Concert review: Beyonce at Hampton Coliseum
By MALCOLM VENABLE, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 28, 2007 | Last updated 1:38 PM Jul. 28
HAMPTON -- There's just no other way to put it: Beyonce gives a flawless performance.
The entertainer rendered a superb show to a packed house at the Hampton Coliseum on Friday night, proving why her stature as a new icon has been well-earned. Sure, one could find tiny criticisms of the set, but frankly, they'd be be nit-picky and unkind. Though she is woefully overexposed -- her name appearing in print, it seems, just as often as "President Bush" -- the truth of the matter is that Beyonce is a stellar performer, probably the best of her generation, and the throng of united, googly-eyed fans at the Coliseum would certainly agree.
It's hard to believe, but Beyonce Knowles' solo career is still in the infant stages; she's been a solo act since just 2003. But she works a stage like a veteran, and when she opened the show by rising to the stage from a lift to a shower of firework, her tough stance suggested she's rightfully on top of the world.
Beyonce, who had no opening act, wore a shimmery sequin silver gown and jumped right into "Crazy in Love." Soon after, the train of the gown broke away to make the dress a mini, a smart move since she then proceeded to hammer guests over the head with a two-plus-hour show packed with dance, stunning visuals and terrific vocal skill. Beyonce has been called an amalgamation of several other icons -- Tina Turner, Micheal and Janet Jackson, etc. -- and the mini-skirt clad ladies in her all-female band wearing synthesizers over their shoulders suggested vintage Prince.
Indeed, the Beyonce show crams an encyclopedia of pop history imagery and high art into a short time. A jazzy sax solo against a cityscape background preceded "Baby Boy." An expert ballet routine with a male and female dancer came before "Dangerously in Love." Short dramatic scenes between songs paid homage to "The Pink Panther," "Chicago" and "Sweet Charity." Lulls in the show, mostly during her weepy ballads, were few but never long, because scenes changed quickly, like a film.
To her credit, Beyonce made the experience seem easy. Through "Upgrade U," "Deja Vu," "Get Me Bodied" and then hits from her group Destiny's Child, Beyonce really never missed a note, never a step. Her determined, intense face said she takes the show quite seriously but not herself; after she stomped down the steps to perform "Ring the Alarm," she poked fun at herself, saying, "I'm so glad I didn't fall down those steps, y'all." (Footage of her falling during that routine hit the Web and TV last week.)
In the real world, Beyonce's endless TV appearances, magazine spreads, songs, movie roles and so on are overwhelming. In concert, however, the singer's "more, more, more!" mantra works. She is the hardest working woman in shobiz, for sure, and likely the hardest working woman on a stage we'll see anytime soon. Watching the beauty shimmy and sing, her domination makes perfect sense. Nobody can do it like she can. This was one of those shows you just had to see to believe.
Source:
http://content.hamptonroads.com/stor...n=45831&tref=y
... I can't wait to see her on TRL Tuesday then the following Saturday so I can get The Beyonce Experience 
she pratically has already