Luca Johnson, Staff Writer
Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour has been an undeniable success by every measure. It’s set to be the highest grossing tour of her career by a significant margin, and has received ceaseless rave reviews. Beyonce has been praised for her unmatched vocal ability, choreography and stage presence on the tour, and for her impressive stamina to maintain high energy for the duration of the three hour performance. The show has been praised for its high production value, immersive visuals, and moving celebration of black queer joy. The tour has been followed by a massive social media frenzy, spawning viral moments like the “everybody on mute” challenge, where crowds attempt to stay silent for around five seconds on Beyonce’s command. She has brought out Blue Ivy to dance with her on stage for many performances, which has become a fan favorite moment in the show.
I had the pleasure of going to see Beyonce on the second night of the tour in Stockholm, Sweden – a show that would go down in infamy as one of the deadest crowds Beyonce had ever seen. My experience at this show was drastically different from the shows people have gone to since in the US.
Looking back, the ridiculously low prices of the tickets should have been the first red flag for me. I had been considering going to the show for a while, and was elated when I checked the ticket prices a few days before the show, and saw prices as low as $15 for the upper sections. I saw someone reselling general admission floor tickets for $25, and bought my ticket and booked a cheap flight from Milan to Stockholm without hesitation. Did I want to go to this concert by myself? No. Did I reach out to every single person in Europe that I could think of to go with me? Maybe, but no one could make it on such short notice. Still, the deal was too good to pass up. On my flight, I clocked a few people who I thought must be Beyonce fans flying in alongside me. I had the rosy idea that people were flying in from all over the world to see this show. It felt good to be a part of something, and I was excited to share this experience with other excited fans.
As soon as I got off the plane in Stockholm, I took a train straight to the arena, hoping that the line for general admission wouldn't be too long. I arrived at 5:00 when the doors opened, and I worried that I had gotten there too late. To my surprise, the line wasn’t long at all. When I got into the arena, I rushed towards the stage with two newfound Swedish friends, maybe ten feet away from the stage. I could barely contain my excitement.
As I looked around at the crowd, I was a little taken aback by how casually everyone was dressed. Most people looked like they had just come from a workout class. This was surprising to me, because in the months leading up to the tour, fans had communicated a pretty easy to follow, exciting dress code: black, silver, chrome, bedazzled cowboy hats, ‘alien superstar’ extravagance. All of these elements were nowhere to be found! As I talked to my new Swedish friends leading up to the concert, they revealed to me that everyone in Stockholm decided to go to the concert simply because of the cheap tickets. The audience wasn’t filled with fans who had flocked from all over the world as I had anticipated, but with people who didn’t have any Thursday night plans.
As soon as she hit the stage (two hours late, I might add), it became clear to me that this concert was not targeted at passive Beyonce listeners. This one was for the real fans. She began the concert as her own opening act with some ballads that some might consider “deep cuts.” When she sang “Flaws and All,” I truly believe I was the only person in my section singing along. When she sang the ballad “1+1” she outstretched the mic to the audience to complete the lyric after singing “One plus one equals…” (reader, the answer is two), to a meek callback from the audience. She would try to engage with the audience, yelling out “how y’all doing tonight?” and receive nothing but a few faint “woos.” Ample time was left for applause between each song, which ended prematurely every time.
I was still holding out hope that once she started playing more upbeat songs, the crowd would get into it a bit more. I couldn’t have been more wrong. After a mind bending visual experience, she got into some of the hardest hitting tracks from Renaissance, “I’m That Girl,” “Cozy” and “Alien Superstar.” It’s safe to say I was losing my mind. Even safer to say that no one else was matching my energy. Barely anyone was dancing, not even politely swaying to the music. They were stone cold.
Another thing that struck me was that nearly everyone in the audience had their phones out for the duration of the show, obscuring the singer from view. It felt so dystopian that no one was even looking at the performance with their naked eye, but looking through their phone screen.
It felt so alienating to be in such a spiritless crowd. I felt fundamentally at odds with everyone else who was there. I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, either. People I spoke to after the show said that no one in their section was standing or dancing at all, and that they felt embarrassed to stand. On social media, videos came out of people laying down on their seats during the show. I later learned that the lack of energy of the crowd was consistent with “Swedish stoicism.” Apparently the Swedes are very shy, reserved people who tend to be still and quiet. The crowd may have been enjoying the concert very much, but did not show it the way that American audiences do. They thought they were going to see a show, rather than react or dance to it.
It’s hard to believe that a star of Beyonce’s caliber ever gets tough crowds sometimes. Much of her allure comes from her confidence and self assuredness, and we, her fans, have collectively bought into her greatness. Part of the fun of being a fan of Beyonce is to share a kind of reverence to her artistry and impeccable skills with others. She has millions of fans who love her for exactly that reason. I never thought I’d see a crowd seem so… indifferent towards her. It made the experience feel more personal, almost uncomfortably so. I could feel her vulnerability underneath her confident exterior. This insecurity felt out of character for her from her “Sasha Fierce” performing persona.
Rather than being angry and spiteful towards the audience, I decided to let them fade from my mind, and focus on the performance. Eventually, I was able to let it all go, and pretend that no one else was around. At one point, I could’ve sworn she looked directly at me, which made sense given that I was one of the only people dancing and singing along. I’d like to think that she felt the energy I was giving her in that moment.
Now that the tour has been well underway, and has been receiving frenzied reactions from American audiences, it’s taken on a larger than life reputation. The massive success of The Renaissance Tour speaks to the reciprocal relationship between Beyonce and her fans, where they take her art and make it their own. The Renaissance album was all about this creative reinvention, bringing together sounds and samples from every corner of dance music to create a seamless body of work. After the album came out, fans put together their own videos, remixes, and dances, furthering the album’s cultural impact. Being at the show with no one in the audience pulling outfits or giving energy made me feel like I had lost out on a crucial part of the concert experience – the experience of collectively buying into the art. It seems that since the tour has come to the US, the fans have stepped up to bring their own much needed personal flair to the show. Still, Beyonce’s star power alone was enough to carry the Stockholm performance, even without the help of the audience.
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