage for her to serenade. Now, usually at a concert when someone does this they have a little stool or folding chair for them to sit on, but they stepped it up this time. They had a plush recliner instead! All this dude needed was a beer & a big screen TV & he would have been set – lol. He looked a little nervous, but it turns out he had to be on his best behavior. He was there with his wife. Anyway, Beyonce starts singing & mixed in a little “Bump ‘N Grind Remix” with the part that says “Don’t front. You know about the rodeo show.” That was so tight!

The thing that I loved the most about the concert was that it was all about the ladies (with the exception of “Cater to You” – lol). As I’m sure you’ve all seen in her video, she has an all-female band. (It wasn’t just for show in the video!) Y’all have gotta sit back & appreciate this because this is extremely rare! And just the gamut of songs by her & Destiny’s Child makes any woman want to jump out of her seat & scream “You go girl!”... “Ring the Alarm”, “Me Myself & I”, “Bug a Boo”, “Bills, Bills, Bills”, “Girl”, “Jumpin, Jumpin”, “Independent Women”, “Say My Name”... And the song of the night was definitely “Irreplaceable”. Empowering doesn’t even begin to describe seeing over 70,000 people in Reliant Stadium doing “to tha left, to tha left” in unison! (BTW: Kristle & I discovered that it is pretty easy to insert people’s names into the song. All you have to do is insert that wack boy’s name before that phrase & you’ve got it! LoL)

I wouldn’t give this show anything less than 2 thumbs up. Beyonce sounded fantastic & looked flawless as usual. The show was well put together. She did just about every song that I could think of all the way back to ’97 except “Listen”. She did a little screwed up version of “Bug a Boo” to rep that H, & even had Slim Thug & Bun B slide in to perform “Check on It” with her. This is the best performance I’ve seen by her yet.