Meet the superfans who traveled to Sweden for the first stops on Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” world tour.
May 11, 2023 at 1:00 PM EDT
Sleep will have to wait.
After navigating a complicated Swedish ticketing platform, hand-stitching her concert outfits, flying thousands of miles on three connecting flights, and solving a tragic hotel booking mishap, Andersen was finally in Stockholm. Global status.
“It was like having a private concert with just me,” says Anderson, a 30-year-old designer and entrepreneur from Columbus, Ohio. “It made me more excited for the tour.”
Anderson was one of the hordes of US-based fans who chose the European leg of Beyoncé’s world tour, bypassing the massive demand for tickets in North America. Many of them attended his first shows in Stockholm on Wednesday and Thursday, where the weak Swedish krona allowed him to get seats hundreds of dollars cheaper than comparable ones in American cities. Their strategy underscores the lengths fans are willing to go, especially in the post-pandemic era Concert boomWhen some of the world’s biggest entertainers come out with new projects.
The resurgence has come as a surprise to industry experts, who expect higher ratings for live events — “not a tsunami,” as live music analyst Jason Mercer described in a recent interview. Axios. But, from Taylor Swift’s presale nightmare to a congressional investigation and antitrust investigation, more fan demand and subsequent ticket failures signal a serious era for the concert.
The presale frenzy, jet lag and long lines outside the arena were all worth it for Anderson, who enjoyed Beyoncé’s performance from the coveted “Renaissance Club” section during Wednesday night’s show.
“I’m speechless,” she said moments after the concert. “I don’t know the word for what it is. It’s not better, it’s not better — it’s beyond that.
In Beyoncé’s first solo tour in seven years, the artist wowed a sold-out crowd of 46,000 with a nearly three-hour show, with no opening act. Fans who spoke to The Washington Post described it as an ecstatic experience that evoked waves of nostalgia as Beyoncé’s songs weaved together songs spanning her 20-year schedule as a solo artist.
“I’ve seen Beyoncé kill it and be more energetic, but it kind of gave me the essence of, ‘I’ve earned the right to heal an experience where I feel relaxed and calm and tender,'” he said. Mercedes Arielle is a travel content creator from Dallas. “It was great to see her lean into her voice and not necessarily be all over the stage, just jiggling and twirling and doing everything.”
Even before the main event, Anderson was already enjoying the best ride of his life, he said.
Joined by her mother Cynthia Boy, the pair took Stockholm by storm: they indulged in local cuisine, took boat rides through the archipelago; witnessed the ceremony of the changing of the guards at the royal palace; Navigated – and briefly lost themselves in – one of the world’s most extremes beauty Metro Systems; He marveled at the cherry trees still in bloom in the Kungstraatgarten park.
In an email to The Post, Arrival in Stockholm High levels of tourism and almost full hotel occupancy rates in the city are attributed to the “Beyoncé Effect”. According to the agency’s press officer, Birgitta Palmer, visitors from the US, Germany and Britain have booked the city in high numbers. “There’s good reason to expect that the talk of the town next week will be the Friends Arena concerts,” Palmer said.
In the Beyhive community, the buzz has already reached a fever pitch. Long segments of the show were broadcast live by concertgoers. Fans unveiled their meticulously constructed attire — textures, beads, glittering rhinestones and bedside cowboy hats. Possible clues about Beyoncé’s upcoming projects sent fans into a Twitter frenzy Principles. Footage from inside the venue flooded social media: a giant disco ball, tourist paraphernalia, A large Progress Pride flag emblazoned on the stadium screen and gender-neutral toilets. With the release and overture of the “Renaissance” tour, many others agreedBeyoncé opens up about “a new level of motherhood.”
But she’s not just “mom,” a term coined by people of color in ballroom culture.
“I felt like I grew up with her,” said Charles Ray Hamilton, a 35-year-old television and film writer from Los Angeles. “For me and many of her fans, it’s like a cousin or feeling like she’s our big sister — but our big sister who happens to be an alien superstar.”
That’s the energy Hamilton brings to his concert appearance.
I found myself describing a funky designer top bought at the last minute in Stockholm and shouting “alien superstar”. “I think it fits the theme of that song in particular — that no matter how outside the norm you feel, your individuality is untouchable.”
Hamilton, who had riser seats in the VIP section, saw Beyonce interact with her group throughout the night, at one point blowing a kiss in their direction. “We were intimate enough to feel a lot of the details, costumes, production design and music viscerally,” he said.
That music strikes a particular chord with him — especially the album’s first single, “Break My Soul,” which encourages listeners to free themselves from stress, anger and overwork.
In fact, just hours before he boarded a flight to Europe last week, Hamilton stood on picket lines at Netflix and joined members of the Writers Guild of America in a massive strike against TV and movie studios.
Following trips to Amsterdam and Paris next week, Hamilton said he will return to the United States with a new outlook on his career.
“The show really inspired me to return to my passion projects and continue to write about what I love and what’s so specific to my soul,” she said. “And a lot of this album is about living life the way you fight for your rights, so I’m definitely motivated to fight with the Writers Guild for what we deserve.”
Such is the power of Beyonce.
Ariel, a Dallas travel content creator, cites the actor as an influence on her life and career. “He’s an amazing talent and a reflection of honing your craft and working hard,” he said. “I think it’s something we can all learn from and try to emulate in some way, shape or form.”
But Ariel also uses her own influence. With his large social media following and keen travel knowledge, he has helped countless fans secure Stockholm concert tickets and travel deals. He even interacted with a few during the show. A woman told Ariel that she and 15 friends came to Stockholm because of Ariel’s advice. Another woman brought Ariel to tears as she shared that the influencer inspired her to see the world.
“I think black women have a very complicated relationship a lot of times. “So this is another example of the world really being ours. It’s one thing to be strategic about finding ways to make the things you want to do possible.
Several months ago, Andersen joked about snagging tickets to the “Renaissance” tour in Stockholm — something she didn’t think would actually happen. But everything is lined up from the start, he said — including accidents and misadventures.
“It all worked out perfectly,” Anderson said. “It was one of the best trips of my life.”
