Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour kicks off with giant progress Pride flag: ‘New level of mothering’
Beyoncé’s tour features a pride flag stage design (@beyoncegarden/ Twitter)
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is set to kick off and fans think a gigantic progress Pride flag has been worked into the stage design… sort of.
It would not be an understatement to say that lots of people have been desperate to see what Beyoncé does on her latest world tour. Will she perform just the album, front to back? Are there any special guests?
Announced on 1 February, information on anything from stage design to the set list of the tour to herald Queen B’s seventh studio album, Renaissance, have been characteristically thin on the ground.
Until now.
With the first fans already in the stadium, pictures of merchandise, the tour’s programme and the stage design and backdrop have leaked on to Twitter – and there was one big, gay surprise.
The backdrop of the pre-show stage contains colour bars, reminiscent of those that flash up on TV when there’s no signal – apart from the fact that Beyoncé’s colours contain every shade of the progress Pride flag, which, along with the classic six tones, incorporate black, brown and the colours of the trans flag.
That’s mother – and Twitter thinks so too.
“Beyoncé really said f**k the bigots with a gigantic Pride flag, huh?” wrote one particularly astute fan.
Another added that Beyoncé seemed to have taken it upon herself to shift the date on which Pride month occurs: “Beyonce said we’re going to start Pride in May. We’re not waiting for June.”
And another wrote: “Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, mother of the house. Pride month as early as possible.”
BEYONCE SAID WE GOIN START PRIDE IN MAY!! WE NOT WAITING FOR JUNE 😫😭😭😭😭😭
— 🪩RENEIGH WORLD TOUR🪩 (@virgosgrooveIV) May 10, 2023
Renaissance is widely seen as Beyoncé’s love letter to the LGBTQ+ community.
Aside from being widely commended for drawing upon the work of queer Black artists from across time and genres, such as the Black transgender DJ and producer Honey Dijon and 90s drag artist Moi Renee, it is also a tribute to her late, gay uncle Johnny.
Amid other queer references, Beyoncé spells out the colours of the progress Pride flag in her song “Cozy” – a hit she’s sure to perform during the tour.
However, a few queer fans were less than impressed when she kicked off 2023 by performing at the opening of the Atlantis The Royal, a hotel in Dubai, where homosexuality is still punishable by death.
The Renaissance World Tour starts tonight (10 May) in Stockholm, Sweden.
Fans can get their hands on remaining tickets from ticketmaster.co.uk and ticketmaster.com.
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