Jay-Z and Beyoncé
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
It’s a story as old as marriage itself: he strays, she finds out, she fumes, he says sorry, they muddle through (and the roles may well be reversed). But what happens when both are pop stars, used to playing the lead and running the show?
He strays, she finds out, her sister (also a star) punches him in a lift. She makes an album about her pain; he makes one begging for forgiveness. They tour together, performing tracks from both albums, while also getting loved up again – at a rugby ground in front of 50,000 people. It’s a funny game, celebrity.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s new show can be irritating, with its glossy home videos, bossy captions (‘THIS IS REAL LIFE’) and choreographed canoodlings. You may want to yell ‘Get a room’, or ‘Get a counsellor’. But they win you over by converting dirty laundry into a dynamic spectacle.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s new show can be irritating, with its glossy home videos, bossy captions (‘THIS IS REAL LIFE’) and choreographed canoodlings
They arrive together in a lift, a witty touch (if only Solange were there too). There are fireworks, flame-throwers, a dance troupe and a colossal screen. All these items feature on Taylor Swift’s tour, but where she bungs in a bit of everything, Mr and Mrs Carter are bolder, finding an aesthetic, sticking to it, and putting their stamp on a stadium.
The lighting is urgent red and white, laced with regal purple. The dancers and musicians are in red too, evoking both Beyoncé’s triumph at Coachella in April and Motown in its sharp-dressed heyday. Her leotards and mini-coats are sparkly, silver or gold; Jay’s suits and tracksuits are matt black, white or blue. He gets through more costume changes than she does, and even has good hair.
Making a virtue out of being two acts, they share the stage, split the screen and have a catwalk apiece, stretching to the halfway line. They’ve got 99 problems but the pitch ain’t one of them.
The show’s coherence does come at a cost. While the oeuvres are spliced with verve, some top tunes are shelved – no Single Ladies or Halo, no Empire State Of Mind
The show’s coherence does come at a cost. While the oeuvres are spliced with verve, some top tunes are shelved – no Single Ladies or Halo, no Empire State Of Mind. Beyoncé’s solo segments lean towards heavy rhythm and not enough melody; doesn’t she know we can get that from her husband?
But then she can always rescue the situation with a blazing vocal or a rousing dance routine. Her superpower is extra charisma. Jay-Z, more limited, uses the screen well: The Story Of OJ, his threnody on racial tension, has its own cartoon, and 99 Problems comes with pictures of idols (Jagger, Sinatra) that are all police mugshots.
The home videos show some bickering while falling short of full realism. We don’t see Jay wrestling the twins into their car seats, or Beyoncé telling Blue that’s enough telly – let alone the nanny supervising real life while mom and dad are on stage.
What could be one big cringe works because the evening crackles with energy. In 135 minutes, they rattle through 43 tracks and keep the fans dancing as well as gawping. It all ends in cheers.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Dawes Passwords Hub Records, out Fri
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The art of lyric-writing is not in great shape. Its patron saint, Leonard Cohen, died 18 months ago, and younger songwriters are hardly queuing up to wear his fedora. But there is one who has what it takes.
Taylor Goldsmith, frontman for California soft-rockers Dawes, writes songs that sparkle with soulful intelligence. It’s a mystery that he’s not world-famous. Well, maybe Dawes shouldn’t have called their last record We’re All Gonna Die. Or named themselves Dawes, come to that.
Their sixth album, Passwords, has a stronger title – simple, but pervasive. The upbeat songs are muscular, the slow ones meltingly soft. Living In The Future could be Bob Seger at his peak: a crunching riff, a rousing chorus, an instant classic. Crack The Case is even better – subtle, candid, succinct, a song only Goldsmith could have written.
Taylor Goldsmith, frontman for California soft-rockers Dawes, writes songs that sparkle with soulful intelligence. It’s a mystery that he’s not world-famous
The ballads are tender, as befits a man who is engaged to Mandy Moore, star of TV drama This Is Us. They fell head over heels on FaceTime after Moore enthused about Dawes on Instagram. ‘She stepped out of the ether,’ Taylor sings on a typically thoughtful love song, Never Gonna Say Goodbye.
In August, Dawes will be in American arenas, supporting ELO. It could be a bill made in heaven.
THIS WEEK’S CD RELEASES
By Adam Woods
Lykke Li So Sad, So Sexy LL Recordings/RCA, out Fri
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The Swedish cult star’s 2011 album Wounded Rhymes remains potent enough to justify excitement about anything new, in spite of pale follow-up I Never Learn. This is more like it, though it’s different again – a slow, heartbroken blur of synths and drum machines with Lykke cutting through the muggy textures with her charismatic pop sense.
Angelique Kidjo Remain In Light Kravenworks, out now
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This brilliant reimagining of Talking Heads’ 1980 masterpiece makes a point about the cultural influence of ‘s***hole countries’. Benin-born Kidjo strips away the nervy new-wave pop trimmings and goes full Afrobeat, so Once In A Lifetime and Born Under Punches become joyously funky celebrations, while Kidjo remixes David Byrne’s words for added sting.
Gruff Rhys Babelsberg Rough Trade, out now
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Super Furry Animals man Gruff Rhys’s fifth solo album – with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales – is a tribute to Sixties orchestral pop, set in a dystopian future. Drones, state-sponsored murder and the 24-hour news cycle are among his targets, but they’re set sweetly in some of Rhys’s most lavish tunes. His most satisfying post-SFA record.