“I said, they NEVER take the country out me!” Beyoncé bellowed in the misty night sky on Thursday (May 22) — repeating a lyric from “Formation” for emphasis, and also presenting the main idea of her sprawling Cowboy Carter tour, which made its way to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium for the first of a five-night run. Most superstars on their eighth album, and a quarter-century into their career, would craft a stadium show around their most well-loved hits, with a few new songs sprinkled in for good measure; Beyoncé is, of course, not like most superstars.

The Cowboy Carter tour instead animates every inch of last year’s full-length, with the entirety of the album’s country-music vision unwrapped in painstaking detail, from the instrumentation to the visuals to the choreography; a handful of well-worn hits are grouped together in the setlist, but they come across closer to an afterthought than a point of emphasis. This is not a complaint: Beyoncé is not only a dazzling performer with a second-to-none combination of stage presence and vocal strength, but as she’s evolved into an uncompromising album artist over the past decade, she’s become more adept at translating a studio aesthetic into a stage show with cohesion and purpose.

In the case of Cowboy Carter tour, the result is a sumptuous exploration of Beyoncé’s riff on country as a core influence and thrilling modern medium, complete with a line-dance stage moves, fake westerns as visual interludes, costumes with ample fringe and a giant stage in the shape of a star. With Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé bent modern country music around her personality, and its corresponding stage show achieves a similar effect, getting a stadium audience to don cowboy hats to watch their favorite pop star.

Yet the show makes clear that this is who she’s always been: her musical interests may change and her catalog of hits may grow, but this side of Beyoncé is indispensable to her identity. Indeed, no one can take the country out of her — so she decided to make Cowboy Carter her biggest, boldest live show to date.

With Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour starting its run in the NYC area on Thursday night, here are the seven best moments from night one at MetLife Stadium:

The “America” News Conference

The first break in the set was the most provocative: both recent and historical footage is blended together on the stadium’s gargantuan screens, with a recurring theme of newscasters and pundits questioning Beyoncé’s artistic credibility and country bona fides coming to the forefront. Bey then emerged onstage wearing an outfit that’s literally covered in headlines — the living embodiment of an endless news cycle — and launched into a fiery take on “America Has a Problem” from behind a podium and with an ‘On Air’ sign hovering above her head. During a show that was often a rightful celebration of culture, this transition felt like a smart, pointed defense of that same celebration from those questioning its existence.

The ‘Cowboy Carter’ Killer Four-Song Run, Presented in Full

In the middle of the tour’s set list, Beyoncé knocks out four straight Cowboy Carter songs in the order in which they appear on the album tracklist: the luscious funk of “Desert Eagle” gets presented at center stage, then the boisterous stomp-along of “Riiverdance” moves across the platform in a single-file thump, followed by the midtempo beauty of “II Hands II Heaven” receiving some lock-step choreography, and finally the crackling country-trap of “Tyrant” turning into a set piece with a golden mechanical bull. For Cowboy Carter diehards, this run of songs felt like a fever dream: tracks 22 through 25 on the full-length offer some of Bey’s most successful sonic ideas, and they were hoisted up with prime placement in the stadium show.

The “America” News Conference

The first break in the set was the most provocative: both recent and historical footage is blended together on the stadium’s gargantuan screens, with a recurring theme of newscasters and pundits questioning Beyoncé’s artistic credibility and country bona fides coming to the forefront. Bey then emerged onstage wearing an outfit that’s literally covered in headlines — the living embodiment of an endless news cycle — and launched into a fiery take on “America Has a Problem” from behind a podium and with an ‘On Air’ sign hovering above her head. During a show that was often a rightful celebration of culture, this transition felt like a smart, pointed defense of that same celebration from those questioning its existence.

The ‘Cowboy Carter’ Killer Four-Song Run, Presented in Full

In the middle of the tour’s set list, Beyoncé knocks out four straight Cowboy Carter songs in the order in which they appear on the album tracklist: the luscious funk of “Desert Eagle” gets presented at center stage, then the boisterous stomp-along of “Riiverdance” moves across the platform in a single-file thump, followed by the midtempo beauty of “II Hands II Heaven” receiving some lock-step choreography, and finally the crackling country-trap of “Tyrant” turning into a set piece with a golden mechanical bull. For Cowboy Carter diehards, this run of songs felt like a fever dream: tracks 22 through 25 on the full-length offer some of Bey’s most successful sonic ideas, and they were hoisted up with prime placement in the stadium show.

“Thique’s” Jolt of Sexual Energy

Making a song sound titillating in a stadium setting is darn near impossible, but “Thique,” the sensual standout from Renaissance, received a showcase that balanced high energy and intimacy. A salon setup, complete with hair dryers, arose in the middle of MetLife Stadium for a few minutes — enough time for Bey and four dancers to slither over, perform some seated choreography and even quickly nod to the beauty-centric music video for Destiny’s Child’s first hit, “Bills, Bills, Bills.” In a jam-packed set list, the stage construction and sexual dynamism of “Thique” stood out.

The “Texas Hold ‘Em” Showcase

Cowboy Carter’s lead single remains Beyoncé’s most recent Hot 100 chart-topper, and instead of being grouped in with the rest of the album presentation, “Texas Hold ’Em” was wisely treated as a defining anthem, kicking off a run of career smashes — “Crazy In Love,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “Irreplaceable” and more — with tons of gusto. Standing tall on a bull-horned big rig and rocking a BNCNTRY trucker hat, Beyoncé tore into the single while “summoning all my cowboys and all my cowgirls” to help her take it to the floor; eventually, the performance morphed into an ensemble dance number worthy of a climactic Broadway sequence, and the vocals that Beyoncé flaunted to finish off “Texas Hold ‘Em” would have blown the roof off of MetLife Stadium had one existed. All in all, it was a show-stopping moment for a song that deserved one.

The Flying Horseshoe

Look, we’re a few weeks into the Cowboy Carter tour, and most fans know that Beyoncé sits on a giant horseshoe late in the show, including during her version of “Jolene,” and flies around the stadium as that horseshoe is suspended in the air. No surprises here, but still… it’s a flying horseshoe! And it was as cool as one would hope it be! If you’re catching the Cowboy Carter tour this summer, make sure to avoid a bathroom break when Bey saddles up in that thing.

The Audience Chorus

At the end of the run of major hits, Beyoncé pays homage to a key influence by covering “Before I Let Go,” the 1981 Maze classic that also received a spotlight in Bey’s Homecoming. After trading lines with a video of Frankie Beverly performing the track, Beyoncé showed off her vocals on the song’s melisma-tastic refrain — and then invited the audience to do the same. Thousands within MetLife Stadium sprang into action, belting out “Whoooooooooooa / I would never, never, never, never, never, never, never / Never let you go before I goooooo” a cappella, as Beyoncé bopped along from side to side from the stage approvingly. The best part? You could see Blue Ivy behind her onstage, quietly judging the audience’s performance and impressively nodding when it concluded.

The “America” News Conference

The first break in the set was the most provocative: both recent and historical footage is blended together on the stadium’s gargantuan screens, with a recurring theme of newscasters and pundits questioning Beyoncé’s artistic credibility and country bona fides coming to the forefront. Bey then emerged onstage wearing an outfit that’s literally covered in headlines — the living embodiment of an endless news cycle — and launched into a fiery take on “America Has a Problem” from behind a podium and with an ‘On Air’ sign hovering above her head. During a show that was often a rightful celebration of culture, this transition felt like a smart, pointed defense of that same celebration from those questioning its existence.

The ‘Cowboy Carter’ Killer Four-Song Run, Presented in Full

In the middle of the tour’s set list, Beyoncé knocks out four straight Cowboy Carter songs in the order in which they appear on the album tracklist: the luscious funk of “Desert Eagle” gets presented at center stage, then the boisterous stomp-along of “Riiverdance” moves across the platform in a single-file thump, followed by the midtempo beauty of “II Hands II Heaven” receiving some lock-step choreography, and finally the crackling country-trap of “Tyrant” turning into a set piece with a golden mechanical bull. For Cowboy Carter diehards, this run of songs felt like a fever dream: tracks 22 through 25 on the full-length offer some of Bey’s most successful sonic ideas, and they were hoisted up with prime placement in the stadium show.

“Thique’s” Jolt of Sexual Energy

Making a song sound titillating in a stadium setting is darn near impossible, but “Thique,” the sensual standout from Renaissance, received a showcase that balanced high energy and intimacy. A salon setup, complete with hair dryers, arose in the middle of MetLife Stadium for a few minutes — enough time for Bey and four dancers to slither over, perform some seated choreography and even quickly nod to the beauty-centric music video for Destiny’s Child’s first hit, “Bills, Bills, Bills.” In a jam-packed set list, the stage construction and sexual dynamism of “Thique” stood out.

The “Texas Hold ‘Em” Showcase

Cowboy Carter’s lead single remains Beyoncé’s most recent Hot 100 chart-topper, and instead of being grouped in with the rest of the album presentation, “Texas Hold ’Em” was wisely treated as a defining anthem, kicking off a run of career smashes — “Crazy In Love,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “Irreplaceable” and more — with tons of gusto. Standing tall on a bull-horned big rig and rocking a BNCNTRY trucker hat, Beyoncé tore into the single while “summoning all my cowboys and all my cowgirls” to help her take it to the floor; eventually, the performance morphed into an ensemble dance number worthy of a climactic Broadway sequence, and the vocals that Beyoncé flaunted to finish off “Texas Hold ‘Em” would have blown the roof off of MetLife Stadium had one existed. All in all, it was a show-stopping moment for a song that deserved one.

The Flying Horseshoe

Look, we’re a few weeks into the Cowboy Carter tour, and most fans know that Beyoncé sits on a giant horseshoe late in the show, including during her version of “Jolene,” and flies around the stadium as that horseshoe is suspended in the air. No surprises here, but still… it’s a flying horseshoe! And it was as cool as one would hope it be! If you’re catching the Cowboy Carter tour this summer, make sure to avoid a bathroom break when Bey saddles up in that thing.

The Audience Chorus

At the end of the run of major hits, Beyoncé pays homage to a key influence by covering “Before I Let Go,” the 1981 Maze classic that also received a spotlight in Bey’s Homecoming. After trading lines with a video of Frankie Beverly performing the track, Beyoncé showed off her vocals on the song’s melisma-tastic refrain — and then invited the audience to do the same. Thousands within MetLife Stadium sprang into action, belting out “Whoooooooooooa / I would never, never, never, never, never, never, never / Never let you go before I goooooo” a cappella, as Beyoncé bopped along from side to side from the stage approvingly. The best part? You could see Blue Ivy behind her onstage, quietly judging the audience’s performance and impressively nodding when it concluded.

The Family Affair

Speaking of which, Blue Ivy is already commanding the stage as a teenager — a fan favorite whose presence is felt through every dance move or subtle gesture. When she made her final solo turn during the show, while wearing some “I <3 NY” gear, the crowd of thousands was in the palm of her 13-year-old hand. Meanwhile, 7-year-old Rumi’s appearance during “Protector,” in which she embraced her mom and waved to the crowd with a wide grin, earned some of the biggest “aww’s” of the evening. In another artist’s hands, such appearances might feel forced, but Beyoncé weaves their respective presences into the show with ample care. The Cowboy Carter tour is her story, and her daughters are an essential part of it.

Published By Billboard