BEYONCE at the Air Canada Centre, Monday, December 16. Rating: NNNN
After years of using alter egos to separate her stage persona from her more low-key everyday personality, Beyonce now seems comfortable enough to explore sexual confidence under her own name. Hence the title of her surprise fifth album: Beyonce.
Sexuality and femininity as power are themes running throughout her Mrs. Carter Show tour, which returned to the Air Canada Centre for a rousing second leg. There was one change to the hit parade set – she swapped Nigerian pop banger Grown Woman for reverby new ballad XO – and her all-female band was in tighter, playful form, morphing The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony into power ballad If I Were A Boy and Kanye West’s Clique into menacing R&B jam Diva, funk-revue style.
Unlike her high-concept peers West and Lady Gaga, Beyonce takes a more minimal approach to arena theatrics. There was the requisite pop gaudiness – a quick trip to a Vegas boudoir during a Donna Summer homage and a rendition of 1+1 atop a grand piano – but for the most part the staging was slickly efficient the focus always on her fluttering vocals, curve-showcasing choreography and bright-eyed celebrity smile.
During wardrobe changes, interstitial videos denoted a glamorous journey of self-actualization that further underscored what was plainly obvious: Beyonce is a pop star at the top of her game.