Review: Beyonce I Am Tour Atlanta, GA 7-1-09

Not only has Beyonce mastered singing and dancing for two hours straight, but she's mastered making concert goers feel like they're watching her do what she was born to do - perform live.

As a long time Beyonce fan AKA a "Beyonce Stan," I was more than excited to buy my concert tickets through a Ticket master pre-sale in April. I put the July 1^st date in my I Phone's planner and set it to alert me two days before the concert. That's when I started brainstorming on my concert attire.

My husband was a reluctant concert-goer. He's more of a Jimmie Hendrix/Citizen Cope music lover. No room for pop music stars like Beyonce in his CD collection. However, once she took the stage even his opinion changed. His eyes lit up and danced around following the pop star across the stage.

Beyonce performing live can make the Energizer Bunny look like a slacker. She sang, gyrated and skipped her away around the stage effortlessly. Then let her band, dancers and background singers show their chops while she changed outfits. (I counted as least six from the looks of my digital photos.) My favorite interlude was when bass player, Divinity Roxx, provided the hottest Michael Jackson tribute with her take on some of his hits.

The Atlanta performance had a little lull in the energy level early on when Beyonce performed "Ave Maria." It was the exact same performance from the BET awards last week. I understand the "artistic" effort. But that's not what I or the rest of the crowd wants to see from Beyonce live performance.

The crowd got even more engrossed when Beyonce flew into the air thanks to a harness, did a few in air flips, and landed on a separate center stage in the middle of the floor. That's when she belted out "Say My Name" and some of her other Destiny's Child Hits. She even grabbed a NY Yankees cap from someone in the crowd and sported it while singing "Crazy in Love" with the obvious reference to her husband, Jay Z's tendency to sport the blue cap.

The high point of the night was her signature "Single Ladies: Put a Ring on It" video interlude showcasing the hundreds of people who took to You tube with their interpretations of the black/white video featuring black leotards. The crowd loved it when the famous "chunky" guy who made his own "Single Ladies" video took the stage with Beyonce for the infamous left hand wave.

The night wrapped with a special MJ tribute. The huge concert screens filled with home video of a pint sized Beyonce when she was five years old. She danced around with excitement because she was about to go see her idol, Michael Jackson, performing live. Then she performed an extended version of "Halo" dedicated to the King of Pop.

My first time seeing her live in concert definitely won't be my last. Look out New Orleans! Beyonce's coming your way for the July 4^th weekend Essence Festival.