Find anything you save across the site in your account

Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour: The Complete Breakdown of Her First Show

By Liz Tracy

Image may contain Costume Human Person Clothing Apparel Aunjanue Ellis Blonde Woman Female Teen Girl and Kid

Beyoncé ’s performances can sometimes feel a bit serious, with her structured, synchronized dancers and no-one-wakes-up-like-that style. But at the kick-off of her Formation World Tour last night at Marlins Park in Miami, it seems like she finally found what it is that makes her smile. She appeared to have embraced the entirety of her intense nature, found the joy it it, then brought it to the stage. She was exact without seeming meticulous (which she obviously is), not to mention vulnerable and a little giddy. Instead of bowing before her, the Beyhive shook, swayed, and squealed alongside their queen.

The release of her new album, Lemonade , and its visual accompaniment just days before this arena show left no one in the dark about why Solange attacked Jay Z in that elevator. It seemed Bey wrote and sang her way through her grief to forgiveness in her marriage. And, as trite as it sounds, maybe that trial overcome was why the gleam in her eye was brighter than ever.

There was really no better way to open up in the Magic City than with living meme DJ Khaled presenting a receiving line of surprise guest rappers, each for a few minutes in the spotlight of an almost empty stadium: Rick Ross , 2 Chainz , Yo Gotti , Lil Wayne , Trick Daddy, Kent Jones, and finally, Future . Beyoncé, on the other hand, does only Beyoncé. She isn't the type to mess with surprises in the live setting very often (album releases are another story). This is her show, and she's who you came to see. Here’s a complete breakdown of what went down last night.

The Setlist

She sang a seamless 37-song mix starting with “ Formation ,” moving through a well-paced serving of Lemonade songs and forgotten early gems, ending with a string of popular, danceable bangers and a touching final few moments.

"Formation" "Sorry" "Bow Down / Tom Ford" "Run the World (Girls)" "Mine" "Baby Boy" "Hold Up" "Countdown" "Me, Myself and I" "Runnin'" (Naughty Boy song Bey appears on) "All Night" "Don’t Hurt Yourself" "Ring the Alarm" "Diva" "Flawless (Remix)" "Feeling Myself" "Yoncé" "7/11" "Drunk in Love" "Rocket" "Daddy Lessons" "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" "Purple Rain" (Prince cover, obviously) "Crazy in Love/Bootylicious" "Naughty Girl" "Party" "Blow / Nasty Girl" "Sweet Dreams" (Eurythmics cover) "Sweet Dreams" (Bey's song) " Freedom " "Survivor" "End of Time/Grown Woman" "Halo"

The Performance

The lights shut off suddenly just minutes after the 8:30 p.m. start time and were replaced by a rotating rectangular cube screen that stood as high as the stadium. To the distinctive opening notes of “Formation,” the display showed a massive moving image of the singer with an orchid in her mouth that soon changed to artsy—but not screensaver-ish—nature scenes.

At first, it seemed like you could see her thighs gliding through the smoke as a tidy bevy of black-clad women in wide-brimmed hats sauntered out. Another mirror image gang suddenly appeared on the other side of the stage. It was there that the queen in all her glory was concealed amidst her subjects. “If you came to have a good time, say, ‘I slay!’” she instructed. The cheering crowd was a dark sea dotted with iPhone lights.

Next, a recording of Brenda Lee cooing “I’m Sorry” played as an explosion of blue and red light flooded the stage. “You all know this song. Try and help me sing,” Mrs. Carter announced before standing solo for her less apologetic “Sorry.” Her dancers came out, middle fingers blazing. Starting out boldly, this is the song that features the “better call Becky with the good hair” line currently ringing in everyone’s ears and rolling off their tongues. The intensity escalated and found expression in a concentrated group dance to “Flawless.” The feeling was heightened by bursts of fire reaching high into the clear night above the stage, as the Major Lazer sample at the heart of “Run the World (Girls)” pumped through the speakers. The mood swayed between personal and jovial, like when Sean Paul’s distinctive growl came through on “Baby Boy.” Things stayed cool and tropical with a clip of the Sister Nancy’s dancehall opus “Bam Bam” that transitioned into “Hold Up” while Beyoncé and her girls bounced their bottoms to the delight of the masses.

Cola Boyy, Pop Singer-Songwriter and Activist, Dies at 34

By Matthew Strauss

Beyoncé Reveals Cowboy Carter Artwork, Shares Statement on New Album

By Madison Bloom

The show continued smoothly with “7/11” and “Feeling Myself,” plus clips from O.T. Genasis’ “Cut It” and D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel).” “Drunk in Love” secured the rapture and participation of the crowd, with the lyrics after “surfboardt” being recited especially loudly. Bey had her Madonna BDSM “Human Nature” moment when she appeared in a wooden box wearing a red pleather bodysuit and sang her Fifty Shades of Gray version of “Crazy in Love” before a “Bootylicious”/“Naughty Girl” mashup that indicated the night was winding down. She even had an Annie Lennox moment, impressively covering the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”

The whole time, Beyoncé smiled through her sweat. She glowed as she said a long goodbye, complete with salutes, laughter, and a childlike jump in the air. Something happened to Beyoncé between the release of “Formation” and Lemonade that softened her hardest edges, sweetened her mood. She seemed to have struck the balance between being “perfect” and being perfectly herself.

A massive, moving video cube was the backdrop for the stage, and it helped greatly in transforming a baseball stadium into an arena of magic. Much of the video shown came from Lemonade, so the show stuck close to Bey’s powerful visual themes and various symbolism surrounding black womanhood, accompanied during interludes by Warsan Shire’s spoken-word poetry that was adapted for Lemonade . One video showed the singer with a muzzle of diamonds and a razor emerging from her mouth, which she used to slice a bloodless cross on her giant tongue. The crowd cringed as Bey removed her priceless silencing device to ask, “Why can’t you see you’re the love of my life?” Damn.

There were a few more lighthearted moments within the visuals as well, including fan videos asking Bey “to just put out a new CD!”, home movies with Jay and Blue Ivy at play, and clips from Bey’s childhood performances.

Image may contain Clothing Apparel Human Person Lighting Stage and Hat

Photo by Frank Micelotta/Parkwood Entertainment via Getty Images

The Costumes

Not one leg on that stage was covered, which was kind of amazing considering the style in which her dancers—nearly all black women—were dressed: They resembled gothic ice skaters in puffy, long-sleeved, and sequined bodysuits. Bey’s outfit changes—of which there were roughly six throughout the two-hour show—were varied but not all that more ostentatious than the looks her dancers sported: think bodysuits emblazoned with red and gold sequins in geometric shapes, a few more elegant looks.

The Stage Set-Up & Choreography

The brilliant set design had every single person in the stadium feeling like they were in the front row, by blowing up Beyoncé’s live image to the size of a building. Dancers were suspended and twirling from the ends of wires, with one writhing in a metal cube midair. Queen Bey had a Game of Thrones -style throne that rose from the guts of the stage. Plus, obviously, there were fireworks, pyrotechnics, and a buttload of confetti. The mostly synchronized choreography, however, was a little simpler. Elements of African dance and flapper moves were incorporated throughout.

The greatest design aspect was the catwalk, which snaked its way in an L-shape into the crowd on the field. Towards the end of the show, it turned out to have a conveyer belt on it, which moved the dancers smoothly into the audience before lowering into a pool of water, where the ladies danced to “Freedom.” The choreo’s tone was serious and powerful given the song’s strong Civil Rights message , but the way the dancers splashed as they marched and stomped was also playful—and just incredible to watch, visually.

Later, Beyoncé sat barefoot in this pool of water and dedicated the final song, “Halo,” to her family and her “beautiful husband.” She also thanked Prince for his “beautiful music,” and God for speaking through all of “his artists.”

The Fan Interaction

Beyoncé spent a bit of time alone on stage, making her way down the catwalk by herself as she reveled in the attention. She told a few stories. Earlier that day, Blue Ivy saw the stadium and asked her if she was going to work. This reminded Beyoncé of being a little girl and fantasizing about having a sold-out stadium tour. “I’m witnessing a dream come true tonight,” she said, truly touched. “I want to thank my Beyhive.” She basked in some low-key songs that showed off her chops, like “Me, Myself, and I,” saying, “Nobody is responsible for your happiness but you. And you always have yourself, so you are never alone.” As Bey is one to do live, she asked for a lot of “help” singing her songs, with some call-and-response on “All Night.”

For “Single Ladies,” Beyoncé brought up two crowd members. Of course these young women—one wearing an “unavailable” tee and the other sporting a white bodysuit and curly mohawk—knew all the choreography and performed with panache.

The Beyhive was dressed to impress but in an understated way suited for Miami’s spring weather. There were moms sporting Talbots, slender young boys in heels and mascara, tons of girls rocking bodysuits, and even more wearing shirts purchased at the relatively unimpressive merch table. It would have been better if the girl wearing her homemade “I was served lemons but made lemonade” jean jacket had been serving up her creation for sale. There were two exceptions to these surprisingly underwhelming merch offerings, however: a stylish tank with a line drawing of Bey flipping the bird (for a steep $45), and “Boycott Beyoncé” shirts, which referenced the proposed police boycott of the concert by the Miami Fraternal Order of Police. Despite the so-called anti-police message in Beyoncé’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, the boys in blue showed up for work and managed the packed stadium. The show was, in fact, not politically charged in the way her Super Bowl performance was.

There was a Prince tribute that involved the huge screen turning purple and “Purple Rain” playing over the speakers. It was more of an interlude than a proper tribute. During one of the two guitar solos, Beyoncé also shouted-out one of Prince’s earliest proteges, the woman-powered R&B trio Vanity 6, and rolled out a little of their biggest hit “Nasty Girl,” which she’s covered before .

Also, Bey’s former Destiny’s Child cohort Michelle Williams was in the house, though not on stage. This was Beyoncé’s solo victory lap, through and through.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Pitchfork. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO Announce 2024 Farewell Tour

By Nina Corcoran

Sufjan Stevens Musical Illinoise to Open on Broadway

By Jazz Monroe

Mo Troper Dropped by Label, Manager, and Publicist Following Abuse Allegations

formation world tour stage design

  • Deutschland
  • United States
  • Concert Stages
  • Custom Built Tour Stages
  • Festival Stages & Ground Supports
  • Spot & Delay Towers
  • Video Portals
  • Temporary Structures
  • Mobile Venues
  • Access Bridges & Staircases
  • Scaffolding structures
  • Platforms, Grandstands & Decking Structures
  • Custom Built Event Structures

E-mail: [email protected]     Tel.: +32 16 60 84 71

Beyoncé - The Formation Tour 2016

Widely referred to as the ‘Monolith’, the Es Devlin-designed enormous rotating video screen box that takes central place on Beyoncé’s recent Formation World Tour, relies heavily on customised equipment and R&D know-how from Stageco’s international offices. Measuring 22m high x 16m wide x 9m deep, the crucial elements at its core have been custom-manufactured and supplied by Stageco in partnership with Belgian motion control systems provider WIcreations. The Monolith is embedded in a 62m wide x 35m deep stage. Dirk De Decker, Stageco’s International Projects Director, and Mary-Lou Figley, Vice-President of Stageco US, began working together on the project the end of December 2015, leading the eventual first build of the structure April 1st at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, where production rehearsals, programming and adjustments to the stage also took place before moving to Marlins Park in Miami where the tour kicked off on April 27. Four steel systems leapfrog each other on the road, with each requiring 23 trucks and a dedicated crew. Meanwhile, three two-man teams travel with the Monolith structure between the four systems. The system provided by Stageco also include sliding grids on top of the video box and a circular track on which the structure travels 360° in around 4 minutes. “At 22 metres high, this incredible video box is similar in size to a small apartment building but it also needs to completely revolve, and within it, the video screen has to split into two halves at certain moments during the show, leaving a gap of around seven metres. It has been a fascinating process and another technical challenge we have been proud to be a part of” said De Decker. Throughout the tour, Stageco is also supplying towers for the main and side PA hangs, the rear lighting, spot and delay towers, and the front of house risers.

  • Chinese, Simplified

Beyoncé 'Formation' World Tour

Live Events

vimeo-cover_generic

Beyoncé’s Formation world tour dazzles fans with support from Disguise.

Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour played 49 dates in North America and Europe thrilling millions who turned out to see one of the world’s top performers in a stadium show of dazzling size and scale. The Formation tour was Beyoncé’s seventh concert tour; it supported her sixth studio album, Lemonade.

Behind the scenes some of the industry’s leading screens producers and programmers relied on 4x4pro media servers with VFC cards to bring Beyoncé’s creative vision to life. The tour’s creative direction continued to evolve as the show moved from Europe to North America and from city to city with Disguise easily adapting to the addition of new content.

The centerpiece of the stage design was a 60x60x30-foot rotating LED box designed by Es Devlin and dubbed the Monolith. Each rotation of the Monolith represented a new chapter of the show with the video screens displaying IMAG footage, interstitials from Beyoncé’s Lemonade film and realtime generative VFX.

formation world tour stage design

“The challenge for all of us was the sheer scale of the project,” says Nick Fletcher, director of San Francisco-based Lucid Creative LLC.  He served as the Disguise programmer, workflow consultant and Notch programmer when the tour moved to North America.  Earlier, Luke Halls of the UK’s Luke Halls Studio developed Notch realtime generative effects played back via Disguise; Smasher Desmet was the video director and he and Rich Porter led the Disguise programming team in Europe. 

Director of Lucid Creative LLC

“A very talented team did a lot of amazing work on the show in Europe and the US, from rehearsals to the last stop on the tour,” Fletcher says. “Even though the size and scale of the show were massive, Beyoncé’s charisma made everyone in the stadium experience the intimacy of being in the front row.”

Three 4x4pros with VFC cards, obtained from PRG Nocturne, were deployed on the tour. The entire show ran off one 4x4pro with a backup on hand; by the conclusion of the tour another system had been added to handle high bit-rate signal input.

formation world tour stage design

“Disguise has a proven track record on projects of this size and complexity,” adds Porter.  “A large number of outputs were run from a single Disguise using their VFC card technology.  This allowed the whole tour to be consolidated on a single server plus another for back up.”

The production was designed as a timeline show, notes Fletcher, and Disguise helped demonstrate that “a big show can be done easily on a timeline.”

The MultiEdit feature, with multiple operators performing network editing using their own timecode “was vital and unique to Disguise,” says Porter. “The file versioning system was used extensively due to the high turnover of content.”

“Everyone quickly saw how powerful the system was for programming,” reports Luke Halls.  “IMAG was a huge part of this show, and trying to cut different feeds for different sides of the Monolith was a complicated task.  We used Disguise to cut from the four HD-SDIs via timecode, taking some pressure off of the video director.”

Notch realtime generative effects made for especially interesting visuals on the Monolith from old-style film grain added by Fletcher to IMAG of Daddy Lessons to colorful, motion-affected particles created by Halls for Drunk in Love.  “Notch’s tight integration with Disguise enabled us to give the audience some different things to look at,” says Fletcher.

Fletcher gives “a shout out to the amazing support and responsiveness we received from Disguise on the tour.  We were always on the latest build of software.”

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour: Unpacking the Symbolism of Queen Bey’s Disco Cowboy Wonderland

By Charlotte Collins

Beyonc on metallic horse

What do giant robot arms, a news desk, and an enormous horse sculpture have in common? They’re all currently traversing Europe with Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour, which kicked off May 10 in Stockholm, Sweden. Following her album’s release last July, the Beyhive has been growing restless in the absence of any  Renaissance  visuals—which fans have come to expect from the songstress after her groundbreaking visual albums  Beyoncé,   Lemonade, and Black Is King cemented the Grammy winner as a trailblazer of world-building within her artistry. She even  poked fun at the brewing discontent during an interlude in the concert: “You’ve asked for the visuals, you’ve called for the queen,” a voiceover with accompanying text read out on the big screen. “But a queen moves at her own pace, b*tch, decides when she wants to give you a f*cking taste. So get your fork and spoon, if you got one.”

Barring the official debut of videos fans have only seen in snippets and teasers thus far, Beyoncé ’s production design for the Renaissance concerts treats stadia of attendees on the 40-city, 57-show extravaganza to some of the most thrilling—and playful—wonders of the artist’s touring career. Equal parts retro psychedelic and chrome-futuristic, concertgoers  AD  reached out to agree that Renaissance looks to offer the singer-songwriter’s biggest-budget touring set yet. Stufish Entertainment Architects and Es Devlin Studio are to thank for the tour’s stage design (along with presumably plenty of input from Beyoncé herself, who is credited as director, executive producer, and creative director.)

Beyonc performing in iridescent costume

Beyoncé wearing a metallic iridescent ensemble by Georgian designer David Koma on the first night of the Renaissance tour. She previously wore Koma’s designs to the 2020 Oscars. 

Rodrigo Fantini last saw Queen Bey at her On The Run II Tour in 2018. A Beyhive faithful, he attended the first two dates of the  Renaissance tour in Stockholm and will rejoin the party in a few months when she stops through SoCal. He described the production for the set as “crazy expensive.” Though AD could not confirm the production budget, Forbes claims that the Renaissance world tour could bring in as much as $2.1 billion. The publication estimates that ticket prices alone will net between $680 million and $2.4 billion (on the very high end), but merchandise sales are expected to inflate those figures further—Forbes projects those could earn the mogul approximately $171 million. By comparison, Beyoncé’s 2018 On the Run II Tour with husband Jay-Z grossed over $250 million, also per Forbes . Her last solo tour, 2016’s Formation, brought in over $256 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter .

“Of course she’s an amazing singer, I love her songs, but besides that I was really impressed by the visuals,” Fantini says. “I think this is the best done so far for her tours…. And I feel that they put a lot of effort into all the details that they have for each song, it feels like for each song there is something different going on.” Reportedly clocking in at roughly three hours’ run time, Renaissance has no opening act.

Seated in the near-stage Beyhive section on night one and in a further-flung seat on the second evening, Fantini felt the large-scale stage set translated well at both short and long distances. He described the aesthetic of the era—which more or less officially debuted in concert, without any music videos for fans to build off of—as “very futuristic.” Case in point, the singer dons multiple resplendent metallic looks throughout the concert and during her performance of the track “Cozy,” she dances to the beat in sharp staccato motions while flanked by two towering robot arms, roughly twice her size. Like the famed vogue face-framing flourish that became a hallmark of the ’80s ballroom dance culture she draws from in the album, the robot arms end in rectangular shapes that frame and move with the singer. “The choreography is based on the robot arms’ movements and that was really impressive because it has to be perfect timing,” Fantini says.

Beyoncs Renaissance tour set a large circle set spotlighting her in the center

There are 22 lighting crew members and one overarching lighting designer for the Renaissance tour, per Beyonce.com.

One of the most eye-catching features for Fantini was a point near the end of the show during which Beyoncé straddles a disco-ball-sparkly horse (which he said came across as roughly horse-size, as opposed to a much larger bucking half-horse figure that appears at another time in the concert) similar to the one she’s seen on in the  Renaissance album cover, lifting off from the main stage to the Club Renaissance section seating nearby.

Robin Joris Dullers detailed the same “magical” moment at her later Brussels concert in similar fashion, recalling the vocalist as “an angel floating midair.” The horse remained on stage for attendees to snap photos with post-performance. Dullers had last seen Beyoncé in 2016 and says that compared with his previous experience, this concert “had definitely scaled up.” One set feature he felt was almost too gargantuan was a large metallic vehicle atop which she performs her 2020 remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” before transitioning into “Partition,” a hit from her 2013 self-titled album. She raps and bounces to the beat while a pole jutting up from the car-like structure anchors her movements. 

2024 Solar Eclipse: The 13 Best Cities to See the Phenomenon

By Katherine McLaughlin

A 538-Square-Foot Loft in the Heart of Paris Offers a Lesson in Efficiency

By Cindy Tannoury

Inside a Bold New Orleans Home Full of Energy and Life

By Sam Cochran

Beyonc performing on stage surrounded by dancers all dressed in silver

Beyoncé credits 20 dancers for the Renaissance tour on her website, including popular ballroom artist Honey Balenciaga.

Dullers found that feature was a bit uncharacteristic for the singer and “not Beyoncé style.” Though other fans disagree: Royal Williams attended the concert’s second stop in Brussels and found herself impressed by the set element, which she described as “a silver, kind of tank-like” structure onstage. She felt it nodded to low-rider cars and the hydraulics-powered hops they’re known for. The choreography for that point in the show combined with the silver vehicle felt reminiscent of a ride on a mechanical bull, to Williams, which could be a gesture to both Beyoncé’s own and “Savage” rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s shared Houston heritage. The metallics and robots of the show give it a futuristic vibe, but Williams interpreted features like the vehicle in alignment with the pieces of cowboy culture the singer has woven throughout this era (including the cowboy hat she wears in one of the few images released with  Renaissance, as well as the obvious: the album cover, which shows her atop a horse).

Despite differing fan reception to any particular elements of the show, it does appear Beyoncé is taking a more playful approach with  Renaissance. Though she’s sometimes seen as a mysterious figure for the distance and privacy she maintains in spite of her fame, the Grammy winner references her fan-bequeathed status as Queen Bee(/Bey) directly with a Mugler bee costume, dancing around a news desk to her fast-paced “America Has A Problem”—fitting, as the track incorporates beats similar to those used on television news to signify breaking updates.

Williams recalls previous concerts as very curated with good production value but says that more props were definitely incorporated into the  Renaissance  tour shows, upping the ante and making it worth the cost of admission as well as the voyage from Medellín, Colombia, to Brussels. Like Fantini, she’ll be stepping back inside the world Beyoncé has built out again when the tour makes its way to California. Her overall assessment of the show, in terms of its stage set: “The budget is definitely there.”

Inside Katherine Heigl’s Cozy Life in Utah

By Nora Taylor

Every Square Inch Comes Alive in This 646-Square-Foot Apartment

By María Noval-Quílez

THE 97

97-Hour Review: On “eternal sunshine,” Ariana Grande proves herself

"yes, and?" single cover

Review: “yes, and?” by Ariana Grande

formation world tour stage design

From 2004 to 2023, Beyoncé’s Tour Grosses Rise 3,000%

formation world tour stage design

Mariah Carey and the Catalyst of “Caution”

formation world tour stage design

Taylor Gray talks new single “Crisis,” announces EP

  • Retrospectives
  • In 97 Words

The 7 Wonders of Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour

Jordan Listenbee

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is the epitome of Black girl magic. It’s been two weeks since her Chicago concerts and I still don’t have myself together.  As a matter of fact, I’m writing his review from the afterworld, because Bey put me in Formation, stole my soul and then took it with her to her next tour stop. RIP to me. Anyway, after some reflection, post-concert depression, and piecing my tattered and snatched edges back together, here’s what I noticed at the Formation World Tour . DISCLAIMER: This article WILL  contain spoilers, so if you plan on seeing the show, you’ve been warned. Without further adieu, here are the 7 Wonders of Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour:

1. Her intro is AMAZING.

The word lit is probably one of the most overused words 2016, and probably the best word to use for the concert’s introduction. After sitting through Rae Sremmurd’s opening performance, being beaten around by a severe thunderstorm at Solider Field, and waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the Queen to address her subjects, the lights went low, Big Freedia’s voice roared through the stadium, instructing Bey to “give these hoes exactly what they came to see”. Bey stepped out on the stage, acknowledged the in-climate weather, thanked us for sticking with her, and then tore through the show’s opening like her life depended on it. That intro alone is worth standing in the rain for.

2. Them outfits though.

In the past, Bey has gained quite the reputation for her fashion choices, specifically, the leotards which have become a staple during her live performances. While her choice in wardrobing has sometimes garnered criticism, Bey’s costuming for this tour was done by an array of high end designers, including Balmain, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, and more. From her opening outfit, topped off with an oversized hat, to the cape she wore during “Don’t Hurt Yourself”, each outfit not only took on life of its own, but was tailored to accentuate Beyoncé’s signature curves, while simultaneously giving her the room needed to work the stage with her endless choreography.

Photo credit: Fashion Sizzle

3. Flashing Lights.

This tour’s stage production is INSANE. Being someone who likes more intimate stage venues, I was throughly impressed with how the stage design allowed for an amazing experience for everyone present. The staging, which included a large box that splits apart into two, a long runway where a good amount of the dancing took place, and a pool that replaced the front of the stage towards the end of the show, were just a few aspects of the glamour.  The pool in particular was an almost religious experience on its own, especially when Beyoncé and her dancers waded in the water during “Freedom”. When the concert wasn’t being displayed on screen, the imagery displayed varied from clips from the Lemonade film, to images of Bey with a grill in her mouth (I liveeeee), clips of fan reactions to Lemonade , (please see Evelyn from the Internets’  video if you haven’t), and a few cameos of my niece  Blue Ivy.

4. Her setlist is impeccable. 

5. “love god herself.”.

Any Beyoncé fan knows that she is a vehement feminist. As early as her Destiny’s Child days, Beyoncé has always let it be known that she is the H.B.I.C., and will be respected as such. Nothing demonstrates this more than her performance of her 2003 hit, “Me, Myself, & I”, Bey reminds the audience that while the love that comes from a relationship with another person is important, the most important relationship one can have is with themselves. Bey’s constant admiration of the women in the audience throughout the show left me feeling extremely empowered, and wishing she was my bestie. Another important fact to mention, is that everyone that graced that stage, her backup dancers and her backing band the Sugar Mamas alike, were all women, including a killer solo by her guitarist. In an industry dominated by men, it was a wonderful sight to see an all female band rearrange Beyoncé’s classic hits into contemporary reworks.

6. Cocoa Goddess.

Woke: Beyoncè channels her inner Huey P. Newton during the Formation World Tour.

 7.   She is incredibly humble.

“My message though sometimes ratchet, is always about love.” – Beyoncé

' src=

Go Back in Time

  • Aretha Franklin
  • Ariana Grande
  • Britney Spears
  • Destiny's Child
  • For the Nostalgia
  • Gwen Stefani
  • Janelle Monae
  • Janet Jackson
  • Kelly Clarkson
  • Kelly Rowland
  • Lil' Kim
  • Mariah Carey
  • Mary J. Blige
  • Michelle Williams
  • Spice Girls
  • THE SUMMER 97
  • Toni Braxton
  • Whitney Houston

Latest Tweets

Stay connected.

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

an image, when javascript is unavailable

  • Manage Account

DSquared Designers on Crafting Beyonce’s First Formation Tour Look: ‘She Knows What She Wants’ (Exclusive)

The Beyhive may still be buzzing from Beyonce's visual album Lemonade dropping less than a week ago, but the Queen B herself is already on to the next thing—touring. Her 'Formation World Tour' kicked…

By Whitney Bauck

Whitney Bauck

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Flipboard
  • Share this article on Pinit
  • + additional share options added
  • Share this article on Reddit
  • Share this article on Linkedin
  • Share this article on Whatsapp
  • Share this article on Email
  • Print this article
  • Share this article on Comment
  • Share this article on Tumblr

Beyonce

The Beyhive may still be buzzing from Beyonce ’s visual album  Lemonade  dropping less than a week ago, but the Queen B herself is already on to the next thing: her world tour.

Beyonce’s Formation World Tour kicked off Wednesday at Marlins Park in Miami, where Beyonce debuted a host of custom designer looks onstage.

See latest videos, charts and news

Beyonce Pays Tribute to Prince, Dedicates ‘Halo’ to Jay Z as Formation Tour Kicks Off in Miami

Hit-Boy Reveals How 'Texas Hold 'Em' Became a No. 1 Hit

Billboard  chatted exclusively with Dean and Dan Caten, the designer duo behind DSquared, who created Beyonce’s first look of the night.

How do you feel about your designs being the first onstage for the Formation Tour?

We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Beyonce following work with her on previous tours and most recently the Super Bowl. We knew she was going to open with “Formation,” so the look had to be powerful and strong. Silhouette was everything!

Trending on Billboard

Its funny how sometimes things have a serendipitous way of working — this look was an extension of what we created for our Fall/Winter 2016 collection, which was shown in Milan back in September. What Beyonce wanted was fully in line with the theme we were working on. We were creatively on the same page.

What was the collaboration process like?

Beyonce knows what she wants and was hands-on throughout the process. Our FW16 collection was in sync with her mood, so it made for a perfect collaboration. The look was Victorian in inspiration, which was what our Women’s Fall/Winter collection focused on. In fact, we named the collection “Major Victoria” to play on the military and Victorian themes.

How is the lace mesh you used for these designs different from lace you would use in a ready-to-wear collection?

For Beyonce, we added some additional embellished elements, but the core of the design remained quite similar.

What are some of the main concerns you keep in mind when designing for a concert look?

Movement, movement, movement. Not only did we want Beyonce to look great, we wanted her to be free to do what she does best — wow us with her performance. Silhouette and shape are essential, and we added some crystals to the look for stage presence. 

How did you balance cohesion between Beyonce and her background dancers’ looks while still allowing Beyonce to be the star?

We wanted the looks to complement one another. We created scaled-down versions of Beyonce’s look for her dancers, keeping the silhouette complementary. Beyonce wears corsets and puff sleeves, and dancers wear simple bodices with collars. We did this keeping in mind the nature of the performance — it’s essentially Beyonce and her army. It’s quite visually striking.

All photos courtesy of DSquared2

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox

Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about?

Get in the know on.

Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Billboard Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

optional screen reader

Charts expand charts menu.

  • Billboard Hot 100™
  • Billboard 200™
  • Hits Of The World™
  • TikTok Billboard Top 50
  • Song Breaker
  • Year-End Charts
  • Decade-End Charts

Music Expand music menu

  • R&B/Hip-Hop

Culture Expand culture menu

Media expand media menu, business expand business menu.

  • Business News
  • Record Labels
  • View All Pro

Pro Tools Expand pro-tools menu

  • Songwriters & Producers
  • Artist Index
  • Royalty Calculator
  • Market Watch
  • Industry Events Calendar

Billboard Español Expand billboard-espanol menu

  • Cultura y Entretenimiento

Honda Music Expand honda-music menu

Quantcast

  • Search Search Please fill out this field.
  • Sweepstakes

All the Photos From Beyonce's 'Formation' Tour

Beyoncé kicks off the 'formation' world tour, beyoncé opens formation tour in miami.

Beyoncé kicked off her Formation world tour on Wednesday in Miami, where she performed old classics like "Crazy in Love" and new hits off Lemonade.

Beyoncé began the night by teasing her return with a video showing her walking up to the stage and the vastness of Miami's Marlins Park. Only hours later, did she bring the stadium to its feet with hits like "Baby Boy" and "Survivor."

Flanked by backup dancers, Beyoncé took the stage just four days after releasing her stunning visual album Lemonade .

Stills from Lemonade featuring Amandla Stenberg and Zendaya were projected behind Beyoncé while she performed tracks from the album.

During the show, Beyoncé paid tribute to the late Prince, who died April 21, by playing "Purple Rain." The crowd joined in for a sing-along and at the end of the concert, she thanked him "for your beautiful music."

Beyoncé ended the night with 2008's ballad "Halo." "I’d like to dedicate this song to my family,” she said before beginning her final song of the evening. "I’d like to dedicate it to my beautiful husband ." She added, "Blue, I love you so much."

Beyoncé's Formation tour will continue in North America through June, before heading to Europe. The whole run will wrap in August.

May 1, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia

May 1, 2016 in atlanta, georgia..

beyoncé renaissance world tour warsaw

Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour Set Is a Dazzling-Disco Afro-Futuristic, Queer Fantasy Brought Center Stage

Design mastermind Es Devlin has done it again.

Queen Bey’s Renaissance world tour kicked off May 10 in Stockholm, following her album’s release last July (the tour is currently on its final leg in the states, where it will run until the end of September). It’s the megastar’s first solo tour in seven years, and the performance—the singer-songwriter’s biggest-budget touring set yet, which Forbes predicts could bring in as much as $2.1 billion—took Devlin and her team almost two years to complete. It was worth the wait.

preview for Beyoncé’s Best Renaissance World Tour Looks

The arena is befitted with a massive, stadium-size green screen, with a giant circular stage portal in the center. The whole structure is further perforated by LED lights that transform the stage into a fully immersive kinetic light show. And that’s just the framework. Over the course of the show’s three-hour, six-act structure, the stage is transformed into a glitzy disco cowboy wonderland (you couldn’t count all the sequins in just one sitting), a hypnotic lipstick-red universe, and an intergalactic sphere of otherworldly forms and metallic hues.

beyoncé renaissance world tour opening night stockholm

“Beyoncé’s L.A. studio reminds me of Andy Warhol’s factory,” wrote Devlin in a since-deleted Instagram post, according to Huffington Post . All of which was “shot through with the silver-sequinned joy, liberty, and luminosity of LGBTQ+ ball culture.”

The props, too, are absurdly—ludicrously—fantastical. During her performance of the song “Cozy,” Beyoncé is accompanied by two massive dancing robot arms that tower over her, a nod to the face-framing ’80s dance move. That’s followed by a large chrome tank vehicle that the megastar sits atop, performing her 2020 remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” while anchored to a pole. At one point, campy set pieces like massive cyborg boobs and gigantic robot legs in spread-eagle position make an appearance.

The show then shifts pace as Beyoncé sits perched like Aphrodite in a life-size, rotating translucent seashell. And then there’s the unforgettable finale that nearly broke the internet: Beyoncé straddles a disco-ball-sparkly horse (reminiscent of the one seen in the cover art of her Renaissance album) that lifts off from the main stage to hover above the nearest seating area. All the while, she’s belting her Grammy-award-winning “Summer Renaissance” ballad. It’s the ultimate Afro-futuristic fantasy.

beyoncé renaissance world tour amsterdam

Beyond the show’s larger-than-life props, it’s the set, ultimately, that plays the biggest role in the production. The massive circular stage at the center of the stadium operates at a scale so large that concert attendees in the nosebleed seats are also having an immersive experience. But of course, that’s exactly what you might expect from Devlin.

You’ve undoubtedly seen a Devlin design, even if you didn’t recognize it. The British designer who got her start in theater design in the mid-1990s has worked on an estimated 380 projects, masterminding the stage for Adele, Lady Gaga, and the Weeknd, as well as sets for the Royal Opera House in London, displays at the Super Bowl, and installations for Cartier and Saint Laurent.

beyoncé renaissance world tour opening night stockholm

Devlin wrote on Instagram that, working alongside Parkwood Entertainment , an entertainment and management company founded by Beyoncé herself, they spent more than a year and a half “constantly sketching the evolving ideas for the Renaissance tour.” Then, meeting with Beyoncé, she recalls how their creative vision further evolved. “As Beyoncé read her poetic lockdown film scripts to us, the show’s three-hour, six-act structure began to emerge,” she wrote.

beyoncé renaissance world tour london

As with much of Devlin’s work, her vision lies in translating Beyoncé’s words and music into visuals that transcend the dancehall energy of the starlet’s iconic ballads through a range of references. Whether it’s the reclamation of rodeo culture for Black Americans through metallic cowboy garb or a critique of surveillance capitalism via robotic props—or the hardly subtle, gloriously bedazzling optics that are bursting with queer joy—it’s clear that Beyoncé sees her art as a way to do more than make catchy music. And when it comes to translating that to a broad audience, Devlin certainly knows how to bring that center stage.

Headshot of Rachel Silva

Rachel Silva, the Assistant Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, covers design, architecture, trends, and anything to do with haute couture. She has previously written for Time, The Wall Street Journal, and Citywire.

Life + Culture

a table with chairs and plants on it

The Most Beautiful Walled Cities in Spain

most beautiful hotels in paris

The 35 Best Hotels in Paris

antarctica

Are These Bucket List Trips Worth The Hype?

chrysler building against blue sky

Here Are the Most Stunning Art Deco Buildings

a woman posing in a dress

Meet the Art Market Whisperer

iris apfel

The Late Iris Apfel Started Out as a Decorator

hand cleaning off child's drawing

How to Clean Walls: A Step-by-Step Guide

a bride and groom posing with a cake

Creating the Strange, Lonely World of ‘Priscilla’

peter marino mirrored portrait by michelangelo pistoletto

Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Try Peter Marino’s Art

ilis restaurant brooklyn

This New York Restaurant Is a Song of Ice and Fire

a brick building with stairs leading up to it

Saving America’s Black Churches

Beyoncé's Set Designer Breaks Down Epic Renaissance Tour Staging

Cydney Yeates

Contributor

Beyoncé performing in London on Monday night

Just when we all thought Beyoncé ’s Renaissance World Tour couldn’t get any more mind-blowing, her set designer has shared just how the impressive production came together.

The spectacular set of shows, which kicked off in Sweden earlier this month , are already sending social media into a frenzy, with the Break My Soul hitmaker delighting fans by inviting her daughter Blue out on stage in recent days .

But now an eye-opening Instagram post from Beyoncé’s set designer Es Delvin has given the worldwide tour a whole new meaning.

The artist shared enlightening insight into the creation of the Renaissance tour set design, revealing that a creative team spent almost two years transforming Beyoncé’s poetry into art.

And if you haven’t seen pictures already, the stage itself is pretty inspiring, boasting a giant screen containing a large “portal” right in the centre.

View this post on Instagram

Taking to the social media app, Es shared sketches coming to life, showing how ideas on paper came to life.

Captioning the post, she wrote: “ Beyoncé’s LA studio reminds me of Andy Warhol’s Factory: her endlessly curious creative team, Parkwood, are there all year round, helping Beyoncé to translate her poetry and scripts into films and artworks.

“We had meetings at the studio and on zoom between September 2021 and March 2023 – constantly sketching the evolving ideas for the Renaissance Tour."

“As Beyoncé read her poetic lockdown film scripts to us, the show’s three-hour, six-act structure began to emerge,” she continued.

Es explained that Beyoncé’s range of references are broad and include “redlining” – which is the denial of loans and mortgages in Black residential areas – reclamation of rodeo culture for Black Americans and the echo chambers of surveillance capitalism.

She revealed that those three themes were “all shot through with the silver-sequinned joy, liberty and luminosity of LGBTQ+ Ball culture”.

Another example of the Renaissance tour's epic staging

Concluding the post, Es added: “Working closely with the architects from Stufish, we envisaged a stadium sized ‘film with a hole’.

“Ed Burke and Andrew Makadsi from Beyoncé’s Parkwood team curated the vast perforated LED sculpture into a euphoric three-hour kinetic painting made of light, Fatima Robinson directed the choreography, James Merryman the cameras, and Tobias Rylander the light .”

Es’s work on the Renaissance tour has been branded “out of this planet” and “genius” by mind-blown fans.

“As an architect I’m in awe of the design’s fruition and the hard work that must’ve gone on behind the scenes,” another said. “I love how it seamlessly blends into the crowd and not isolate the performer from the audience. Easily one of the best stage designs of all time! ’

This isn’t the first time Es has worked with Beyoncé either, having previously designed the set for the record-breaking Grammy winner’s Formation stadium tour back in 2016.

Es has helped a plethora of huge names bring their stage shows to life, including the likes of Adele , The Weeknd and Lady Gaga .

Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is currently on its five-date London leg, with the whole of June dedicated to European dates.

The tour will run until September, with New Orleans marking the closing concert.

From Our Partner

More in entertainment.

formation world tour stage design

People, Yellow, Fun, Sleeve, Social group, Photograph, White, Thigh, Abdomen, Beauty,

Beyoncé's Tour Wardrobe Includes Custom Gucci, Balmain and Dsquared2

See the designers' sketches and final looks for the 'Formation' World Tour.

Last night, less than a week since debuting Lemonade , Beyoncé kicked off the Formation World Tour in Miami. Following her fashion-filled visual album, Queen Bey hit the stage in a lineup of tour costumes that did not disappoint. From Victorian-inspired custom DSquared2 looks to crystal-encrusted Roberto Cavalli and a Balmain army all of her own, see all the best looks Beyoncé wore to get in Formation last night.

Hat, Style, Costume accessory, Fashion illustration, Costume design, Fashion model, Fashion design, Costume, Illustration, Drawing,

To open the show, Beyonce wore a Victorian-inspired custom DSsquared2 look comprised of a tattoo lace bodysuit styled under a black crystal embroidered bustier with velvet, puff shouldered sleeves, a wide brim hat and lace embellished leather gloves.

Standing, Joint, Waist, Neck, Fashion illustration, Costume design, Fashion design, Illustration, Drawing, Painting,

Her dancers wore Victorian style black lace bodysuits with leather and lace gloves, wide brimmed hats and a ruffled capelet with a bow at the neck.

Beyonce in DSquared2

Roberto cavalli.

Joint, Human leg, Knee, Fashion, Costume accessory, Thigh, Costume design, Fur, Waist, Fashion design,

The singer performed "Single Ladies" in a Roberto Cavalli black crystal body suit with military braiding, sleeves with snake motif embroidery and velvet tiger printed cuissard boots.

Social group, Performing arts, Entertainment, Thigh, Dancer, Performance, Dance, Performance art, Choreography, Costume design,

With a Balmain army all of her own, Beyonce and her backup dancers wore custom-made looks of French lace bodysuits with silk ruffles and gold belts for her dancers.

Human leg, Waist, Animation, Long hair, Fashion illustration, Costume design, Fictional character, Abdomen, Blond, Chest,

In ared and ivory geometric sequined bodysuit worn with a red "Gucci Ghost" mink fur coat, designed by Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele.

Beyonce in Gucci

Event, Entertainment, Performing arts, Dancer, Thigh, Artist, Performance, Abdomen, Trunk, Choreography,

Fashion Designers

a person standing behind a table with a large snake on it

12 Emerging Fashion Designers to Know Now

dahm house makes dreamy clothes for bookworms and romantics

Dreamy Clothes for Bookworms and Romantics

nicolas ghesquieres vision of scifi luxury at louis vuitton turns ten

10 Years of Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton

demna

Demna’s New Dawn

a group of asian american and asian designers, influencers, and other fashion people

How Fashion Insiders Celebrated Lunar New Year

zankov fall 2024

Why Designer Henry Zankov Is One to Watch

donna karan, bts campaign

The Donna Karan Label is Back

willy chavarria in a white suit

Designer Willy Chavarria is Doing It His Way

veronica beard new bag collection

Introducing Veronica Beard’s New Bag Collection

us entertainment film television golden globes press room

Emma Stone's Best Red Carpet Looks of All Time

adrian appiolaza

Moschino Has a New Creative Director

  • Of The Essence
  • Celebrity News
  • If Not For My Girls
  • The State Of R&B
  • Time Of Essence
  • SSENSE X ESSENCE
  • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
  • 2023 Fashion House
  • Fashion News
  • Accessories
  • 2024 Best In Beauty Awards
  • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Relationships
  • Bridal Bliss
  • Lifestyle News
  • Health & Wellness
  • ESSENCE Eats
  • Food & Drink
  • Money & Career
  • Latest News
  • Black Futures
  • Paint The Polls Black
  • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • 2024 Black Women In Hollywood
  • 2024 ESSENCE Hollywood House
  • 2024 ESSENCE Film Festival
  • 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
  • 2023 Wellness House
  • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
  • Girls United

Beyoncé Closes Out 'Formation' Tour in Stunning Lemonade-Inspired Wardrobe

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé wears a DSquared2 SS17 heraldic embroidered jacket underneath a flowing mustard jacket.

formation world tour stage design

Bey and her dancers are in formation in Cavalli.

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé and her dancers custom Balmain looks get a mustard makeover – earlier this year they rocked the same look in white.

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé rocks an Ivy Park slip dress for the final stop of “The Formation World Tour.”

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé rocks a Fall 2016 Roberto Cavalli suit while joined on stage by Serena Williams.

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé gets in formation in Roberto Cavalli.

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé rocks out in Balmain with special guest Kendrick Lamar on the final stop of “The Formation World Tour.”

formation world tour stage design

Beyoncé Closes Out 'Formation' Tour in Stunning Lemonade -Inspired Wardrobe

Taylor Swift's Eras: How the most successful concert tour ever got started in Arizona

formation world tour stage design

Taylor Swift launched The Eras Tour era with a sold-out two-night stand at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday and Saturday, March 17-18, 2023, the opening salvo of a record-breaking tour that has dominated headlines and, in many ways, the conversation ever since.

The Eras Tour is a phenomenon as big as Swift herself, if such a thing is possible — the highest-grossing tour of all time and the first tour in history to generate more than $1 billion in revenue.

The concert film — "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" — released in theaters worldwide on Oct. 13, 2023, quickly became the highest-grossing concert film in history , a record previously held by Justin Bieber.  

Following The Eras Tour launch, Swift immediately shot to No. 1 on Pollstar's Artist Power Index chart , ending 2023 as Time magazine’s perfectly obvious choice for Person of the Year .

"Swift’s accomplishments as an artist — culturally, critically and commercially — are so legion that to recount them seems almost beside the point," Time wrote.

Then, after running down a laundry list of those accomplishments while placing her alongside Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Madonna as a pop star, Time explained why this year more than any other year.

"As a celebrity — who by dint of being a woman is scrutinized for everything from whom she dates to what she wears — she has long commanded constant attention and knows how to use it," Time wrote.

"But this year, something shifted. To discuss her movements felt like discussing politics or the weather — a language spoken so widely it needed no context. She became the main character of the world."

By that point, USA TODAY had hired its own Taylor Swift reporter and Swift had grabbed another first — first billionaire in history with music as the main source of income .

How the Year of Taylor Swift began in Glendale, Arizona

And to think: The Year of Taylor all began in Glendale, which renamed itself Swift City for the weekend in her honor.

A symbolic rebrand, the Swift City storyline played out on digital billboards along freeways and in Glendale's Westgate Entertainment District, where State Farm Stadium is located, welcoming fans to Swift City.

For what it's worth, we would've gone with Glendale (Taylor's Version) .

Swift had launched the Reputation Tour in that same stadium five years earlier.

She really likes us!

The Eras Tour is 'a journey through all of my musical eras'

In announcing the tour, Swift had promised “a journey through all of my musical eras,” which by any reasonable metric, is a lot of ground to cover — 10 hit albums, four of which have been released since the conclusion of the Reputation Tour in late 2018.

And she made it look easy, enjoying the journey as much as the Swifties who flocked to the show did while revisiting her catalog one era at a time in a marathon set that ran more than three hours, squeezing in 44 songs before the night was through.

Her earliest eras weren’t as prominently featured in the journey as her recent albums. There was only one song, “Tim McGraw,” from her first album, “Taylor Swift,” and one, “Enchanted,” from her third release, “Speak Now.”

The early albums she’d already rerecorded in “Taylor’s Version” editions by the time the tour launched were given more time in the spotlight. There were three songs from her second album “Fearless” and four from her fourth album, “Red.”

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour: 5 magic moments at State Farm Stadium that Arizonans saw first

The Eras Tour favored the eras since the Reputation Tour

It made sense that Swift would give more stage time to the albums she hadn’t had a chance to tour since being forced to pull the plug on Lover Fest, the tour she had planned in support of 2019’s “Lover,” in response to the pandemic that took everybody off the road in 2020.

Not quite an hour into her performance on Night 1 in Glendale, Swift asked fans, “Is it just me or do we have a lot of things to catch up on?”

Noting that “it’s been a really long time since I’ve been on tour,” she said they’d “added four new members to the family” since that last tour, introducing them by name as “Lover,” “Folklore,” Evermore” and “Midnights,” her latest release, which brought the concert to an end with a seven-song sampler.

It was a breathtaking journey through 17 years’ worth of musical eras with the artist connecting with at every step along the way.

When Taylor dove into a stream and sang 'All Too Well'

The stage show was designed to reach the back rows of the stadium with a breathtaking blend of artful set design — that “Folklore” cabin was cottagecore gold — and film projected on the massive screen behind the stage.

It was a concert packed with highlights, the most theatrical of which came at the end of an understated “Tim McGraw,” which Swift performed alone on a satellite stage, accompanying herself on an upright piano. At the song’s conclusion, she stood up and appeared to dive into a stream to swim beneath the runaway to the main stage.

As entertaining as that was, the full 10-minute version of “All Too Well” from “Red (Taylor’s Version),” the longest song to top the Billboard Hot 100, emerged as the concert’s emotional centerpiece, a heartbreaking triumph that ended in a haunting shower of paper snowflakes.

That opening-night performance also introduced the concept of “ surprise songs ,” two unannounced acoustic songs she planned to slip into the set each night just to keep fans guessing in the Era of the Online Setlist, where a quick Google search can reveal all.

The Era Tour is scheduled to conclude on Dec. 8, 2024, in Vancouver, Canada.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Night 1 set list in Glendale, Arizona

“Lover” album:

  • “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.”
  • “Cruel Summer.”
  • “You Need To Calm Down.”
  • “The Archer.”

“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” album:

  • “Fearless.”
  • “You Belong With Me.”
  • “Love Story.”

“Evermore” album:

  • “’Tis The Damn Season.”
  • “Marjorie.”
  • “Champagne Problems.”
  • “Tolerate It.”

“Reputation” album:

  • “… Ready For It?”
  • “Delicate.”
  • “Don’t Blame Me.”
  • “Look What You Made Me Do.”

“Speak Now” album:

  • “Enchanted.”

“Red (Taylor’s Version)” album:

  • “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
  • “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
  • “All Too Well (10 Minute Version).”

“Folklore” album:

  • “Invisible String.”
  • “The Last Great American Dynasty.”
  • “Illicit Affairs.”
  • “My Tears Ricochet.”
  • “Cardigan.”

“1989” album:

  • “Blank Space.”
  • “Shake It Off.”
  • “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version).”
  • “Bad Blood.”

Surprise songs:

  • “Mirrorball.”
  • “Tim McGraw.”

“Midnights” album:

  • “Lavender Haze.”
  • “Anti-Hero.”
  • “Midnight Rain.”
  • “Vigilante (expletive).”
  • “Bejeweled.”
  • "Mastermind."

Reach the reporter at  [email protected]  or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter  @EdMasley .

Support local journalism.   Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

COMMENTS

  1. Building Beyoncé's Formation Tour

    By Marian Sandberg May 18, 2016 5:32am. Photo courtesy of Es Devlin. Following the premiere of her sixth solo studio album, Lemonade, Beyoncé is on the road with The Formation World Tour featuring a production design by Es Devlin, engineered and built by StageCo and Tait Towers. " The Formation World Tour is not the typical stadium show ...

  2. The Formation World Tour

    The Formation World Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support of her sixth studio album, Lemonade (2016). The all-stadium tour was announced following her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show.This was her first solo all stadium tour. The tour started on April 27, 2016 at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida and concluded on October 7, 2016 at ...

  3. Beyoncé's Formation World Tour: The Complete Breakdown ...

    The Stage Set-Up & Choreography. The brilliant set design had every single person in the stadium feeling like they were in the front row, by blowing up Beyoncé's live image to the size of a ...

  4. First Look At Beyoncé's Formation World Tour

    Get a first look at Beyoncé's much anticipated Formation World Tour, featuring production design by Es Devlin and lighting design by Tim Routledge. | Get a first look at Beyoncé's much anticipated Formation World Tour, featuring production design by Es Devlin and lighting design by Tim Routledge.

  5. The Art of Beyonce's Formation Tour

    Stage design is finally elevated to a moment of art. Beyonce performs during the opening night of the Formation World Tour at Marlins Park on April 27, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Courtesy of Frank ...

  6. Beyoncé and Kanye's Stage Designer Is Making Major Waves in the Art World

    A vanguard of stage design since the mid-'90s, Devlin, who was featured in the popular Netflix series Abstract: The Art of Design, ... For Beyoncé's Formation World Tour, she introduced the ...

  7. Beyoncé

    Widely referred to as the 'Monolith', the Es Devlin-designed enormous rotating video screen box that takes central place on Beyoncé's recent Formation World Tour, relies heavily on customised equipment and R&D know-how from Stageco's international offices. Measuring 22m high x 16m wide x 9m deep, the crucial elements at its core have ...

  8. Beyoncé 'Formation' World Tour 2016

    Beyoncé's Formation world tour dazzles fans with support from disguise 4x4pro media servers to bring the artist's creative vision to life on stage. ... The centerpiece of the stage design was a 60x60x30-foot rotating LED box designed by Es Devlin and dubbed the Monolith. Each rotation of the Monolith represented a new chapter of the show with ...

  9. The Formation World Tour

    The Formation World Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support of her sixth studio album, Lemonade . The all-stadium tour was announced following her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. This was her first solo all stadium tour. The tour started on April 27, 2016 at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida and concluded on October 7, 2016 at ...

  10. Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour: Unpacking the Symbolism of Queen Bey's

    Stufish Entertainment Architects and Es Devlin Studio are to thank for the tour's stage design ... Forbes claims that the Renaissance world tour could bring in as much as $2.1 billion. The ...

  11. The 7 Wonders of Beyoncé's Formation World Tour

    Without further adieu, here are the 7 Wonders of Beyoncé's Formation World Tour: 1. Her intro is AMAZING. ... Being someone who likes more intimate stage venues, I was throughly impressed with how the stage design allowed for an amazing experience for everyone present. The staging, which included a large box that splits apart into two, a ...

  12. Beyonce Formation Tour Designers DSquared on Crafting Her First Look

    Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Marlins Park on April 27, 2016, in Miami, Fla. Frank Micelotta/Parkwood Entertainment. The Beyhive may still be buzzing from Beyonce 's visual ...

  13. Es Devlin On Production Design For Beyoncé's Formation Tour

    Installations. Theatre. Gear. News. Resources. Events. Subscribe. Es Devlin discusses her production design for Beyoncé's Formation World Tour, bringing I-mag to center stage.

  14. Renaissance vs Formation Tour Stage Size Comparison and Speculation

    As you can see, the Formation World Tour uses a much larger main stage compared to the Renaissance world tour. This is most likely due to the fact that the Formation World Tour used a giant rotating monolith. We know that the Formation Tour's main stage has a width of 62 meters (206 feet). If the TCF layout is accurate, which I believe it is ...

  15. Lighting Gets Tricky On Beyoncé's Formation Tour, Part Two

    Lighting designer Tim Routledge is working with Beyoncé for the first time and has created the lighting design for her The Formation World Tour . As this tour is bigger than Beyoncé's last solo tour and is stadium-sized, Routledge had the enormous task of lighting the superstar and her dancers around a central monolith structure that both ...

  16. All the Photos From Beyonce's 'Formation' Tour

    Beyoncé kicked off her Formation world tour on Wednesday in Miami, ... Beyoncé took the stage just four days after releasing her stunning visual album Lemonade. 05 of 21.

  17. Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour Set Is a Dazzling Disco Spectacle

    It's the ultimate Afro-futuristic fantasy. Beyoncé performs onstage during the Renaissance World Tour at Johan Cruijff Arena on June 18, 2023, in Amsterdam. Beyond the show's larger-than-life props, it's the set, ultimately, that plays the biggest role in the production. The massive circular stage at the center of the stadium operates at ...

  18. Beyoncé's Set Designer Breaks Down Epic Renaissance Tour Staging

    30/05/2023 11:00am BST. Beyoncé performing in London on Monday night. Kevin Mazur via Getty Images. Just when we all thought Beyoncé 's Renaissance World Tour couldn't get any more mind ...

  19. BEYONCE FORMATION TOUR

    In this episode of the STAGE SERIES I build the ultimate!! Beyonce's Formation stage from her formation world tour! with over 2000 strobe lights and topped w...

  20. Beyoncé's Tour Wardrobe Includes Custom Gucci, Balmain and Dsquared2

    Last night, less than a week since debuting Lemonade, Beyoncé kicked off the Formation World Tour in Miami. Following her fashion-filled visual album, Queen Bey hit the stage in a lineup of tour ...

  21. Stageco Helps Build Beyoncé's Formation Tour

    Stage designer Es Devlin has ensured that all eyes remain on the Beyoncé's performance for the Formation World Tour by creating an enormous, rotating video screen box that relies heavily on customized equipment and R&D from Stageco. | Stage designer Es Devlin has ensured that all eyes remain on the Beyoncé's performance for the Formation World Tour by creating an enormous, rotating video ...

  22. Beyoncé Closes Out 'Formation' Tour in Stunning Lemonade ...

    Besides her slaying on vocals and choreography, Beyoncé's "Formation World Tour" has kept us looking with the immaculate fashion. From the DSquared2's Victorian-inspired bodysuit she wore ...

  23. Eras Tour Year 1: Taylor Swift smashed records, reinvented concerts

    Taylor Swift launched The Eras Tour era with a sold-out two-night stand at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday and Saturday, March 17-18, 2023, the opening salvo of a record ...

  24. First Look: Beyoncé Tour Kicks Off In High Fashion (With Robots)

    The stage design appears to feature a metallic sheen, complementing props including robot arms and legs, and a silver horse she flies on. Her costumes, created by fashion houses including Alexander McQueen, Courrèges, and David Korma, ... RELATED: Beyoncé's Formation World Tour.