On Monday night, I put on my Canadian tuxedo, crafted by Levi’s, and trekked to the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for opening night of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour.
A few hours earlier, I got a text from a friend with a link to a story related to Beyoncé’s ticket sales. It’s a subject that’s currently being used to malign the greatest performer of our generation.
These ticket sales stories have been piling up for months. There were online reports that sales for her new tour were stalling — something LiveNation disputed in early March. The live entertainment company noted that 94% of tickets had been sold for the tour at the time. Due to high demand, additional dates were added in six of the eight announced markets, such as Atlanta and London. Then, Beyoncé added an additional date in Las Vegas.
Despite these facts, mainstream press and blogs, undoubtedly in pursuit of the benefits of invoking her name for attention and clicks, have obsessed over some empty seats.
Even 50 Cent was out here trolling Beyoncé. “Shit getting real out here,” the rapper posted on Instagram. He later deleted the post. “Hey the tickets ain’t selling?”
The Daily Mail published an article with the headline “Has Beyoncé lost her pulling power? Cowboy Carter tickets are STILL available ahead of her six nights in London as prices plummet to as low as £66 – months after Taylor’s sell-out tour and amid her ties to Diddy scandal.”
Radar posted one like it entitled “Could It Bey Over? Beyoncé’s Tour In Chaos As Tickets For Flop Cowboy Carter Shows Struggle To Sell — As Links With Shamed Rapper Diddy Take A Toll.”
Separately, Newsweek posted: “Are There Empty Seats At Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter Tour? What We Know.”
TMZ tried it, too, with, “Beyoncé: I’m Saddling Up For My Tour … But No One’s Along for the Ride!!!”
Some are less hostile-sounding, such as NBC News’ “As Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour kicks off, thousands of cheap tickets are still for sale” or Harper’s Bazaar’s “Ticket Prices for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour Are Dropping Fast—Here’s How to Get Them.”
If I could put these hating-ass headlines in a headlock, I would.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Beyoncé’s last tour, The Renaissance World Tour in 2023, made $579 million. It was the highest-grossing tour by a Black artist in history and the eighth-highest-grossing tour overall. Meanwhile, she successfully drop-kicked racism and sexism down enough notches to finally win Album of the Year at this year’s Grammys.
If she might have a bit of trouble selling a few tickets, what could be the problem?
According to the press, the answer is Beyoncé, but to those of us with a clue, it’s the economy. I only spotted one outlet — aptly, Marketwatch — that made the connection: “Another sign we may be heading into a recession: Some Beyoncé tickets have been selling for under $60.”
As a person working in media who comes from a working-class background, I can attest to how clueless and out-of-touch media leaders can be. So it’s not at all surprising to see how few managed to make the connection that the people are hurting and are weary of what’s to come economically in this country.
There’s also this fun fact that many outlets didn’t note in their reporting: the impact of dynamic pricing. I don’t care what the promoters say; whenever I try to get a concert ticket during a presale or general sale, I can see the prices change in real time. Now more than ever, I am losing out on the best seats to a bot who plans to resell the ticket to me for a marked-up price point.
When COVID subsided a bit and the masses went back outside, most were willing to deal with this high-priced reality because we were desperate for normalcy, or better yet, the kind of joy you can only get from a live show from a premier artist like Beyoncé.
Unfortunately, for far too many of us, times are harder than they should be. We are being forced to make choices, as not everyone can just fly off to London if they can’t get tickets to see Queen Bey in New York City.
Even I — someone whose literary legacy is tied to Beyoncé, my fellow Houstonian, my Lord and gyrator — was not sure up until two weeks shy of opening night if I was going to make the show. When the BeyHive was virtually scrapping in virtual lines to buy concert tickets at a surcharge, I had to choose a medical procedure. Bey is Muva, but I recently lost my mom to cancer, and one’s health has to come first.
I made it to the show when a friend told me that there were a few floor seats left priced at the rate I’m used to paying to see Beyoncé before 2020.
And when we got there, the venue was packed and full of people in denim, cowboy boots and assless chaps ready to throw ass and yeehaw for the H-Town legend.
There are so many clips available online, and knowing her, she’ll keep making tweaks as The Cowboy Carter tour continues. For those curious and with the means to scoop the last remaining tickets, this tour does feel like a continuation of Renaissance, only even more elevated.
During the show’s runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes, I stood up the entire time and kept a plastered grin on my typically grief-stricken face as Beyoncé sang down, danced down (that knee is better, stans), and rode a mechanical bull with finesse as we got the cutest previews of her successors in her daughters, Blue Ivy and Rumi.
Bottom line: The show is more than worth it if you can afford it. If you can’t afford the floor, the 100 level is better suited for a show meant for the screen anyway, and the same applies for anywhere else in the venue.
Beyoncé is on her 10th world tour and continues to raise the bar in her very-much-filled venues. The artist can only control so much. I hate the fault being thrust on her and not the economy and ticket-selling monopolies.
I understand how desperate media outlets are for their survival, so they’ll run with a narrative no matter how misleading it is, but it’s time to play another SEO game with Beyoncé.
This tour deserves so much more than that.
Read the full article here
