Beyoncé sends off summer with Renaissance World Tour at Lumen Field

Summer in Seattle is wrapping up with Beyoncé bringing her Renaissance World Tour to the Pacific Northwest after a flurry of concerts rocked Lumen Field in record-setting ways.

Gates at Lumen Field open at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, with Beyoncé set to take the stage at 8 p.m.

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“This summer, millions of us got cozy with Beyoncé during the Renaissance World Tour,” Aisha Harris said during NPR’s discussion of the Renaissance World Tour. “With stunning visuals, an array of costume changes, and the occasional (daughter) Blue Ivy cameo, this is reportedly Beyoncé’s highest-grossing tour yet. Renaissance has been unlike any other Beyoncé experience, a truly communal and social media-hyped dance party.”

To stave off inevitable bursts of bumper-to-bumper traffic, public transportation is increasing throughout the city.

Sound Transit is adding three extra Link light rail trains, running every 15 minutes, to the 1 Line between Northgate and Angle Lake. Meanwhile, King County Metro is sending extra buses to RapidRide routes in Ballard, Aurora Avenue and West Seattle. Seattle to the Eastside will also have additional routes after the show. Extra trips will also be available all night via the King County Water Taxi between West Seattle and downtown Seattle’s Pier 50.

Beyoncé requested that fans wear silver to the Renaissance World Tour — or the “House of Chrome” as Beyoncé describes it. According to CNN, when comparing the week of Aug. 14 to Aug. 21, Etsy reported a 25% increase in searches for silver disco hats and a 25% increase in searches for silver blouses, corsets or tops after she asked fans to don anything silver. CNN and other outlets have credited the phenomenon “post-pandemic revenge spending” — specifically on experiences like Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour — as significant boosts to local economies this summer.

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According to Visit Seattle via KIRO 7, hotels made more than $7 million in room revenue the weekend in July Swift performed and the Toronto Blue Jays came to Seattle to play the Mariners. That is $2 million more than profits generated in any single day in Seattle’s history, the organization said. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia announced Swift’s tour helped boost travel and tourism in the region, a claim also made by several other U.S. cities regarding the musician’s widely popular concerts, according to CBS News.

Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in history, earning $461.2 million so far, according to Touring Data. Her Renaissance Tour is expected to make more than $2 billion by October 2023, according to a Forbes estimate.

Beyoncé had the highest one-month gross in history with $179.3 million in ticket sales, surpassing her own record she set in July.

With just five U.S. shows to go, Beyoncé and Amazon Music also collaborated to release a fourth capsule collection of exclusive Renaissance World Tour merchandise. The collaboration is coming to life through four distinct drops released throughout the North American leg of the tour. This newest collection features a new Renaissance T-shirt, tank top, sweatshirt and even a bath mat — but and it’s all selling out fast.

The Renaissance World Tour merchandise truck opened at noon Thursday near Lumen Field’s Northwest Gate. Merchandise will also be sold inside the venue. In-stadium prices haven’t been disclosed, but tour merchandise is already available on Amazon.

Taylor Swift in Seattle: Eras Tour briefly broke Lumen Field’s attendance record

While there are rumors of additional international dates being added to the Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé has only had 56 shows in comparison to Swift’s 146. Swift’s shows also averaged to be approximately an hour longer, averaging three hours and 23 minutes compared to Beyoncé’s two hours and 29 minutes, according to Slate. The outlet also found Swift averages 16 costume changes compared to Beyoncé’s nine, but Beyoncé has reportedly worn 100 different outfits on stage in comparison to Swift’s 44.

Coldplay follows Beyoncé’s show at Lumen Field with a performance of their own on Wednesday, Sept. 20.