The ticket promised "The Beyonce Experience," and that's exactly what was delivered at a packed American Airlines Center on Friday night.

The Houston native touched all the bases -- pop star, movie star, choir girl, fashion plate, diva -- in an extravaganza that wouldn't be out of place in a Vegas casino. From the fiery opening moments through myriad costume changes, Beyonce never missed a step in the elaborate, precisely choreographed pageantry.

The plan seemed to be to cram the stage full of as much as possible, as often as possible. The 10-piece backing band, enough backup dancers to form a starting lineup for the Texas Rangers and video screens capturing every well-lighted angle dominated the music, overpowering rather than enhancing it. It was just too much.

But that was the point. Every moment was designed for maximum impact; there were no subtle, solemn or soft segments. A deadline prevented me from seeing the entire show, but the energy hadn't dipped as I left, and I can't imagine it did.

Speaking of dips, there's also the matter of her look-at-me vocal runs near the conclusion of Jill Scott's He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat). Beyonce has never met a sustained note she doesn't like and it did nothing to advance the song emotionally. For that matter, I'm not buying the crocodile tears at the end of Flaws and All, either. It was startling, but that's called acting class, not connecting with your material.

Opening act Robin Thicke, who has to be glowing from the heaps of adulation piled upon his third album The Evolution of Robin Thicke, sweated through an intense, soulful set. His passionate grunts and suggestive gyrations -- not to mention that feather-light falsetto -- raised the temperature in the room by a few dozen degrees.

By Preston Jones,
Star Telegram