Beyoncé's Big Night

Beyoncé's big night: Superstar singer returns home and feels the love at high-energy show

There are a lot of bleary-eye Beyoncé fans this morning. The superstar singer brought The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour to her hometown Monday night and just about blew the roof off the Toyota Center with a high-energy, thrill-packed, two-hour show that lasted until almost midnight and left the sold-out crowd exhausted from a nearly non-stop sing-along dance marathon.

"I'm home," she said to deafening applause just before launching into her third song of the evening, "Flaws and All." "Houston means so much to me. No matter where I go, it's who I am. I hope I make you guys proud."

"I'm home," she said to deafening applause. "Houston means so much to me. No matter where I go, it's who I am. I hope I make you guys proud."

The singer has been on tour nearly non-stop since April, having already appeared in 47 European and U.S. cities on an extended jaunt that will last through December. Yet she made it seem like she was performing the show for the first time with an undisguised glee to be in front of a hometown crowd and a near-pathological desire to entertain.

Backed by an 11-piece female band, three back-up singers known as The Mamas, several female dancers and two male dancers called Les Twins, Beyoncé whipped through 24 songs — a mix of hip hop-tinged hits, female empowerment anthems and irresistible dance tunes (how can you not shake to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)?") — and eight costume changes. She and the dancers almost never stopped moving (she should patent a workout program of knee bends and hair flips) and while some of the numbers were a little cheesy — as she sang "Diva," the dancers twirled around her with feather fans like a Busby Berkeley musical —they were almost always riveting.

The set-up of the show played to her strengths. The entire floor of the Toyota Center was general admission standing room only, so fans packed close to the main stage at one end and a secondary stage at the other end. Nothing kills a show faster than older people who have paid a lot for floor seats and never stand up (Eric Clapton's spring show was a prime example); that certainly wasn't a problem here as the enthusiasm of the crowd, mostly under 35 and a mosaic of Houston's diversity, provided an electric spark that seemed to energize the singer.

Toward the end of the show, she flew above the crowd like Peter Pan to the other stage even closer to the audience, where she sang three of her biggest hits, "Irreplaceable," Love on Top," and the Destiny's Child hit, "Survivor," and declared, "I love this part of the show because I'm close to you guys."

As a gift to her Houston audience, she threw in “Bow Down,” a chopped and screwed ode to her present success and her childhood in H-Town. It's the first time she has performed the song in concert.

She also positioned ecstatic fans near the stage for the closer, the hit "Halo," and waded among her admirers as she hit all the high notes.

While other singers might be loathe to play other performers' dance hits before they take to the stage, Beyoncé had no such worries. The audience grooved to songs by Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake and the whole side of the arena stood up and danced The Wobble as they waited for the singer to take the stage around 9:40 p.m. By the time she launched into her first song, "Run the World (Girls)," with all-out dance choreography, the audience was primed and ready to party.

And she didn't stop. Whether it was writhing atop a piano in a sequined blue catsuit and matching heels to the sensual song "1 + 1," channeling her Sasha Fiercest in a green leopard mini and shimmying like Tina Turner to "Why Don't You Love Me?" or adding a military cadence to a mashup of "If I Were a Boy" with The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony," Beyoncé commanded the crowd's attention.

By the time she got to "Halo," preceded by a Whitney Houston-worthy version of "I Will Always Love You," her voice was almost spent. But she wouldn't stop and closed the concert with a powerhouse vocal performance.

Earlier in the evening, she told the audience that she was so lucky to have their support. "I will never take it for granted," she vowed.

We believe her.

Beyonce commanded the stage like a true music superstar in her Houston concert.

Photo courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment

Beyonce commanded the stage like a true music superstar in her Houston concert.

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Movie Review

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck square off in Netflix crime thriller The Rip

Photo by Claire Folger/Netflix

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in The Rip.

For as closely tied together as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are, it might come as a surprise how few times they’ve led a movie together. They’ve appeared alongside each other in Good Will Hunting, The Last Duel, and Air, but the only time they were on equal footing in a story was Kevin Smith’s Dogma. So the fact that they are the two true stars of the new Netflix movie The Rip makes it a rare opportunity for the longtime friends to square off against each other.

Damon and Affleck play Lt. Dane Dumars and Detective Sgt. J.D Byrne, respectively, the two highest ranking members of a Miami police department squad that specializes in drug and drug money raids. A tragedy to begin the film already has the team — which includes Detectives Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandina Moreno) — on edge, with the FBI and DEA breathing down their neck.

Going off a tip, Dumars gathers the team to raid a house in nearby Hialeah that is supposed to have a stash of a relatively small amount of money. But when they get to the house occupied only by Desiree Molina (Sasha Calle), they discover close to $20 million. The team, required by law to count the money on site, must not only fight the urge to skim a little off the top for themselves, but also worry about the Cartel and other agencies that might want a slice of the pie.

Written and directed by Joe Carnahan, the film is a surprisingly effective crime thriller made even better by its high-quality cast, which also includes Kyle Chandler as a DEA agent. The story is designed for the audience to not know who’s trustworthy until the last possible second, and the various twists and turns it takes are well done, with barely a hint of narrative cheating.

Taking place entirely at night, the mood is set right from the start, with the only surprise being that Carnahan didn’t add in rain for extra effect. He keeps things tense with a number of subtle elements, including having the house located in a seemingly deserted cul-de-sac. This allows for the characters to remain on high alert at all times, with anything out of the ordinary — an unexpected noise, a flashing light, etc. — adding to the stress of the situation.

The only element that could have used a bit more of a punch-up is the characterization. The story is set up to cast suspicion on almost everybody, making it tougher to understand exactly what type of person each of them is. As the two leads, more time is spent with Dumars and Byrne, leaving everyone else with slightly underwhelming arcs. It’s to the credit of the actors that everyone else below Damon and Affleck is still compelling.

Damon and Affleck play their sometimes friendly, sometimes adversarial roles well, showing an ease together that’s a result of their friendship and the acting skills they’ve honed over 30+ years. Taylor, an Oscar hopeful for One Battle After Another, and Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Yeun have a pedigree that elevates their supporting roles. Chandler, Moreno, and Calle each get just enough to demonstrate why they were cast in their respective roles.

Damon and Affleck have had their individual ups and downs throughout their careers, but when they choose to work together, the results are usually good-to-great, as they are in The Rip. It’s a different take on a crime thriller that features a story that will keep viewers guessing until the very end.

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The Rip is now streaming on Netflix.

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