I Went To The Beyonce Concert and Discovered What Girl Power Is

Beyonce brought all of her flawless fierceness and slaying to San Diego when her Formation Tour stopped in to say hello on May 12, 2016. I, along with my family and 50,000 others were in the crowd.

I never know what to expect when I go to these massive stadium shows. The beauty of attending a live music act is to share a space with an artist and others around you that share the same love for that artist. It’s the ability to connect with someone who we may only know through a computer screen, an Instagram account or sounds of the radio.

But in a stadium, the connection is so physically difficult. The artist is yards away, appearing no larger than a postage stamp. I’m more connected to the men’s bathroom -- which was about 5 paces away -- than I am to the Queen Bey.

But this is Beyonce. Sasha Fierce. One of a short list of entertainers who can stand out in a sea of dancers, a collection of a million LED lights and a stage filled with production technology that I can only imagine must be equivalent to the cost of several acres of coastal property in La Jolla, Calif.

I mean, no joke, part of her stage -- which I’m guessing took up slightly over ⅓ of the Qualcomm Stadium field -- LITERALLY TURNED INTO WATER. The Queen and her dancers walked/danced on water. WTF??!!

If there is a way to connect with an audience in the same way you would during an acoustic set at coffee shop, Beyonce somehow finds a way to do it.

Here I was being blasted with a setlist of songs, of which just a handful I was familiar with, yet I was so engaged.

And just past the halfway point, I realized what was drawing me in. After about the 37th time of Bey asking for the ladies to give themselves a shout out. For being okay for “waking up like this.” For being okay with being independent. For being okay with empowerment.

If the Spice Girls were about girl power, then Beyonce is girl powerized.

You see, I have a daughter.  And everyday I watch as she continues to grow into her own self. Realizing what self worth is and why positive self worth is the thing that will help define her. It is that strong spirit I am most proud to see her nurture within herself.

Raising a girl puts me more in tune with examples of strong, take no BS women. Because my daughter, nor Beyonce, seems to be those type of females.

My daughter is a little ball of girl power. 

On this night, through music, sound and visual, Beyonce connected with me and exemplified what it means to be strong.

I realize I don’t know a whole lot about her outside of the music world. In fact, most of her music that really “speaks” to women naturally never spoke to me.  Yet, I still enjoy the music, I mean who doesn’t bounce to “Love On Top?”

If Beyonce is going to be one -- not the sole one -- but one example of a strong women that my daughter looks up to then I’m good with it.

Beyonce is a women that stands tall, with flawless hair whipping so perfectly as a strategically placed fan blows wind through it while executing perfect booty shakes and dance moves in ankle deep water. She is a woman who is a working mother, a business woman and a philanthropist.

Beyonce certainly is a controversial figure to many ... but, then again most shit disturbers are.

Stop Hating On The Super Bowl Halftime Show

Because you probably could not do it any better

Beyonce, Coldplay and Bruno Mars perform at the Super Bowl 50 Pepsi halftime show. 

Bruno Mars and crew perform Uptown Funk at the Super Bowl Pepsi Halftime Show.

Have you heard the term, “Monday morning quarterback?” It’s the guy, the one that played second string JV defensive linebacker in high school, telling everyone on Monday morning what the professional football team he watches should have done, what calls the coach should have made and what tackles should have been completed.

All of this, despite the fact he’s never competed past that junior varsity level and has no clue what it’s really like.

The Super Bowl brings another Monday morning person ... actually a few different types. It’s The Monday Morning Hair Stylist, Wardrobe Stylist, Music Critic, Performance Judge and Advertising Executive.

It’s people who don’t do any of these things for a living, but yet feel the need to criticize what people on TV are wearing or singing about; how they dance or that the commercials they are watching suck because it didn't make them laugh. 

These two types of people collide today, the day after the Super Bowl. The morning QB's whine about missed opportunities, and that other group of people is a critic to everything else non-football related.

In particular is the much anticipated half time show. Every year, it’s the same thing. If the chosen entertainment is some “older” act, like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney or Bruce Springsteen than the Millennial crowd will cry “who dis.”

And when it’s a “younger” act, like, oh I don’t know, Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Coldplay, the late Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers will shout about how awful music is becoming.

And what’s worse, because they don’t like the music, these people are attacking with unnecessary, racially hateful barbs as well as attacks on personal appearance, political stance and ethnicity.

This is a sample if screen shots from the Breitbart Facebook Page, specifically attacking Beyonce.

It’s Nirvana’s lyrics coming to life .... “here we are now, entertain us.”

But what this comes down to is people are disliking a piece of art, and because of that, the artist is fat pig or an ungrateful, spoiled rich brat. This way of thinking is awful and a sad glimpse into the minds of Americans.

People are deducing that they don’t like the way Beyonce dances to a few seconds of Crazy In Love, so now she is uglier than Michelle Obama.

W.T.F.?????

As someone that plays music for diverse audiences all the time, I know a thing or two about music tastes. I also know that the term “good music” is subjective.

So stop criticizing others. Stop with the vicious attacks. Just because you don’t like the way something sounds, doesn’t mean the person creating that sound is “ugly.”

Because in the end, all of this complaining means nothing. As my friend Matt says, “Let it be known, no one cares about what you think you are so sure of. You are not a politician, you don't know anything about political science or you'd be wise enough to not share idiotic political memes every five seconds.”

And further, you are likely not a hair or wardrobe stylist or a music critic or performance judge. It's time to put and end to the Monday morning bitch sessions. Either that or get up off that couch and make it to the Super Bowl halftime show and show us how you could make it better.

Because all this whining, complaining and being hateful only brings those similar hateful people into your life. A life that, for you, will likely wind up being unhappy and unfilled.

**Photos courtesy of The New York Times.