Dressed in a gold one-piece swimwear-like outfit, mega star Beyonce, in her first ever performance in Trinidad and Tobago, took the Queen’s Park Savannah stage at the b-Mobile sponsored event at 8.23 last night.
The United States-born R&B sensation kicked off her set with ’Crazy Love’, sending thousands of patrons wild with screams. She and two of her female dancers then raised the temperature with sultry dance moves as she sang ’Sexy Boy’.
An all woman band commanded the audience alongside Beyonce, delivering hard-edged R&B music sharpened with rock and blues.
’This is my first time performing here and I can see you all can party. This show is very special to me, because it’s the last stop of the I AM tour,’ Beyonce told the fans.
Along with her band, Beyonce had with her a troupe of dancers that included look-alikes and men. A huge video screen projected images and scenes that blended with the stage setting.
When Beyonce, whose stage persona is Sasha Fierce, performed ’I Wanna Run’, she appeared on a stepped platform overlooking the stage dressed in white, with an animated beach scene behind her.
She then moved into an adapted cover of ’Ave Maria’, for which bridal adornments were added to the outfit. Beyonce added a verse of ’In the Arms of an Angel’ to the piece.
Earlier, soca superstar Machel Montano took to the stage for his opening act performance at 6 p.m., with a grand fanfare that included an intro featuring Optimus Prime and ending with Destra Garcia joining him on stage to sing ’Is Carnival’.
It was the first time in three years that the two soca stars had performed together on stage.
After the introduction, the band then struck up the music for ’No Behaviour’, as the HD Dancers took the stage. Then Montano appeared dressed in a silver outfit.
With the crowd screaming, Montano sang, ’I Missed You’. He then moved into ’The Road’ followed by ’Doh Hold Me Back’.
By this time, more people were getting into the groove and the band moved into ’Fly Away’. Next up was ’Slow Wine’, opening the way for Patrice Roberts to enter and exit within one minute.
Montano took the focus again to do some new music as well, including ’Pepper’ with Serani’s vocals superimposed, followed by ’Ramajay’. Jamaican dancehall artiste Busy Signal then joined Montano with dancers to perform ’Whoii Gyul Whoii’.
’I can’t remember when last I’ve felt so happy. I took time off to reflect. You are no longer just fans, you are my family. This next song is for Haiti. Haiti will rise again,’ Montano told the crowd.
Montano then sat at a piano to sing ’I Love You’, which he originally did in tribute to producer $hel $hoc, who died last year. Joining him on vocals was Umi Marcano.
Next was ’Too Young To Soca’ alongside Timell Rivas, followed by ’Real Unity’ with Pranava. From there it was pure pace, beginning with ’One More Time’ and continuing with ’Dance With You’, ’Congoman’, ’Is Carnival’ and more.