Beyoncé occupies a special place among all the stars of this millennium. Besides acting, singing and dancing, she also distinguishes herself as a writer and producer of her own hits. She often also manages to make a feminist point (Independent Women, Run The World, Bootylicious). On the DVD Live At Roseland, that message is also conveyed by a band consisting entirely of female musicians. In this
… show, Beyoncé tells her own history through short fragments of her solo hits and those of Destiny's Child. Fortunately, this DVD is subtitled, because the story that the American tells can certainly be heard. The number of classics she has to her name is large, but by not playing a single song in full, the performance does not really get going. That seems exactly the intention, because the tension also rises with every song. Only when the singer arrives in her memories of her most recent album 4 (2011), the musical fireworks erupt. Yet this is not a Greatest Hits spectacle, because the theatrical elements are largely omitted. What remains is a heartfelt show that seems to come straight from the heart. (JE)more
