Beyoncé rides high — really high — in ‘Cowboy Carter’ spectacle
You can judge the power of a performance through pure exhaustion. If you’re exhausted by simply attending a show, five stars.
This was the case Friday night at Allegiant Stadium. Deep into Beyoncé’s penultimate “Cowboy Carter Tour” show, you feel that you’ve seen everything a headliner can throw at a stadium crowd. Bey has worn an American-flag fur coat, sported a pure-silver jumpsuit while sitting on a red lip-shaped loveseat hoisted by a sextet of cowboy backing dancers, belted from an LED-infused costume that glows in a half-dozen colors, and waved to the crowd from an illuminated, aerial horseshoe.
At this point, we’re good, having spent three hours with this rodeo-inspired spectacle. An intro of the cast, bursts of pyro, confetti cannons and a bow-out would be understood.
But the “Cowboy Carter” architect isn’t finished.
The crossover superstar’s exclamation mark is her gleaming-gold animatronic horse. This the signature prop that supplants the flying-convertible that tilted scarily a month ago. That car was likely parted out.
On the beautiful new horsey, Beyoncé rides all around the stadium, waving to the The Beyhive beneath. The glorious, slow gallop was a deserved victory lap.
The first of two “Cowboy Carter” performances was fast apace and packed with memorable moments. The sampling:
— “Blackbird.” You would need to be a very sour individual not to be moved by the cover of The Beatles’ enduring civil-rights anthem.
— “The Star Spangled Banner/Freedom.” I don’t know if I’ve seen a superstar headliner summon the national anthem before. I saw it once in an off-Strip lounge about a decade ago, the entertainer explaining it was a way to get a guaranteed standing ovation. In Beyoncé’s hands, the song (with its famous Jimi Hendrix guitar licks) is a lead-in to the stirring “Freedom,” her powerful social-justice anthem.
— “Ya Ya” singalong. It’s a challenge to cross the chasm to 45,000 stadium inhabitants (Chris Martin employs the now-notorious audience camera). But through all the flashing video, pyro and aerial effects, it’s rewarding to experience a singer actually singing. She reached the rafters, as they say.
— Bucking bull action. Beyoncé’ rocks this golden beast in “Tyrant.” I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to ride one of these beasts at, say, Gilley’s. It’s a difficult and largely humbling experience. But Beyoncé’s sinewy and slickly choreographed number supercharges the crowd, as she sings and smiles the whole while. A number seemingly hot enough to melt that prop, actually.
— Las Vegas is clipped. The production features a video interlude, with a theater marque promoting “ATTACK OF THE 400 FOOT COWBOY,” and with a roulette wheel and Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign amid the highlights. The star is then shown in a red-leather cowboy costume, walking along the Strip and bending to pick up Allegiant Stadium. The crowd rejoices — we are there! This is a reminder, too, of when Beyoncé plucked a prop that approximated the Sphere early in the tour. That led to Sphere CEO and Chairman James Dolan issuing a cease-and-desist letter to the superstar’s production company, demanding she remove that scene. Allegiant Stadium has co-starred since.
— The daughters rock it: Beyoncé unveiled several new looks for the show (the dozens of trucks parked at Allegiant Stadium had to have been her rolling wardrobe closets). These included a cowhide jacket, shorts, boots and hat. Her 8-year-old daughter, Rumi, arrived wearing a matching outfit, waving and pointing to the crowd. And 13-year-old Blue Ivy performed in the troupe of backing dancers, and took center stage during “America Has a Problem” and recreated her mother’s “Déjà Vu” dance from the 2006 music video.
— The Wave: The crowd-generated activity, “immersive” entertainment before we ever had the term, is having a moment. The Wave rippled through the crowd prior to the show. This act cannot be stopped. It can only hope to be contained.
“Cowboy Carter” closes out Saturday, the latest Las Vegas touring show seeming to attempt to “out-spectacle” what has happened prior at Allegiant Stadium. Coldplay, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar with Sza and Post Malone with Jellyroll have this year turned the Raiders’ home stadium into a festival grounds. Of course Backstreet Boys, at the same time, were running amok at Sphere (there was a moment you could watch Beyoncé live, dancing atop an illuminated tractor-trailer, and check the IG feed on the phone as Backstreet Boys were grooving atop their 70-foot-high “Into the Millennium” stage). Lady Gaga — lest we forget — produced a truly awesome “Mayhem Tour” show just last weekend at T-Mobile Arena.
Suffice to say it’s been a wild run for top-line productions in VegasVille. The city’s visitation numbers might be substandard at the moment, but the roster of headlining entertainment — touring or in residency — is as powerful as ever.
As for what’s next for Beyoncé, her vision for production is clearly worthy of Sphere treatment. After taking in “Cowboy Carter” you understand the interest in such a residency a couple years ago.
But “Cowboy Carter” seems riding into the sunset. As she told the crowd from the stage, “When we were writing that album, I imagined this night, ending the tour in Las Vegas, and you all are making this dream come true. Thank you so much.” Tip the hat, roll the credits, and see you next time.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
