In praise of the Cowboy Carter Tour Camera Crew

With the tour officially closed [insert my sad face], can we take a minute to give the camera crew their flowers? There are so many elements of this tour that are just world class -- Bey very clearly surrounds herself with master craftspeople and artists from lighting, to production design, musicians, singers, dancers, costume designers and creatives from every discipline. But one element that I think doesn't get enough love is the live visuals up on those giant screens.

Every artist playing an arena or stadium is, of course, going to have live footage on the screens, but I have never seen any other artist's live videography come close to what Bey has at CCT (other than, you know, at RWT.)

Like virtually everything she touches, you know an Everest size amount of work, an incredible amount of effort has gone into this single element of the tour and yet, also like her actual performance, they make it look so effortless. Every single angle, every single framing of a shot, every single movement of the camera, every look to the lens is done with intent that brings an unbelievable sense of intimacy to a massive stadium and a cinematic flow that just captivates.

The live footage is never competing with or working against the actual live performance, or the per-recorded visuals, but meaningfully enhancing and elevating them. And Bey herself? Wow, her decades of experience on stage and in front of the camera have paid off in spades here. I've never seen another performer who can so seamlessly switch between performing directly to the camera and then directly to the stadium and back and forth again and again -- sometimes dozens of times in one song. And those camera people, cinematographers, directors and crew are with her there every step of the way. It's just an incredible artistic and technical achievement and I really hope, one day we get to see more official footage over and over. (Hopefully those HBO rumblings are true!)