The years of my life can now be split into BB and AB sections: Before Beyoncé and After Beyoncé. Earlier this week I went to night four of her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and I am forever changed. There has never been and will never be a performer like Beyoncé; as she sings in “Alien Superstar,” she’s one of one, she’s number one, she’s the only one. It was one of the best tours I’ve ever been to, and making it even better was the fact that the queen included two different automotive set pieces in the nearly three-hour show.
It shouldn’t be surprising, as Beyoncé is a known car person (and public transit supporter). She’s owned everything from an El Camino to a Lamborghini LM002, and in one of the standout songs from “Cowboy Carter” she raps about taking her droptop Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport for a spin. Her music videos have featured all sorts of different types of cars, and she calls out cars in her lyrics often. Just like her own varied car history, the two “vehicles” could not be more different: In one section of the show she comes out in a makeshift semi truck that looks like a Japanese Dekotora rig, and for the penultimate song she flies around the stadium in a miniature lowrider. She has some great automotive content in the interludes between songs, too.
The Dekotora inspiration is clear
In one section of Beyoncé’s 2023 Renaissance Tour she drove out onto the stage atop a six-wheeled tank-like vehicle, and the Cowboy Carter Tour has a similar moment when the backdrop opens up and what looks like a semi truck starts rolling out, with Beyoncé standing on the hood. Now it’s not a real functional truck — it’s basically on a giant dolly, with members of the crew manually pushing it forward — but it is quite detailed, and seems like the designers might have used an actual semi cab as the basis for it. The truck is covered in lights and chrome panels, and there are a pair of giant horns attached instead of traditional smokestacks. A set of stairs gets placed on the hood so she can step down onto the stage and keep performing, but the truck stays on stage for a while.
The look of the truck immediately brought to mind the outrageously detailed Dekotora trucks that Japan is so famous for, and it’s gotta be on purpose. Last year when promoting the release of the “Cowboy Carter” album, Beyoncé did a photoshoot with a Dekotora truck, draping it in a banner with the album title and driving it around Tokyo. Using an American-style semi truck is a fitting spin on the Dekotora aesthetic for her Americana-inspired show, but it does also reference the ways truckers in the U.S. sometimes customize their rigs.
Flying cars are real when you’re Beyoncé
For the second-to-last song, Bey dons an American flag outfit, grabs a giant flag, and climbs into a miniature lowrider that looks closest to a Cadillac from the early 1970s to me — though I’m sure one of you will be able to point to a specific make and model that it resembles the most. The “car” has functional lights, wire wheels, and even a (fake) Texas license plate that reads “BNCNTRY,” or “been country.” Because Beyoncé has always been country, despite what Fox News hosts want you to believe. (The closeness to a much naughtier five-letter word is definitely intentional, too.)
The car is connected to a bunch of wires, and after Bey climbs in it starts flying through the air around the stadium, at some points getting pretty close to the 200 section seats. She glided past me and that was exciting enough, but imagine Beyoncé flying up to you in a lowrider and then singing directly at you? I’d die.
Today is the last Cowboy Carter Tour show in Los Angeles, so if you live in Southern California you should do everything you can to go. Next up the rodeo will hit Chicago, New York City (well, New Jersey), London, Paris, Houston, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Las Vegas. You really don’t want to miss it.
Daniel Golson / Jalopnik
Daniel Golson / Jalopnik
Daniel Golson / Jalopnik