I am a share when perfect girlie, not a work-in-progress girlie. Reflecting on the Cowboy Carter tour is helping me reverse my perfectionism by focusing on four affirmations.
Affirmation 1: Be a diligent student of what inspires you and connect those dots back to yourself.
Don’t be afraid to take a path that veers from the norm. I’m betting that for many Cowboy Carter tour attendees, it was our first time attending anything close to a country music concert. I never thought I’d see dancers execute moves reminiscent of hoedown routines from my elementary PE classes in a masterfully choreographed performance. It was also in this setting I finally realized my favorite vocal practice of Beyoncé’s — a tactic she often utilizes that accesses the richest, most tender part of her voice — has actually been a yodel all along. Many attendees including myself had never worn a cowboy hat to a live music performance, yet we delivered above and beyond the assumed brief. Tour ambassadors even doled out coveted Rodeo Queen prizes to those who executed the theme in an outstanding way, rewarding and acknowledging her fans’ history of sartorially interpreting album concepts.
📝 The Anti-Perfectionism Lesson: Lean into the unexpected. 10 or even five years ago, no one genuinely expected a cohesively executed country music tour from pop and R&B’s brightest star.
💇🏼♀️ They did not expect her fanbase to stretch Western wear to new breadths of creativity — I’m still so very impressed by the chaps made from #613 hair extensions. (IG: __.layla).
🚧 Don’t be afraid to take a path that veers from the norm. A deep understanding of your ‘who’ and your ‘why’ will always empower you to create beyond what the masses expect. Do your homework and create in whatever direction you’re led.
Affirmation 2: I am my own deepest reference.
The most powerful parts of the show came during moments of self-reference, Beyoncé cleverly incorporating her daughters into the performance to execute this in a fresh way. Her mastery at this technique was evidenced with a video montage displaying her prowess in performance that began as a young girl. The quickly moving collage captured all of the different roads she’s traveled as an artist before she sang the song representing her journey, “16 Carriages.” It was undoubtedly the most moving interlude of the night, prompting fans to consider how her work conversed with their own lives for the last 20-plus years. I couldn’t help but reminisce about where I was when I received each individual work — from being a child believing that anything was possible to a young adult, allowing her to vocalize both my ambitions and fears in a way that I wasn’t yet capable of doing.
Perhaps even more notable on this tour than previous ones, was her practice of recontextualizing songs, angling them to converse with one another and the greater social landscape. Blending Jimmy Hendrix’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with her songs “Freedom,” “Ya Ya” and “Why Don’t You Love Me?” interspersed with historical excerpts gave the show an energetic charge that I did not see coming.
📝 The Anti-Perfectionism Lesson: Releasing work or finishing a project does not automatically mean the end of that particular creative expression. Any reference made to herself or commentary surrounding her career added layers of texture to the concert.
♾️ When something feels flat or overly “done,” consider how it can be reframed in a fresh way. Borrowing from myself while adding new (or historical) elements creates new meaning. Whatever I touch forever holds my fingerprints, and I can revisit it however and whenever I please.
Affirmation 3: I have the power to extend my impact.
In a digital first world, tangible items matter now more than ever. The merchandise lines opened a day before the concert and were still the longest I’ve seen at any live performance in my life (including previous Beyonce concerts).
The morning after the show, I spotted a fellow attendee at a craft store where she was purchasing a shadowbox to preserve the physical items she gathered from the previous night. Included was her light-up wristband, a purchased T-shirt, a club level wristband and souvenir dollars that rained down on the floor section crowd.
She was even kind enough to share a couple of her Beyoncé bucks with me, which I am also preserving.
📝 The Anti-Perfectionism Lesson: Although concert prices are at an all-time high, attendees are no longer left with cardstock stubs to touch and reference and reminisce once the night is over. If you attend a show and decline to make another purchase, you have no physical memorabilia from the event.
📲 Even cell phone videos of the performance will eventually become obsolete — just look at the clips in my phone from my very first Bey concert in 2014.
🛍️ All creatives showcasing their work as live experiences need not only think of the idea transfer from concept to audience. We must also extend the impact of that exchange with tangible items.
Affirmation 4: I am enough the same way Beyoncé is enough.
Please, enlighten me: Since when is a concert that features “only” Beyoncé ever a disappointment? My wildest takeaway from the Cowboy Carter tour didn’t originate with Beyoncé at all, but from the Beyhive. I was a bit bewildered by the disdain amongst so-called ‘Hive about the preferential treatment of her Paris, Atlanta and Las Vegas audiences. Paris fans were treated to surprise performances by Miley Cyrus and Jay-Z, with Atlanta receiving the latter. Closing night in Las Vegas ended the tour with a bang, shocking everyone with a Destiny’s Child reunion, Shaboozey and Jay-Z features.
When it comes to the DC3 appearance, I can only hope for a future tour of the world’s greatest girl group. But aside from that bit of heartbreak — or glimmer of hope depending on your outlook — let’s be real.
In essence, CC25 began with the “Beyonce Bowl” Netflix special filmed in Houston, during which Shaboozey performed. Beyoncé has toured with Jay-Z TWICE. Millennial audiences had opportunities to see them share the stage in 2014 and 2018.
I refuse to believe that the same fans who were ahead of me in the Ticketmaster queue are also the same people crowding a TM waiting room for a Miley Cyrus concert. Yes, I would have loved to hear “II Most Wanted,” but I literally got everything else (my condolences to Houston N2 on the “16 Carriages” absence).
📝 The Anti-Perfectionism Lesson: When you’re confident in your offering, stick to it. Because even when you deliver a product better than everything else on the market, some will still carve out a complaint.
✊🏾 Do not be deterred or disheartened. Deliver according to your own standard without distraction.
Bonus Affirmation: My ideas are worth executing through discomfort.
I had a bit of an outlandish idea for my outfit. I really wanted to represent the two Texas skylines that mean the most to me, Dallas and Houston, on my cowboy boots. After having the idea for a while, I figured the tour was a great opportunity to execute a prototype and expose it to a large audience for live feedback. The process itself was wildly intimidating and the act of sharing my work in progress was extremely uncomfortable.
📝 The Anti-Perfectionism Lesson: Embrace discomfort and execute anyway. The positive response was overwhelming. With each direct comment and interested glance I felt my bravery increase bit by bit.
🧮 I re-learned that not everything has to be perfectly completed before sharing. The most impactful makers are always in process.