Concert Review: Beyonce and Jay Z @ Rogers Centre

Beyonce and JAY Z perform on the On The Run Tour at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, in Toronto. (Photo by Robin Harper/Parkwood Entertainment/PictureGroup).

For the last 11 years, Beyoncé Knowles and Shawn Carter (Jay Z) have starred in an epic blockbuster about themselves. Their narrative has taken form on every channel, every form of media, and in every language. And while the supporting cast has changed with the times, the stars have stayed front and centre, giants through the generation.

And that was the vibe at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday night. The crowd was almost exhaustingly chuffed. How excited were they? About 30 minutes before the lights went out, an ad aired on the screens for Beyoncé’s fragrance, which set off an explosion of screams in the crowd. Even once it’d been revealed that the showtime was explicitly nothappening and it was just an ad, the crowd was still cheering. And once the lights did go out, 60,000-odd people went ballistic, welcoming the two superstars dressed in bank robber/BDSM gear standing at the back of the stage.

That’s when they launched into “2003 Bonnie and Clyde”, the kickoff anthem for the Jayonce machine. Jay Z’s other dual tours (with Justin Timberlake and Kanye West) have featured short, individual sets with a combined series of songs at the end. This was different. The two have crossed paths throughout their solo careers, so the evening acted as a three hour-long career retrospective – with Beyoncé performing a few hits, handing things over to her husband, and so on. Eventually, the two would do one of their many combined singles, only to repeat the process all over again.

All this while the On the Run story showed behind them. This ‘film’ – a surreal pastiche – interspersed the couple through costume changes and much-deserved breaks. The story – a stylistic neutron bomb – placed Beyonce and Jay Z into a Bonnie & Clyde meets Grand Theft Auto fantasy. Footage of the duo brandishing guns and wads of cash, traveling the American landscape, being pursued by cops and cartels alike narrated the evening’s performances. Messages about a broad spectrum of subjects from feminism to the prison system to the true definition of love accompanied breakneck images and footage. It was the Jayonce story, as told by Sam Peckinpah.

About 90 minutes in, one might have looked at their watch and wondered, “how many more hits could they possibly have left?” The answer of course, was all of them. Beyoncé voraciously attacked about every smash single she’s released as a solo artist, including a sweeping cover of Lauren Hill’s “Ex-factor”. Jay Z, whose career has gone for nearly twice as long, brought the crowd through often-shortened hits spanning everything from Reasonable Doubt to Watch the Throne (Kanye not included). One common critique of hip-hop shows is their inexplicable refusal to see their hits the whole way through. It’s as infuriating as it is mystifying. In this instance both were guilty, but then their combined set produced 44 songs all told. That’s a lot of verses.

Beyoncé might be our generation’s greatest live performer. We’re talking Sinatra/MJ level here. So it might be splitting hairs, but while both have lovely chemistry on stage together, their energies are so drastically different that the transition from say “Naughty Girl” to “Big Pimpin” a tad disjointed. Which is to say, this stage wasn’t big enough for the both of them.

And with the end of the film came the couple’s epilogue. On screen, the two died in a hail of bullets with the message “die in love and live forever”. This brought them out one final time, to perform a medley of Jay’s “Young Forever” and Beyoncé’s “Halo”. This time accompanied by actual home video of the couple’s real life together – including footage of their daughter. On the surface, it aired on the cheesy side, but for two people in such a manufactured industry, it was an admirable bit of transparency.

Even for these two, this tour is incredibly ambitious. On the Run was a hits package, a light show, a multimedia experience, and a meditation on the American dream. In short, it was an utter spectacle. And for any of its shortcomings, it was also possibly your only chance to see two artists who’ve repeatedly conquered their respective genres take a victory lap together.

Setlist:
’03 Bonnie & Clyde
Upgrade U
Crazy in Love
Show Me What You Got
Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)
I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)
Tom Ford
Run the World (Girls)
Flawless
Yoncé
Jigga My Nigga
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
Naughty Girl
Big Pimpin’
Ring the Alarm
On to the Next One
Clique
Diva
Baby Boy
U Don’t Know
Haunted
No Church in the Wild
Drunk in Love
Public Service Announcement
Why Don’t You Love Me
Holy Grail
Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit
Beach Is Better
Partition
99 Problems
If I Were a Boy
Ex-Factor
Song Cry
Resentment
Love on Top
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
Niggas in Paris
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
Pretty Hurts
Part II (On The Run)
Halo
Young Forever