The Formation World Tour
The Formation World Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé in support of her sixth studio album, Lemonade. The all-stadium tour was announced following her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. This was her first solo all-stadium tour and the first ever all-stadium tour by a female artist. The tour started on April 27, 2016 at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida and concluded on October 7, 2016 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The tour's title is in reference to the album's lead single "Formation".
The tour's production and staging consisted of a 60 foot tall rotating LED cuboid referred to as the 'Monolith', a treadmill runway and a secondary stage that stores and produces 2,000 gallons of water. The theme of the tour was described as following the same linear chapters to that of the tour's supporting album Lemonade, with each rotation of the aforementioned 'Monolith' representing a new chapter of the show. Several music critics gave the show positive reviews, with a variety of publications praising both the tour's production and Beyoncé's performance and vocal abilities. The tour had a variety of notable opening acts, including a number of special guests joining prominent opener DJ Khaled on stage. Supporting acts also included artists signed to Beyoncé's own management company, Parkwood Entertainment, such as the duo Chloe x Halle, who were just starting their careers at that time.
The Formation World Tour ranked at #1 and #2 on Pollstar
Background and development
On February 6, 2016, Beyoncé released "Formation" for free on the music streaming service TIDAL and its accompanying music video on her official YouTube. The following day on February 7, 2016, Beyoncé performed "Formation" during her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. Immediately after the performance, a commercial aired announcing The Formation World Tour, which would kick off in Miami on April 27, with the first pre-sales going on sale just two days after the announcement on February 9, 2016.Leading up to the tour announcement, Beyoncé was praised and criticized over her new song and Black Panther-influenced costume for the Super Bowl halftime performance. As a result of this, the hashtags "#BoycottBeyonce" and "#IStandWithBeyonce" begun trending on social media platforms such as Twitter. A group of protesters also planned to stage an "anti-Beyoncé" rally outside of the NFL's headquarters in New York City on the day general sale of tickets went for sale. However, the planned rally was met with zero protesters and instead dozens of Beyoncé supporters who held a counter-protest. The tour's associated album Lemonade was released four days prior to the start of the tour. In a press release by Live Nation Entertainment following the tour's announcement, it was revealed that The Formation World Tour would be supporting local United Way of America programs, as well as the Flint water crisis. After the first North American leg of the tour was completed, it was announced that fans, who had the option to add a donation to the Flint water crisis when purchasing tickets, had raised $82,234 for the cause. In the same press release, Beyoncé's partnership with THX was announced, with the purpose of providing the highest level of audio quality at concerts for the duration of the tour. Following on from the aforementioned controversy over "Formation", The Miami Fraternal Order of Police were reported to be pushing for a national boycott of police officers working the security for the concert, ahead of the tour's opening night in Miami. Other police departments reportedly pushing to avoid the concert included Tampa and Nashville, Tennessee; however a Tampa police spokesperson stated that these 'boycotts' had been blown "way out of proportion".
Rehearsals for the tour took place at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium, which was rented by Live Nation for $745,000. TSA board member Thomas Scott spoke on the large-scale production of the tour after seeing the stage during rehearsals, stating "that's one of the largest stages they ever put up, I don't think I've seen a stage that size". During the same rehearsal period, members of Beyoncé's team met with more than 20 Tampa leaders, including the Tampa Police Chief, for a private luncheon in Ybor City, in which they discussed ways to make Tampa a better city, resulting in Beyoncé making multiple financial pledges to certain initiatives.
Stage
The stage for the tour was described as "a game-changer for what can be achieved in a stadium touring environment. The entire collaboration from scenic, to structure, to mechanics was custom-made to create an epic experience for both Beyoncé and her fans". Designed by Es Devlin and engineered and built collaboratively by Stageco and Tait Towers, the tour's stage features a centerpiece of a revolving 60 foot tall box, made with video screen walls. Known as the 'Monolith', Devlin spoke on the box stating of "wanting this to be the tallest object in the stadium, a piece of kinetic stadium architecture the equivalent of a seven-story, revolving LED building". Devlin also commented the box was perceived as "a giant 3D billboard, a huge LED armor within which Beyoncé is revealed as an all-too-human-scale, real-life figure" and noted that Beyoncé was heavily involved in the creative process of every inch of stages design. The rotations of the box were said to represent a new chapter of the show, in a similar chapter line to that of Lemonade. The box takes approximately 4 minutes to achieve one rotation.The stage also consists of a runway, which also acts as a treadmill leading onto a B-stage that fills with a pool of water. The treadmill on the catwalk was designed to be waterproof in order to withstand unpredictable weather found in outdoor stadiums. The B-stage stores 2,000 gallons of water inside of it and takes approximately 10 minutes to fill up, which occurs without the audience even realizing. The inspiration for the water within the B-stage was inspired by the tour's supporting album Lemonade, in particularly the song "Forward", as the songs message is described as a turning point from anger to forgiveness. "The pool of water is the antithesis to the fire-spitting monolith; the most joyful, redemptive sequence of the show takes place here, from "Freedom" through to "Halo"", stated Devlin. The tour's stage and production was said to be so large that the maximum capacity of some venues was reduced in order to make space for it. A writer for the Belfast Telegraph stated that the maximum capacity for Beyoncé's concert in Dublin at Croke Park was reduced from 82,500 to 75,000 people to allow for the size of the stage, with event organizer Eamon Fox stating "It's a jaw-dropping production and stage show and one of the biggest that's ever been in Croke Park".
Costume design
Beyoncé worked with a variety of designers for her on-stage costumes during the tour. All styled by Beyoncé's stylist, Marni Senofonte, references of the tour's costumes were compared to that of the wild west, the "antebellum south", Africa and BDSM. The opening outfit consisted of a Victorian-inspired look created by Dean and Dan Caten, complete with a crystal embroidered bustier and an oversized western style hat. The hats for Beyoncé and her dancers were made by Baron Hats. The outfit also included leather gloves and a "tattoo lace" bodysuit. Balmain too produced a Victorian themed floral white bodysuit, which contained hand-embroidered pearls, crystals and glass beads. The outfit was accompanied with matching suede boots. Peter Dundas of Roberto Cavalli produced an all-over black crystal embroidered bodysuit for the tour, which also included gold metallic thread and accompanying knee high tiger print boots in a military style. Alessandro Michele working for Gucci designed a sequined bodysuit for Beyoncé, incorporating a geometric print and a red mink fur coat. London based designer Atsuko Kudo designed and produced a more simple bodysuit for the tour, creating an all red latex outfit with shoulder pads and a ruffled neckline. Kudo also stated that in order to make the outfit, a life sized cast of Beyoncé was used in order to fit the latex accurately to her body. Beyoncé also requested to Kudo that the outfit was in sync with the antebellum theme which runs through the tour's supporting album Lemonade, which influenced the inclusion of frills across the chest and scooping neckline. It was also noted how Beyoncé performed barefoot in water during one performance, whilst wearing a simple sequined bodysuit. Beyoncé also sported a Givenchy haute couture by Riccardo Tisci bronze bodysuit, showing an exposed midriff. Beyonce commissioned several ensembles from Inbal Dror, a designer notable for "attention-demanding details like sheer cup corsets, dramatic cut-outs and slits, and barely there silhouettes" for the Tour.During Beyoncé's hometown performance in Houston, Texas, Gucci provided another costume for Beyoncé: a custom bodysuit created with "ruched tulle and sequins and embellished with a black-beaded panther". During the London shows of the tour, Beyoncé debuted a gold leotard covered in 70,000 Swarovski crystals, designed by Julien Macdonald. The outfit also contained 24 carat gold embroidered components. Fishnet tights worn in accompaniment with the tour's outfits were hand dyed in crock pots in order to correctly match the varying skin tones of Beyoncé's dancers. Notable merchandise sold to fans during the tour included "Hot Sauce" tote bags, a nod to the line in her single "Formation", and "Boycott Beyoncé" T-shirts, which were a nod to the aforementioned controversy Beyoncé received after her Super Bowl 50 halftime show.