Isaac Brekken/WireImage

Beyonce at the Encore Theater in the Wynn.

By Don Chareunsy

Published Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009 | 7:38 a.m.

Updated Monday, Aug. 3, 2009 | 1:30 p.m.

*Check out this story with accompanying photos and two photo galleries at VegasDeLuxe.com.*

By Don Chareunsy, Vegas DeLuxe editor

In Beyonce’s megahit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), the superstar singer, actress and multiple Grammy Award winner sings, “If you like it then you should have put a ring on it,” while putting her hand up.

After last night’s I Am … Yours North American tour stop in the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas -- the second performance in a four-concert stand that ends tomorrow night -- Beyonce can have 10 rings for her fingers.

Twenty-two minutes after the scheduled start time, a voice intoned, “Please enjoy an intimate night with Beyonce,” and Beyonce’s talented all-female band was off, but where was Sasha Fierce? Moments later to thunderous applause and screams, Beyonce Giselle Knowles descended the right-side steps of the Encore Theater singing “Hello” from her current album I Am … Sasha Fierce and looking stunning in a white and silver sleeveless top with matching silver-gray leggings.

After “Hello,” she greeted the audience with “Hello, Las Vegas! Welcome to the show tonight,” then explained that the first half of her tightly choreographed 1-hour, 40-minute show would be music from her new aforementioned album and that the arrangements would be mostly acoustic. She also praised the intimacy of the Encore Theater, with about 1,500 seats, versus the stadiums she had been playing: “I can see all of your faces.”

Next up was her most recent Top 5 hit “Halo,” to which the audience sang along. The audience once again, to Beyonce’s urging, sang along, this time to “Irreplaceable,” which became a competition. Not surprisingly and humorously, the audience “to the left, to the left” of Beyonce onstage won after she implored everyone “to add attitude, add a little gangsta,” which the audience humorously failed to do.

For her next song, “Sweet Dreams,” also her latest single and video, Beyonce began what would become a theme of the night, mixing her songs with others artists’ work that is similar in topic. For “Sweet Dreams,” it was Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love,” to which Beyonce added grit and hit out of the park. For “If I Were a Boy,” it was Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” a genius melding that would receive the first standing ovation of the evening.

After a short intermission and the introduction of her female and male backup dancers, Beyonce re-emerged in those silver-gray leggings that were actually a sleeveless cat suit and a matching cape with jeweled embellishments on the shoulders. Speaking of jewels, during “That’s Why You’re Beautiful,” a sparkling wall of crystals was lowered as a backdrop and was nearly as mesmerizing as Beyonce’s bountiful cleavage. She mixed “Beautiful” with Prince’s “Baby” in a raw, gut-wrenching, on-her-knees rendition that was a vocal highlight of the evening, but which was sadly lost on most of the under-age-30 audience members.

From acoustic to up-tempo

Before transitioning her concert up-tempo, Beyonce praised Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker, and then scatted for the audience before launching into “Deja Vu.” Then it was an intermission (for another outfit change) that was a highly entertaining tap dance-off featuring two male dancers in tuxes and a female dancer in a short black dress. The audience showed its appreciation for the showy moves with loud applause. Beyonce re-emerged in a figure-flattering black swimsuit-style outfit with a plunging V-neckline and matching black heels. Sasha Fierce was back! And from here on out, the audience remained on its feet.

“Michael Jackson was a huge inspiration to me,” Beyonce said before launching into the King of Pop’s “Where You Are” and beginning a creative and highly engaging way to tell the story of her career, which began at age 9 in Houston, and to feature her biggest hits. She weaved stories of her manager father, Electra and Columbia Records and Destiny’s Child with “No, No, No,” “Bugaboo,” “Bills, Bills, Bills” (in which four male backup dancers all sported only vests as tops and six-pack abs, much to the delight of her female and gay male fans), “Say My Name,” “Jumpin’, Jumpin’,” “Independent Women, Part I” (her response to women being labeled “man-haters and gold diggers”), “Bootylicious,” “Survivor,” “Work It Out,” “Crazy in Love,” “Naughty Girl” and “Get Me Bodied,” a personal favorite that has never resonated with fans, and sadly the same was true last night.

The finale of the night was her megahit “Single Ladies,” featuring her now-famous dance moves with two female backup dancers. At show’s end, she thanked her backup singers, the all-female band, Steve Wynn and the audience, saying, “I am yours.” And with that, the curtain dropped to end the evening. Despite being in the Encore Theater, the lights were quickly turned on, and there was no encore.

What a difference two years make. I reviewed The Beyonce Experience tour stop in San Diego nearly two years ago, and while I enjoyed the concert, there was still some work for Beyonce to do in her live performance, at the top of which was over-length and over-indulgence. But since then, Beyonce has solidified herself as one of the most electrifying, talented, successful and beautiful artists around today.

Other notes

*My seat was next to the techies and a large TelePrompTer for Beyonce. I occasionally need help with song titles during a concert review, but I don’t with Beyonce. Nevertheless, it was nice to have that bright backup behind me.

*This was my first concert at the Encore Theater, and I hope not my last. I had no trouble parking and departing. Last week after the Blink-182 concert at the Hard Rock Hotel, it took 45 minutes to exit the parking lot. Last night: five minutes.

*It was a nice change to see many audience members dressed up, with handsome men in suits and gorgeous women dressed as if they were attending the Oscars or the Grammy Awards.

*My former editor Mike Crowell jokingly referred to me as the cowboys and divas music reviewer because at the time, I had reviewed, among others, Madonna, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts for him in recent years. After last night’s Beyonce concert, I now fully embrace the title.

For a trip down memory lane, enjoy the photo gallery of Destiny's Child and Beyonce from our contributing photographer Tom Donoghue.

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