SSome of Beyoncé's most iconic moments are on the American football field. Her tremendous performance at the 2013 Super Bowl with the Destiny's Child reunion was eclipsed by a guest appearance on Coldplay's own halftime show in 2016, and she paid tribute to the Black Panthers, giving the U.S. “It's cool now to embrace violence, mayhem, and frankly even racial segregation in the cause of civil rights,'' the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank said at the time, surprising quite a few in the demographic. did). The 2018 Coachella performance “Homecoming” featured college football majors and marching bands to celebrate historically black colleges and universities, even though it wasn't on a football field.
On Wednesday, as the Texans took on the Baltimore Ravens, she once again used the football game as a place to question and play with American iconography in a Christmas halftime show streamed on Netflix from her native Houston.
Beyoncé is in the football business. Since 2019, her husband Jay-Z's company Roc Nation has partnered with the NFL to book halftime entertainment and guide social justice initiatives. (Jay-Z, however, has faced criticism for the role for aligning himself with an industry that banned Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee to protest racially motivated violence.) Beyoncé also has a subconscious sense that she's playing to win. Artists, like elite athletes, are dedicated to improving their craft, and like elite athletes, they are the subject of endless fan debate about who is the greatest of all time.
The Christmas Day performance marks the first time Beyoncé will perform live songs from her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, adding a whole new dimension to country music. She rides a white horse, wears a wide cowboy hat that looks like a ZIP code, sings “16 Carriages” as she passes people on horseback, and joins African American equestrian clubs across the country. It begins with a pre-recorded segment that acknowledges the tradition of. across the South, and indeed across the nation. As part of the Cowboy Carter Project, there was a strong emphasis on the contributions of black Americans to country music and culture (not everyone was convinced), and here it is. Next up is her cover of the Beatles' Blackbird by the Black Country quartet. Backing singers.
Any solemn atmosphere is blown away when the stadium performance begins with Ya Ya. The song's frenetic vibe was tremendous in the studio version, but changed live. Beyoncé, who has at times been stiff or boringly pompous during her live performances, visibly relaxed during her Renaissance world tour and remains thrillingly unruly here. She wanders through an auditorium filled with brass players and dancers, rolling her eyes and mockingly moving her hands in playful, playful motions in the style of black artists from Little Richard to Janelle Monáe.
Halftime shows are always more packed than the turkey of the day, but this one quickly became a veritable hit mess. It's a mega mix that brings in My House, Riverdance, and Sweet Honey Buckiin with special guest Shaboozey. In that case, I feel it would be a little disrespectful not to let them hear at least a little bit of this year's leading black country anthem, Tipsy (A Bar Song).
As Beyoncé and Post Malone sing while wandering around a denim-clad pickup truck, Levi's jeans are being given a little more space. So the whiff of branding grows stronger, and some may feel that the way this song leans into Colpone's melody comes close to mocking the genre, but it's a self-awareness, a sign of stupidity. It's attractive enough inside.
A banner playfully proclaims that we are in the midst of a “Ho-Ho-Hoe Down,” followed by a cover of Jolene. Even Beyoncé's stance has a hard time supporting this version, which severely alters the dynamics of the original. Beyoncé succumbs to her arrogant personality. She doesn't get vulnerable and beg like Parton, she just threatens. Live, the marching band drummers and brass sounds are great and give a dazzling pomp, but be sure to take in the lasso trick in the background while Beyoncé cruises around in a lowrider. There are many. Not everything fits this damaged American standard.
But everyone is at least setting themselves up for a winning ending, and Texas Hold'em turns out to be a spectacular contradiction. There's something familiar and comforting about that beat, like the gentle tapping of a trusty old horse's skin. Only here, Beyoncé is joined by dozens of musicians and dancers, including her daughter Blue Ivy. The bright white of everyone's costumes is dazzling and downright theatrical, but perhaps also influenced by how her all-black outfit was received in 2016.
At the end she was held aloft and the word “Bang!” was heard. It flared out beneath her like a cartoon pistol. Her playfulness in making fun of cowboys and eviscerating them angers some country fans who see Beyoncé as a tourist. However, that playfulness is also the reason why her recent live shows are so exciting.
