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Reunited Destiny's Child, Solo Beyonce Highlight Pay-Per-View Concert
06/16/2003 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks
(6/16/03, 3 p.m. ET) -- The members of Destiny's Child performed together for the first time in a year and a half and the group's Beyonce Knowles previewed songs from her upcoming solo album on Saturday (June 14) in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan. The occasion was Beyonce Knowles, Friends and Family, a pay-per-view broadcast staged before a crowd of 61,000 at the Ford Motor Co. centennial celebration on the grounds of the company headquarters.
Living up to its title, the nearly three-hour affair featured a surprise appearance by rapper Jay-Z as well as individual sets by Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams and performances by Tyrese, Beyonce's younger sister Solange, and the new vocal group Ramiyah.
Though the majority of the crowd left before Destiny's Child came on, the group treated those who remained to a pyrotechnic-laden, five-song hits set that included "Independent Women," "Bootylicious," "Say My Name," a snippet of "Proud Mary" that led into "Jumpin' Jumpin'," and "Survivor." It was a spirited performance despite a rough sound mix, and Destiny's Child was the only act of the night to perform with a live band rather than to a pre-recorded backing tape.
Beyonce's eight-song solo set--which featured six costume changes and stylish choreography--focused on material from her Dangerously In Love album, which hits stores on June 24. Opening with "Naughty Girl," a slinky tune built on the chorus of Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby," she offered four more songs from the album, along with "Work It Out" from the Austin Powers In Goldmember soundtrack and her own renditions of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" and "03 Bonnie & Clyde," her collaboration with Jay-Z.
The rapper didn't join Beyonce for that song, but did make an unannounced appearance to recreate his rap on her current single, "Crazy In Love."
Tyrese provided the evening's greatest drama, grumbling when the backing tape for "How You Gonna Act Like This?" malfunctioned and ordering a re-start. When that also failed, he apologized to the crowd and ended his four-song set, saying that "I don't want to leave, but that sound system is toe-up." He did thank everyone who bought tickets for his new film, 2 Fast 2 Furious and announced he would be starting a tour with Ginuwine on July 15.
Destiny's Child's Rowland and Williams each offered a few songs from their own solo albums in their sets. Rowland sang the chorus from "Dilemma," her hit collaboration with Nelly; she also performed "Stole," "Love Lives In Strange Places" and "Can't Nobody." Williams, dressed in white and supported by three backing singers, delivered a trio of spiritual inspirational numbers--"Sun Will Shine Again," "Heard A Word" and "Everything." Solange, meanwhile, vamped through a trio of songs--"Get 2 Gether," "Crush" and "Feeling You"--from her debut album, Solo Star.
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