9 unpopular opinions about Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour

For the uninitiated, Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is split up into six acts that each tell its own story.

The Opening Act features six songs: "Dangerously in Love 2," "Flaws and All," "1+1," a cover of Rose Royce's 1976 classic, "I'm Going Down," culminating in "I Care."

Beyoncé not only chose to open the show with one of the best songs in her catalog but also a song that reminds her — and us — who she is and where she comes from.

"Dangerously in Love 2," recorded in her hometown of Houston, is the titular ballad from her 2003 debut album originally recorded by her group, Destiny's Child, for 2001's "Survivor" album.

So it's apt that she starts here.

Still, just as bestselling novels or blockbuster movies have an expected flow, or underlying pattern, to let the reader and viewer know where they are in a story, so do concerts.

Concerts have a uniformity that concertgoers have come to expect: The performer starts off on a high with an up-tempo song to get everyone on their feet, they use the middle of the show to slow down the pace and perform ballads, while the end is reserved for their biggest hit ever.

It's why I disliked Beyoncé's choice of starting with ballads. Instead, she should've pushed those slower songs to the middle of the show, perhaps in the Anointed Act, which also featured mid-tempo songs such as "Rather Die Young" and snippets of "Say My Name" and "Dance for You."

Sometimes if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

One of the long-suffering criticisms from the Beyhive since the release of "Renaissance," the 16-track album that feels like an ode to summer in 1975, is that it didn't come with visuals.

Bey, who honestly deserves an Oscar for how much she puts into her musical films, has blessed us four times with complementary movies for her projects, starting with 2013's "Life Is But a Dream," which documents Beyoncé's four-night run in the now-defunct Atlantic City's Revel, to 2020's "Black Is King," which visually aided the soundtrack she created for "The Lion King" remake.

So when "Renaissance" came out, there was a buzzing chorus from the Beyhive, expecting to see a visual representation of what this album gave us, a sonic blend of Baltimore Club and Chicago House music.

But they never came. At least, not yet.

There are rumors that Bey is using this tour to create the visuals. When a fan held up a sign at one of her shows asking for "the visuals," Mother replied, "You are the visual, baby!"

And I don't think she was joking. Even a crew member seemingly let slip that Beyoncè plans to use her Houston tour stops on September 23 and 24 to shoot "a movie there," according to a TikTok video uploaded to a fan account. "There'll be a lot more cameras."

Still, part of the joy of going to the Renaissance World Tour was seeing immaculate visuals — from Beyoncé riding high atop a silver horse to watching Honey Balenciaga duck walk to glory.

Not to mention the incredible futuristic set design, created by Es Delvin, that provided the perfect ornate backdrop to the ballroom and a savory sartorial collection perfectly tailored for each show.

During the nearly three-hour show, Beyoncé performs 36 songs on average. At some shows, the setlist also included two covers: Rose Royce's " I'm Going Down" and Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High."

And while I understand Bey had to pay tribute to one of her biggest musical and visual inspirations with Turner, who died back in May, I still don't understand including Royce's overplayed song.

Instead, I would've preferred to hear songs where she's lent her voice. The-Dream's 2013 album cut, "Turnt," or DJ Khaled's 2017 hit, "Shining," which would blend sonically with the rest of the set, feel like perfect additions.

On May 10, Beyoncé introduced a section into her world tour that featured a triplet of songs. It included "Thique", "All Up in Your Mind", and "Drunk in Love," the latter of which she's performed at every tour stop.

It came with seductive choreography that included a pole along with a tiny callout to Britney Spears with a sample of "Toxic."

Still, that portion of the show wasn't seen again until August 14 when she brought the tour to Atlanta.

Although fans have protested at nearly every tour stop in between those dates, asking for "Thique," I'm quite glad that Beyoncé has left it out.

It has less to do with the song and more to do with the length of the concert, which I feel is already a bit bloated. So let's talk about that next.

While I would love to spend an entire day on Beyoncè's earth watching her perform in my fandom mind, I realize that's just not ideal. Not only for her but also for my attention span.

During the latter half of the concert, I saw a fan in front of me sitting down and reading the news. Another was caught on Discord.

To put it bluntly: It felt like there were too many dance breaks even though I loved seeing Bey's first twins, Les Twins, and the other dancers perform during them. I would've even sacrificed one less stage setup or costume change for one less break.

I've never had to leave a concert before to use the restroom and this time, I was forced to. Perhaps next time, we can cap it closer to two hours.

When the first grainy cell phone footage emerged after Bey kicked off the tour in Stockholm, Sweden, some critics were too quick to call out the Queen for a "lack of energy."

The criticism got so loud that it caused some members of the Beyhive to point out that Beyoncé was performing despite a knee injury or foot surgery — a rumor that was set straight.

Either way, that critique was baseless. It's hard enough dancing for three hours straight, let alone doing it while dancing, wearing heels, and giving us lewks.

I know. I know. This issue isn't because of Beyoncé at all, but I'd be remiss if I didn't discuss the sticker shock of being able to experience the best performer alive.

The average price for a ticket on the Renaissance World Tour is around $350. (The cheapest tickets on Ticketmaster I saw were around $75 before taxes and fees with the most expensive being more than $5,000.)

When I first attended a Beyoncé show, which was her last run with Destiny's Child on the Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It Tour, my floor seats were approximately $150. This year, I paid more than $2,000 for a pair of floor seats.

How Sway?! Inflation can't explain it.

I understand that running a tour is expensive. In fact, according to Beyoncé's website, she's employing hundreds of people and companies to produce this tour. There are also venue fees, security fees, and a host of other hidden costs that likely get passed onto the ticket buyer.

Not to mention ticket vendors, such as Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek, and others are charging fees so fans can see their favorites.

I don't care about the reason though, I just know that it's not sustainable for the average fan if prices continue to rise at this pace.

After wrestling through several different presale codes, where I was waitlisted, I ended up scoring floor seats — Section 3, Row 16 — with a random code I found on Twitter. Look at God!

And although I thought really carefully about investing that much into an experience, I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed. And overall I wasn't.

My floor seats came with a few different perks that you can read about here. My husband and I even bumped into Blue Ivy and Jay Z while leaving MetLife Stadium.

Still, the celebrity run-in didn't make up for the fact that we had low visibility for the majority of the show mostly because of how the circular-shaped runway was designed by entertainment architects Stufish and stage designer Es Devlin.

On either side of the circular stage, there's a raised portion of the platform, five steps higher than the rest of the runway. And while it allowed for Bey and her dancers to expertly navigate around it, it also blocked our view when she was singing in the middle of the stage, which happened a lot.

If Bey blesses us and goes on tour again, I'll either pay even more (don't worry, I always start a concert-ticket savings plan once she releases a new album) for tickets in the standing-only section closest to the stage or I'll choose something with a higher vantage point like the 100 sections.

While there's absolutely no doubt that the conclusion of Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is visually the apex of the entire evening, the actual song choice felt a bit off.

After three hours of singing, voguing, duck walking, and experiencing a gumbo mix of ballroom culture, you are met with silver-laced confetti and a shimmering Bey on a shimmering horse. Tens across the board, yes.

However, since "Summer Renaissance" is only 120 beats per minute, making it squarely a mid-tempo song, I would've really liked to leave the stadium on a higher note with a much punchier song.

If you noticed, though, Bey's setlist mimics the actual album and so she performs the songs in the same order.

Still, perhaps she could've broken from her album's tracklist just a little and ended with her latest biggest hit, "Break My Soul."

Despite those few tweaks, Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is still one of my favorite shows I've ever seen in my life.

Thank you, Beyoncé, for taking such time and care with your artistry that extends from your vocals to the designers you choose to work with on tour. Thank you, thank you, thank you.