It was May 16, 2016, 7 a.m. I woke up and prepared for the long day ahead. After a few hours of work and class, the time had come. I was #BeyonceBound. After picking up my sister, we headed into the dreaded 101 afternoon commute traffic. Though we were angsty and impatient when three different traffic guards gave us the wrong directions to the parking lot, we eventually found our way there. Of course, right as we're about to approach the gate to enter the stadium, we're told all of our belongings must be in clear bags. (Really, NFL?) We scurried back to the car, consolidated our things and headed back in. We arrived at our seats – the nosebleeds – and were surrounded by three different groups of people: groups of girls, groups of girls who had dragged their boyfriends along with them and gay men. The fan love was too real. I'm honestly still in shock from the whole night, but here is just a little glimpse at the show. (I don't want to give it all away because there are still more dates to come!)
The opening was a bunch of "wait for it..." and then some. There was no real opening act (I mean, how can you open for Beyonce?), but DJ Khaled, Too $hort and E-40 made appearances and did a little thing, probably to distract us from the fact that the concert started at 7:30 and Beyonce's act didn't start until 9 p.m. But I mean, it's Beyonce. It was worth the wait. The GIF above is a little peek at the opening, but no spoilers to what song it was! You do have to have coordination to dance to it, though.
There was a Prince tribute near the middle of the concert, where after Beyonce sang a few songs under some purple lighting, the "Purple Rain" track was played and everyone shined their phone flashlights and sang along. The whole stadium was beautifully lit up during this part. It was a really well-done tribute.
Beyonce's dancing is freaking insane. Like, we all hear her songs and know she can sing (she did a little acapella during the concert, and it was amazing), but she keeps up with her dancers, as well. Most singers do a few of the moves with their background performers and slack off a bunch when they're doing them (*cough* Justin Bieber *cough*), but I swear, Beyonce did nearly every move and then some with full energy, then more by herself when she was all alone singing on stage. She's just out there living her life and clearly loving what she does, which ultimately makes her a very successful artist.
I hope my sister enjoyed this concert. Because of it, she turned 16 in a parking lot (her birthday was the day after the concert) because there was so much traffic getting out! She's super cute, and I love her, and now she can drive, so watch out!
Sorry if you opened this article and were hoping for a song-by-song review of the entire concert. I'm not going to give away the all of the magic. If you really want to know, you should experience it yourself. Here is the link to buy tickets.
