Port Ghalib hosted one of the years biggest concerts this weekend on November 6th 2009 with the debut of Beyonce’s “I Am... Tour.” Khaleejesque’s Entertainment Guru Abdullah Al-Mulaifi caught the amazing concert and describes a day he will never forget.
When Beyonce first announced she was going on a world tour in support of her latest album, I got so excited and kept hoping she would come to a place close to Kuwait. She consistently added dates all across Europe, Asia and North America but nowhere near me. The tour started in March in Europe, then during the summer she was touring the United States and after that she performed in venues in Asia. I completely lost hope that I would catch her in concert but one day I was checking her tour schedule and I saw that she added Egypt to her tour in November! I was completely shocked and excited and called all my friends to tell them that we had to go, even though we were still in early September. After countless phone calls to Egypt and online ticket sellers, I finally got my ticket in October; a travel agency in Kuwait provided a package complete with concert tickets, plane tickets, and hotel accommodation; soon everyone in Kuwait knew Beyonce was coming to Port Ghalib since large posters and radio promos started appearing.
November finally came and the day before the concert we flew to Port Ghalib; two special planes were booked to take all of the concertgoers to Port Ghalib (I really didn’t expect all these people to be going, people from all ages were with us on the plane). We arrived at Port Ghalib, a beautiful small resort town located along the Red Sea. The weather was amazing and it was better than I expected; they had many coffee shops and restaurants as well as fun activities like water sports and para sailing plus a golf club and a horse-riding arena.
The day of the concert I woke up early, too excited to sleep. The concert was scheduled to start at 10:30 pm on a small man-made island; but we headed to the island on a water taxi at 5pm to get good seats. We were the first in line, and at 6:30pm they opened the gates; we ran in! Thank God we found the perfect place, right in front of the stage! We played games, listened to music and chatted with each other to pass the time.
At around 9pm a DJ started to play some music, then at 9:45pm a British trapeze act performed in the air, flying and gliding over us. A great display of fireworks signaled that it was time and around 10:30 pm everything went dark; my heart stopped! Suddenly the huge black curtain covering the stage opened and I could see a silhouette of a woman standing holding a microphone. Suddenly it hit me, this is it! OMG it's Beyonce!
The music started playing loudly and she opened with her hit song Crazy In Love. The crowd went wild and the cheers never stopped. The moment was surreal, and she continued performing other hit songs like “Freakum Dress”, “Naughty Girl” and “Upgrade U.” I could see her face so clear and I know she saw me; she looked straight at me and winked when I showed her my t-shirt (I was wearing a cool T-shirt with Beyonce's face on it but with a twist). “Irreplaceable” was next, the whole crowd was singing with her, it was so fantastic that she turned her microphone to us and listened as we sang every lyric. Clearly she was happy and her constant smiles and thank-yous signaled that even more. She was shocked with the amazing audience since it was her first time in Egypt and didn’t know what to expect.
Beyonce’s outfits changed a couple of times throughout the concert. She sang more of her songs as well amazing hits from Destiny's Child with was a huge screen behind her that showcased videos directed especially for the tour; like mini music videos before a couple of the songs of “Sweet Dreams” and “If I Were A Boy.”
Next it was time for one of biggest songs this year, “Single Ladies.” A video introduction showed all of the youtube videos that were made by fans copying the infamous music video and dance moves. She then came out and performed the song and did the amazing choreography that she did in the video; the crowd went even more insane and everyone started doing the trademark hand-twisting move. It was around 12am when Beyonce performed her final song “Halo”, which was also a tribute to one of her idols Michael Jackson (a video of her when she was a kid going to one of MJ's concerts was displayed on the screen then later a picture of Michael himself). Before she finished, she came down from the stage and started singing and walking around the audience. I couldn’t believe it and my heart was racing, she passed right in front of and was at arm's length away and best of all touched my hand! What a way to conclude the night!
She went back on the stage to finish the song and then she thanked us again and thanked the entire crew, dancers, and her band. The curtain slowly closed as she waved to the audience; I was still hungry for more and I didn’t want her to leave.
Finally a dream of mine came true and it was well worth the wait. I think Beyonce is the best performer amidst her generation; she sings (live not lip-synching like some stars) and dances throughout the entire show. She’s very hands-on with the tour since she was one of the creative directors of the show as well as coming up with the choreography and help creating the costumes with famous designer Theirry Mugler; I can see why the “I Am... Tour” is one of the most successful tours of this year, earning about $90 million so far. I cannot wait for her next tour and I’m sure she will top this one, like she does every time with every song, video and performance.
Port Ghalib hosted one of the years biggest concerts this weekend on November 6th 2009 with the debut of Beyonce’s “I Am... Tour.” Khaleejesque’s Entertainment Guru Abdullah Al-Mulaifi caught the amazing concert and describes a day he will never forget.
Next it was time for one of biggest songs this year, “Single Ladies.” A video introduction showed all of the youtube videos that were made by fans copying the infamous music video and dance moves. She then came out and performed the song and did the amazing choreography that she did in the video; the crowd went even more insane and everyone started doing the trademark hand-twisting move. It was around 12am when Beyonce performed her final song “Halo”, which was also a tribute to one of her idols Michael Jackson (a video of her when she was a kid going to one of MJ's concerts was displayed on the screen then later a picture of Michael himself). Before she finished, she came down from the stage and started singing and walking around the audience. I couldn’t believe it and my heart was racing, she passed right in front of and was at arm's length away and best of all touched my hand! What a way to conclude the night! 