I Am… World Tour [Phoenix Concert Review]



Hours after the nation was transfixed by the broadcast of the memorial service for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles, Beyoncé Knowles found the energy to unleash her arsenal of talents in Phoenix and pay tribute to a man whom she has called her hero.

Knowles seemed to have largely corralled any emotions triggered by the Jackson service by the time she took the stage at US Airways Center on Tuesday night, July 7. She delivered more than two hours of upbeat R&B, ballads and girl-power shout-outs.

She brought along a stage set befitting a woman who has become a global star and who is one-half of the entertainment world’s highest-earning power couple. (Her husband, Jay-Z, performed in Phoenix on Thursday, July 2.)

The mutitiered stage housed a large, all-female band, which included a pair of drummers and two keyboard players, a flashy bassist, three horns, backup singers and more, as well as several dancers who were definitely put through their paces trying to keep up with the star.

The stage setup included a trapezelike contraption that lifted the singer above the crowd halfway through the concert and brought her to a second stage two-thirds of the way back on the arena floor.

Knowles, 27, looks stunning in person. She went through several costume changes to show off her fashion sense and impressive physique.

Early on, she was dressed in a sparkling gold leotard-style outfit a she ran through such hits as “Crazy in Love,” “Get Me Bodied” and “Smash Into You.”

After an apprenticeship as the front woman for Destiny’s Child, Knowles knows to work a stage as a solo act better than most of her contemporaries. She strutted her stuff, jumped and danced to all corners of the stage and threw sexy looks at the crowd (which numbered about 7,000 in a venue with more than twice that capacity).

The crowd filled the arena’s lower bowl, so there was plenty of noise when Knowles sang such favorites as “If I Were a Boy,” “Radio,” “Ave Maria” and “Diva,” all from her latest album, “I Am . . . Sasha Fierce.”

Wearing a short black outfit, Knowles let her voice run wild in the emotional “If I Were a Boy,” which challenges men to do a better job in relationships. At one point, she segued into Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” just to drive home the men-can-be-dogs theme.

Knowles is one of the few artists in R&B who can handle a half-rap, half-singing structure in a song like “Diva,” which followed a video starring Knowles in a futuristic costume inspired by Jane Fonda’s sexy getup in the 1968 film “Barbarella.” Backed by heavy bass and drums, Knowles worked the song, with women in the crowd jumping to their feet to dance.

She dedicated the assertive “Me, Myself and I” to the women in the audience, adding, “I believe in female equality, and we have to support each other.” She then spotlighted a band that was as tight as any male-dominated touring ensemble.

The star got the crowd to sing an entire verse of “Irreplaceable” as she commanded the small stage by herself.

Later, a handful of dancers joined her for some impressive choreography on that stage. Highlights included the sexy “Video Phone” and “Say My Name,” from her days with Destiny’s Child.

Despite her glamorous image, Knowles was accessible in concert. She repeatedly kneeled at the corners of the main stage and reached out to touch adoring fans. On the small stage, an enthusiastic fan helped her sing one song and talked her into wishing his friend a happy birthday.

Late in the show, Knowles reprised the version of “At Last” that she used to serenade President Obama and his wife, Michelle, at one of the inaugural balls in January. Images of ’60s civil-rights events led up to happier film of the new president, prompting a huge response from the audience.

Months ago, the singer solicited fan videos of the dance moves she has made famous in the single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” and she displayed scores of clips – many of them hilarious – on the video screen. She and her dancers then brought down the house by doing the real thing as she sang the song.

The concert wound down with a spine-tingling tribute to Jackson, who died June 25 at 50.

An image of the superstar, wearing his famous black fedora, was displayed on the video screen as Knowles sang her power ballad “Halo,” ad-libbing the line, “Michael, I can see your halo” while gazing up to the roof of the arena.

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