Beyoncé’s Renaissance – live: Inside the London premiere of her record-breaking world tour
US star premiered the concert film about her record-breaking 2023 tour
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Beyoncé unveiled the concert film for her record-breaking Renaissance tour in London tonight (Thursday 30 November), with Taylor Swift among the high-profile guests.
The Lemonade artist turned up to support Swift’s own concert film for her Eras tour when it premiered in Hollywood in October. Swift later paid moving tribute to Beyoncé, praising her as a “guiding light” who had taught her to “break rules and defy industry norms”.
Renaissance, A Film by Beyoncé will chart the huge undertaking of the US artist’s tour supporting her Grammy-winning 2022 album, Renaissance. Produced, written and directed by the singer, it will intersperse footage of concerts taking place around the world with backstage scenes and intimate moments between Beyoncé and her family.
Around 2.7 million concertgoers are estimated to have attended the Renaissance tour over the course of five months, while Billboard reports that the shows have grossed close to half a billion dollars worldwide.
The film’s description reads: “It is about Beyoncé’s intention, hard work, involvement in every aspect of the production, her creative mind and purpose to create her legacy, and master her craft.”
Beyoncé and Blue Ivy tear up the ‘red’ carpet
Blue Ivy made an appearance beside her mum at the London red carpet.
Wearing black shades and a matching black floor-length gown, the 11-year-old posed with Beyoncé for photos.
These sellers built businesses on the back of Beyoncé’s world tour. Now what?
When Abby Misbin received an Etsy order for one of her handmade cowboy hats from someone claiming to be Beyoncé’s stylist, she thought it was a prank. Setting her reservations aside, in June 2022, Misbin sent off a one-of-a-kind Stetson adorned with more than 5,000 mirror discs, in the hopes that the order was genuine. Then there was silence.
Eight months later, Beyoncé announced her Renaissance World Tour on Instagram. In the official poster, the “Break My Soul” superstar is seen mounted on Reneigh, her disco horse, wearing a glorious diamanté leotard, cascading blingy jewellery and… Misbin’s hat. Three hours later – after Misbin asked a mob of her friends to tag her business account, TrendingByAbby, in the comments – she was inundated with orders.
Read more:
Cowboy hats, handmade fans, disco ball earrings... dozens of small business owners made a killing this year when they fell into the niche of making unofficial merchandise for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour. Ellie Muir finds out what happens when the music stops
What happened when the Renaissance tour came to the UK?
Note from The Independent’s unofficial Beyoncé correspondent Nicole Vassell:
Even though I was lucky enough to watch Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour twice this summer, I definitely will be in the cinema tomorrow to experience it all over again...
If you missed it, and simply can’t wait to see the footage of the concert in the film, here’s my review from her first UK date in Cardiff – a fabulous four stars!
Beyoncé brings the party of ‘Renaissance’ to life in extraordinary and unexpected fashion with deep cuts galore
Renaissance – the album review
Back when the album Renaissance was released in July 2022, fans were thrilled with Beyoncé’s embracing of more of a club, house-infused sound.
In his four-star review, Mark Beaumont noted how politics gives way to post-pandemic pleasure in the record, with the singer embracing joy, sexiness and the euphoria of movement.
He wrote: “It’s more dancefloor-friendly than Lemonade but still ensconced in its experimental cocoon. It represents the light at the end of a dark emotional tunnel for Bey.”
Here’s the album review in full:
In a catch-all spirit of musical modernism, trap, house, glitchtronica, disco, ragga, South African gqom and future funk are all lobbed into a heady mix, with songs blending into each other and shifting course mid-flow
The Queen Bey has finally graced the London premiere with her presence, wearing a sparkly black dress and white hair.
Beyonce’s mum says her daughter is ‘really mean’ during stressful performance moments
Tina Knowles is spilling the beans on how her daughter, Beyoncé, acts when she’s under a time crunch to change outfits.
On Tuesday 31 October, Knowles appeared on Sherri’s Halloween Renaissance, where she admitted that her daughter is “really mean” in the middle of her outfit changes during her Renaissance World Tour. She went on to joke about Queen Bey’s attitude.
Read more:
During singer’s Renaissance World Tour she had four stylists
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