Miami’s Sun Life Stadium was the place to be Wednesday night! Music’s reigning power couple Beyoncé and Jay Z selected the venue to kick off their On the Run tour, which will take the multiple Grammy winners across North America and to Europe through September.
The concert began with “’03 Bonnie and Clyde.” Beyoncé wore a fishnet mask and a butt-baring leotard, while her husband looked trendy by sporting a blazer, a beanie and sunglasses for the opening number.
Beyoncé’s black bodysuit was bespoke. The Atelier Versace design featured a plunging neckline, which was covered with black sequin netting and accented with a silver zipper. The R&B diva wore another custom-made Atelier Versace bodysuit later in the show. The second look featured a variety of brightly colored prints from the fashion label’s Pre-Fall 2014 collection, including leopard print and Greek keys.
During one of his many costume changes, Jay Z sported a custom “99 Problems” jersey by Rodarte. The hip-hop heavyweight also wore leather jacket 5, tux pant 25 and T-shirt 3 from BLK DNM.
The pair performed a number of duets, and Beyoncé sang Justin Timberlake’s “Holy Grail” verses.
Beyoncé dug deep into her catalog of hits, singing classics like “Baby Boy,” “Crazy in Love” and “Naughty Girl.” She also performed fan favorites like “Diva,” “Halo,” “If I Were a Boy,” “Ring the Alarm” and “Single Ladies,” and introduced the audience to newer jams like “Drunk in Love,” “Partition” and “Pretty Hurts.”
Jay Z, meanwhile, launched into smashes like “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” “Hard Knock Life,” “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Jigga,” “No Church in the Wild,” “Song Cry” and “Tom Ford.” During “Young Forever,” the musicians shared intimate wedding footage and pictures of their 2-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.
The first review is mixed. Billboard’s Leila Cobo called it “a rather detached show,” noting that Beyoncé and Jay Z stuck to the script. “If there was no room for error, there wasn’t room either for spontaneity or audience interaction in this very finely tuned performance where one song bled seamlessly into the other, with brief musical interludes or snippets of film serving as transitions,” Cobo wrote. According to her, the concert’s high points were the duets and its stripped-down numbers, like Beyoncé’s “Haunted.”
Cobo said that the show was about love, but its execution disappointed. “Clearly the idea was to show the real Mr. and Mrs. Carter,” she concluded. “But of course, we know that they aren’t like you or me.”
The On the Run Tour next stops at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park on Saturday.