Ecstatic Beyonce supporters screamed and danced wildly in Stockholm on Wednesday as the superstar launched her first solo tour in seven years with a futuristic show that included a lunar rover, an aerial horse, and wall-to-wall rhinestones.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the stadium hours before the doors opened, including some who had traveled halfway around the world to watch the worldwide music superstar — one of the world’s best-selling artists.
As the event was about to begin, tens of thousands of supporters in the 60,000-capacity Friends Arena erupted in applause as their “queen” appeared on stage.
“Just want to say: Y’all make me so happy,” Beyonce said as the concert began.
“I see familiar faces, people that flew from very, very far to come see the first show tonight,” she told the audience at the outset of the three-hour space and science fiction themed show.
Beyonce performs atop a lunar rover, as a news anchor dressed as a queen bee, and suspended above the crowd on a model horse fully coated in shimmering rhinestones in the show.
“This was another level. Amazing, I can’t wait for the rest of the tour,” Abdul Ibraimoh, a 33-year-old artist manager from London, told AFP after the show.
“There was a lot of anticipation for what she was going to do, and yes I’m speechless, it was just incredible,” Shane Barkey, a 31-year-old radio host from Ireland, said.
Beyonce, who owns a record 32 Grammys, is one of the top ten highest-earning female musicians. She is also a fashion icon, with designers lining up to work with her.
Many fans in Stockholm wore cowboy hats and rhinestones to match the style of the performer’s attire in the advertisements announcing the 57-city European and North American tour.
Julie Vargas, who traveled in from Beyonce’s birthplace of Houston, Texas, admitted to having a “shrine” dedicated to the singer at home.
