Two weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of being able to witness Beyoncé in concert for a second time. When Bey first announced this tour, I made sure I got my tickets this time because I missed On The Run in 2014. I made a vow to myself back then that I would never miss another Beyoncé tour for as long as I live. The Formation World Tour was not the first time I’ve seen Beyoncé live. The first Beyoncé concert I went to was the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour back in 2013. This was prior to the self-titled visual album being released and since I missed On The Run, there were quite a few songs that I hadn’t been able to see her perform live. So I would’ve been perfectly fine with Beyoncé touring without putting out a new album. But luckily Queen Bey decided to bless the BeyHive with another album in April, just days before her tour’s opening show. Every Beyoncé concert is an amazing experience but I walked out of the stadium two weeks ago feeling like I actually learned two major things from Mrs. Knowles-Carter.

Master your craft

Everyone involved in the Formation World Tour is SO GOOD. Not one person missed a beat at that show. Beyoncé was amazing, her dancers were amazing, her band was amazing, her background singers were amazing, the production was amazing. Everything was on point. And the best part of it all is that every Beyoncé show is like that. This woman and every person involved in this tour have mastered their craft. No one missed a dance step, Beyoncé didn’t hit an off key note, there were no technical difficulties. There are no weak links in Beyoncé’s camp. This is why so many people are content with spending money on Beyoncé tickets. We KNOW we are going to get an amazing show every single time. You cannot say the same for a lot of Beyoncé’s peers in the music industry today.

Honor your commitment

North Carolina has not had the best luck with entertainers and live concerts this year, thanks to our stupid governor. So we were really lucky that Beyoncé decided to honor her commitment to her fans in NC instead of bailing on us like so many other performers have recently. But the hb2 bill wasn’t the only potential threat to the formation world tour stopping in NC. The threat of thunderstorms was also a major concern. Knowing that the formation world tour is a STADIUM tour and the tickets clearly state “rain or shine”, concert goers should’ve been well aware that they may have to just accept getting wet at this show. But once you throw thunder and lightning into the mix… The show could’ve very well been cancelled. The gates to the stadium did not open at the 5:30 like they were supposed to because a thunderstorm was in the area. The bleachers in the stadium are metal so the venue was concerned fans would be sitting ducks waiting to be electrocuted. The storm ended up passing through quickly enough so that fans were able to get inside the stadium eventually. But about 30-45 minutes into Beyoncé’s set, it started to rain again. First, just a little drizzle but the rain drops got bigger and bigger.

When Beyoncé stepped off the stage to switch costumes after singing Rocket (where she SLAYED the chair routine from the Partition video IN THE RAIN), an announcement was made that the show had been suspended due to another thunderstorm in the area. Of course we all freaked out, like what does that even mean? Suspended? It sounded like the show was over but an additional announcement was made that us fans could retreat to the neighboring arena or sports complex to wait out the storm because “she is not leaving.” Y’all… When I heard those four words, everything inside me got all warm and fuzzy. Honestly, I would’ve been totally fine if Bey had decided not to go back on the stage that night because I had already seen a spectacular show. But the fact that she was willing to weather the storm for us just reinforced all the reasons why I stan for her. She could’ve left us hanging that night. Most artists probably would’ve just said “oh well, the show’s over”. But not Queen Bey. She’s a true professional. We waited like thirty or forty minutes for that storm to pass and then Beyoncé came out and continued to give us an amazing show. This is why we love her. This is why we stan. Almost twenty years after the start of her career and she still cares enough to not let us down.

All photos © Beyoncé | www.beyonce.com