The megastar's near-flawless performance shows why she's the hottest act in pop music.
The 13-piece all-female band was roaring at full throttle. The nine dancers were moving through some crazy bump-and-grind routines. And the capacity crowd was on its feet and singing along at full volume.
The colorful light show was on overdrive and the sound system was cranked so high that it was hard to hear one's own thoughts. The swirl of activity onstage, as well as seemingly in every nook of the arena, was almost too much for the senses to fully absorb.
And then the place started raining sparkly confetti.
It was a moment of pure triumph, one that would've served as a fitting encore. Yet, it was only the first song — Beyonce was just getting started.
In all, the 27-year-old R&B/pop star's show at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, part of her North American "I Am . . . Tour," was the finest pop music spectacle local fans are likely to witness in 2009. Indeed, it was the best show to grace a Bay Area stage since the singer's previous tour touched down at the same venue back in 2007.
After making such a grand entrance with "Crazy in Love," the smash hit off her solo debut, 2003's "Dangerously in Love," the Queen B kept right on buzzing, juggling material, moods and motifs with astounding expertise. It was a two hour crash course in everything that has made Beyonce's career — both as a solo artist and with her old vocal troupe, Destiny's Child — such a joy to behold over the last dozen years.
She was continually able to rise to the occasion for the big hits, such as the sexy "Naughty Girl" and the irresistible "Irreplaceable," and then rise above her more mediocre material, including nearly half the songs she performed from her latest album, 2008's two-disc set "I Am ... Sasha Fierce."
She accomplished the latter with sheer charisma, sweet dance moves, theatrical elements that fit nicely with the music and, of course, a megawatt smile that could light up an arena even during a power outage.
It wasn't always this way. Beyonce took her sweet time learning how to be a first-class entertainer, and some of her earlier tours, both as a solo artist and while leading Destiny's Child, suffered from pacing problems, iffy set lists and a general lack of understanding of how to sell the material to a crowd.
Beyonce, however, has fixed all that and has moved to the front of the class, well ahead of contemporaries like Britney Spears and even veterans like Madonna.
That's not to say she's above borrowing from her fellow divas. She covered Alanis Morissette's angry alt-rock anthem "You Oughta Know" and Sarah McLachlan's folksy pop beauty "Angel," and turned both into highlights. The star also occasionally embraced theatrical elements that wouldn't be out of place at a show by Celine Dion or Sarah Brightman.
Then there was the whole Peter Pan segment toward the end of the show, where Beyonce "flew" from the main stage to a smaller one on the arena floor. We've seen variations on that stunt from dozens of artists, yet Beyonce has the power to make these cliches feel fresh.
It was a perfect show — some of the video segments seemed a little over the top — but it was as close to being a flawless pop-music gem as locals will likely see all year.
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