Why a 60 year old white lady like me went to see a Beyonce concert

I was not always a big Beyonce fan. I started to listen to her music in 2016 when she released “Lemonade”.

Living with young adults has exposed me to a lot of new music.  I have never been about getting stuck in an era when it comes to what I like to listen to. I hate it when older people say ‘the music was better back in my day’. I know we all like the music of our youth – I get it- but it is not true. There is good music always being made and I think one way to feel younger is being open to new things.

I like old and new music and I love to dance – it is one of my favorite ways to take pleasure in movement.

I loved that album Lemonade and especially the film version with the all the songs and the beautiful poetry by Warsan Shire. Some people say Beyonce forgot about chart toppers and singles and started making art at this time.

She grew up in the music business, and was performing from a young age in the band Destiny’s Child. 

I saw her July 15 in concert in Nashville and boy has she come a long way since those days. Her voice has matured in tone and in terms of what she has to say.

Here is a video made after the European leg of the tour.

She made the venue feel intimate seemed sincerely grateful to be there. We were all putty in her hands. 🙂

The audience was about 85% people of color and it was very gender diverse. Everyone knew all the words to all the songs and the feeling of love and community was amazing.

Her new album “Renaissance” is an ode to so many genres of music – including house music. The Globe and Mail said “The record is a dance-club reaction to societal restrictions, a salute to self-assurance and a funky homage to Black and queer musical pioneers” and called it “her latest (and arguably finest) album”. 

It will not be everyone’s cup of tea though.  You might like her tribute to Tina Turner or to Stevie Wonder better and that’s ok! We can “meet in the middle and dance all night”. 😉

I like Beyonce’s swagger, her self assurance, her willingness to grow and her message.

I like the feeling I’m living now and not in the past. 

I like doing new things, growing and having fun even though I turned 60 this month.

And that’s why I went to see Queen B. 

What about you? What is your favorite dance music? let me know in the comments.