Your Own Little Universe

Beyoncé @ Roseland Ballroom 8/16/2011

I Wanna Be Where You Are – No No No (Parts 1 and 2) – Bugaboo – Bills Bills Bills – Say My Name – Independent Women – Bootylicious – Survivor – 03 Bonnie and Clyde / Crazy in Love / Irreplaceable / Single Ladies / 1+1 / I Care / I Miss You / The Best Thing I Never Had / Party / Rather Die Young / Love on Top / Countdown / End of Time / Run the World (Girls) / I Was Here

Beyoncé “End of Time”

We were close enough to see the nuances in Beyoncé’s facial expressions. This is actually pretty crucial, as she makes a lot of amazing faces when she performs. (Maybe you’ve seen some GIFs?) It was especially great when you could see how awed and bemused she was by the response to a lot of the newer songs, which clearly mean a lot to her. Before she launched into “Countdown” – easily the most crowd-pleasing number in a set that also included “Single Ladies” and “Crazy in Love” – the audience sang the entire countdown part, entirely unprompted. People basically lost their minds when they actually played the song. I was beyond thrilled, as it is without question my favorite song from 2011 so far.

The first half of the set was a revue-style medley in which she told the story of her career with a sometimes unintentionally hilarious degree of false modesty. It’s sort of strange that she would feel compelled to recap her narrative and sell us on her achievements. Isn’t it a bit redundant? It was a given that everyone in the room idolized her. Granted, this concert was filmed for an eventual DVD (or whatever), but I can’t imagine there is an audience out there – even those not inclined to enjoy her music – that really needs to be sold on the talent of Beyoncé Knowles. Relax, Bey! Just pummel us with your greatness. It’s more than enough.

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