Beyoncé Slays L.A. at Opening Night of Cowboy Carter Tour: Review & Best Moments

“We’re going to scream our faces off!”

So declared two cowboy-garbed fans even before Beyoncé stepped onstage to kick off the first show of her Cowboy Carter Tour last night (April 28). Multiply those two sets of screams by the thousands of others screaming, cheering and dancing inside Inglewood, Calif.’s SoFi Stadium throughout the 35–time Grammy winner’s nearly three-hour performance and that’s how “fun,” “amazing” and “memorable” — as excited fans noted afterwards — the opening night proved to be.

The screaming began at 8:02 p.m. when the lights dimmed and the image of the flag emblazoned across the giant video grid/screen backing the stage (reminiscent of the set-up for Bey’s Renaissance tour stop at SoFi two years earlier) took full effect. Surrounding the front of the catwalk, which stretched out to the center of the venue, were hundreds of fans in standing-only areas milling around to claim their prime viewing space for the show ahead.

There was no opening act. But as the clock ticked down to 8:14 p.m., the audience’s screams and shouts reached a crescendo as lines of female and male dancers were sighted walking in from both sides of the stage. Then the band struck up the first notes of “Ameriican Requiem,” the opening track from Cowboy Carter. Seconds later, Beyoncé appeared, resplendent in all-white from her cowboy hat and form-fitting body suit to a matching fringed jacket and boots. With her waist-length blonde hair blowing behind her, Beyoncé and her dancers — sporting thigh-high white boots — led the audience in a fervent sing-along. And it was on from there.

It was an evening stockpiled with strong-voiced performances, mesmerizing video imagery and staging (golden cows; various iterations of the flag and its red, white & blue motif; a red Cadillac convertible; a neon sign repping her haircare line Cécred as part of a set decoration during one performance) as well as empowerment themes, love of family and “oh my god”-eliciting surprises.

In addition to the “American Requiem” opener, here are several more of the evening’s highlights.