At one point during Beyoncé’s 36-song, western-themed Cowboy Carter tour opener, the words “Never ask permission for something that already belongs to you” were illuminated in red across the massive screen. In many ways, the unapologetic mantra defined Beyoncé’s approach to what some have dismissed as her “country foray. But instead of reclaiming anything, she celebrated the Black origins of country culture and its evolution.
Beyoncé’s three-hour performance at SoFi Stadium on Monday night was a beast to digest. It also reminded her audience exactly how she’s paved a lane of her own, packing the set with the country-tinged songs off Cowboy Carter while calling back to its ballroom-inspired predecessor, Renaissance, multiple times.
“I want to thank all of those who came before me,” said Beyoncé, dressed in a gorgeous white leather ensemble by Mugler and a matching cowboy hat, as images of Linda Martell and other Black country pioneers flashed onscreen. “I want to thank my fans for letting me make this album. Thank you for giving me the creative liberty to challenge myself.”
The Cowboy Carter show is far more than a country spectacle, however. That was clear from the start as she shook off her cowboy hat during “Ya Ya” to deliver quintessential Beyoncé-isms: the hair flips and classic dance moves. Yes, the banjos rang loudly during “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the fiddle carried renditions of “II Most Wanted” and “Blackbiird,” and she and her dancers rocked chaps, cowboy hats, and giant belt buckles throughout. But, ultimately, Beyoncé delivered a Beyoncé-caliber stadium show devoid of genre limitations, and anchored by the stunning choreography of her more than 24 backup dancers.
Woven throughout the performance were impressive visuals and interludes that placed Beyoncé in a Wild West backdrop, portraying her as an “outsider” in a place she was never meant to belong. By the concert’s end, she shattered that narrative — defeating an older, white cowboy in a stylized gun duel, bullets ricocheting off her body. The scene seemed to echo her exclusion from the Country Music Association Awards and, more broadly, Nashville’s white-dominated industry, which has long black-balled the singer. But during the performance Beyoncé made it clear she doesn’t need anyone’s approval — she’s bigger than that.
Beyoncé layered Cowboy Carter‘s patriotic visual themes with more symbolic depth. She opened the show with “American Requiem,” then shifted from a soft rendition of “Blackbiird” to a jarring take on the national anthem, set to Jimi Hendrix’s haunting guitar performance from Woodstock 1969. Hendrix’s version, delivered a year after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, stood as a protest amid a time of unrest. For Beyoncé, it became both a tribute and a reminder of America’s turbulent past and present. Fittingly, she continued into “Freedom,” which served as the soundtrack for Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 presidential campaign. She also delivered “America Has a Problem” featuring Kendrick Lamar’s verse with a press conference-style backdrop, and declared, “but they never take the country out me” during a powerful rendition of “Formation.”
On the Lemonade standout, Beyoncé sang proudly, “I like my baby heir/ with baby hair and afros,” as Blue Ivy joined her crew of backup dancers with seamless choreography. Blue Ivy was a consistent presence throughout the show, performing alongside her mother on several songs, including “Sweet Honey Buckin,” “Ya Ya,” and “America Has a Problem.” Later, during a high-energy dance break, Blue Ivy strutted solo to Beyoncé’s 2006 hit “Déjà Vu,” before reviving the iconic choreography from the B’Day era, which Rolling Stone ranked as Beyoncé’s best song of all time.
In one of the most heartwarming moments of the evening, Beyoncé’s younger daughter, Rumi Carter, also took the stage during “Protector,” a track that features her vocals. The seven-year-old beamed with a charming smile and waved to the crowd as her mother serenaded her. Behind them, a tribute to Bey’s babies quoting the young Carter’s poet namesake appeared on screen: “I once had a thousand desires / But in my one desire to know you/ all else melted away.” While rich with commentary on America and country’s Black roots, the show was also a sweet celebration of Beyoncé’s own lineage.
The singer made it clear throughout the performance that the heart of Renaissance, the first act of her three-album trilogy, still beats on Cowboy Carter. Along with playing songs like “Cuff It,” “Heated,” and “Thique” in other parts of the show, she weaved in small nods to the metallic, silver era, including during “Tyrant,” during which she rode a robotic mechanical bull. At other points, a robot poured her a glass of whiskey on a throne. She also reimagined Renaissance‘s beloved horse, Reneigh, now golden, and delivered the original choreography for songs “I’m That Girl,” “Cozy,” and “Alien Superstar,” featuring similar props that adapted to the more-golden country themes of the new album. “Welcome back to the Renaissance, y’all,” Beyoncé declared onstage, as a ballroom-style dance party overtook the stage.
Overall, some standout moments from the set included Bey’s silly rendition of “Diva,” which saw her mirror a viral TikTok video of the singer pointing to an indistinct fan in the crowd and repeating the refrain “She ain’t no divaaaaa.” During “Thique,” she blended in elements of Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills,” leading fans to think that maybe some DC3 bangers had snuck onto the setlist. (They didn’t, although images of the group early in their career were shown onscreen during an interlude.) She later zipped around the stadium on a massive pink horseshoe while performing her initial country-foraying track “Daddy Lessons,” her first live performance of the song since 2016, during a section named after Dolly Parton’s “Joelne.” The climax of the show came during the final act as she played a remix of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” keeping its country elements before seamlessly transitioning into her hit “Crazy in Love.”
The three hours of Beyoncé felt nonstop as she ran through almost the entirety of Cowboy Carter during the set. Everything from the show seemed calculated and measured to perfection, leaving little space for Beyoncé to break from the plan. It was a theatrical spectacle that, once again, put Bey in a league of her own.
To close the show, Beyoncé soared around the stadium in a flying classic car adorned with a single American flag, leading a massive sing-along to her Cowboy Carter track “16 Carriages.” For the encore, Beyoncé draped herself in a gown printed with the U.S. flag as she sang “Amen” in front of a masked face of the Statue of Liberty, who notably had braided hair. Clearly, Beyoncé thought deeply about the message she wanted to convey with the show (and the monumental album it celebrated). It hasn’t even been a full two years since her Renaissance tour, yet Beyoncé keeps proving why she’s operating on a completely different level. The Cowboy Carter tour is one not to be missed.
Beyoncé will continue the Cowboy Carter tour with four more shows in Los Angeles, with the next show on Thursday, May 1. She’ll then head to Chicago and New Jersey before a run of shows in London and Paris, before returning stateside to Houston, D.C, Atlanta, and closing shows in Las Vegas this July.
