Not even mother nature herself can keep Beyoncé from entertaining her fans.
Not even Mother Nature herself can keep Beyoncé from entertaining her fans.
Concertgoers who showed up early and ready for Sunday's stop on the Renaissance World Tour at FedEx Field in North Englewood, Maryland -- adjacent to Washington, D.C., -- were met with some frightening weather conditions.
A shelter-in-place warning was issued at around 6:30 p.m. ET, and the news was posted to Twitter by FedEx Field's official account, telling fans how to proceed.
"Due to lightning in the area, we are currently under a shelter in place order," the message read. "Fans outside of gates and in the parking lots are asked to return to their cars. All fans inside of the stadium are asked to shelter in place under covered concourse areas and ramps until further notice. Thank you for your patience."
Approximately 50,000 concertgoers were forced to huddle together under cover as the storm raged overhead and torrential rain poured down on and around the stadium.
However, at round 8:25 p.m., the "all clear" was issued, and the planned concert was able to proceed, to the relief and delight of fans.
"We’re all clear. Fans may return to their seats," FedEx Field posted.
Because of the concert's late start -- and thus delayed end -- it was announced that Metro service hours would be extended for the tens of thousands of fans who used public transit to get to the stadium and back home.
The cost of the extended hours of operation, which was reportedly around $100,000, was covered by the tour itself.
As for the show itself, fans noted that, during Beyoncé performance of her "Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)" song -- which notably name-checks a running list of iconic Black women entertainers including Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Lizzo, Lauryn Hill, Janet Jackson, Missy Elliot and Aretha Franklin, among several others -- she included Lizzo's name once more.
During a stop in Boston on Tuesday, the singer seemed to switch things up. Beyoncé seemed to swap the lyric "Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Row" in favor of repeating "Badu" four times. Some previously saw this as an allusion to the recent controversy surrounding the lawsuit filed against Lizzo by three former back-up dancers.
After the speculation reached a fever pitch, Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles, responded to those claims in an Instagram comment on The Jasmine Brand account, writing, "She also didn't say her own sisters name yal should really stop."
However, the "sister" in question appears to be Beyoncé's former Destiny's Child bandmate, Kelly Rowland, as her biological sister, Solange Knowles, was mentioned in the performance.
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