Live Review: Beyoncé In Paris - Cowboy Carter Ain’t Country, It’s A Cultural Reset

My family and most of my friends thought I was crazy when I told them I’d bought a ticket to go and see Beyoncé in Paris. Who flies halfway around the world on their own to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language to see a concert, short answer - me. My obsession with live music has taken me to gigs all over the world, and my passion and love for country music is what brought me to Paris to see Beyoncé.

“Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? In theory they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand but in practice well some may feel confined.” Spaghetti – Linda Martell from the Cowboy Carter album

The popularity of country music and its influence on artists and music around the world right now is the peak of our musical zeitgeist and Beyoncé and Cowboy Carter will be referenced and written about for decades to come.

Whatever opinion you may hold about Cowboy Carter GRAMMY Album of the Year & Country Album of the Year, and many others, this album is a work of art. What Andy Warhol did to a can of soup, so Beyoncé has done to country music. She reimagined it through a different lens in her own way. Now let’s get things straight Queen B herself said, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”

A vision born of heritage, cultural significance and respect for those past legends and current artists who shaped the genre, Beyoncé has reclaimed the origins of country music - if you don’t understand this, go watch the Ken Burns Country Music documentary - combined with her Texan roots the outcome is a confluence of musical styles to create an undefinable, but remarkable piece of art. 

During an interview in 2013 Eric Church said “I think genres are dead. There's good music. There's bad music. And I think the cool thing about Nashville is it is at the epicentre of that kind of thinking.” I could not agree with Church more, the beautiful thing about this quote is the ability for the listener to decide what they like, there is no right or wrong, there is just the music and how it makes you feel.

This is a mantra I led with as the Music Director at CMC for 5 years. I believe that genres, while useful in some respects, were confining in most. Having grown up loving all genres of music it always puzzled and bothered me that country music was treated differently. I always knew if country music could be heard without prejudice it would infiltrate hearts and minds. I was programming “Genres Are Dead” countdowns on CMC, spinning artists like Beyoncé, Avicii, Ed Sheeran, Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men plus many more back in the early 2010’s.

While “The Chief” made a brilliant point, clearly in 2025 the wider country community does not agree. The controversy this album has caused, not to mention the wild racism, would lead many to believe that “Some just aren’t welcome” as Thompson Square have stated. This boils my blood, there are no “gatekeepers” of music, it belongs to the people. Love it, amazing, hate it ok, just don’t listen to it. Whatever you do, don’t start spewing hatred and intolerance in the name of “purity” and “traditionalism” when we all know all you want is to sound relevant and dissing the record might give you some clicks. 

Whenever some voices got a little too loud when I was programming CMC, I’d love to refer them to Tim McGraw and his song Things Change a brilliantly crafted song about the Nashville establishment and its bias against artists that didn’t “fit their mould” I would love to suggest a large amount of people go listen to that song right now.

So many contemporary pop artists have dipped their toes into the country pool, of course most recently Post Malone, Lana Del Ray, even Ed Sheeran is talking about making a country record. In the not-so-distant past Jessica Simpson, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Avicii, in the more distant past Metallica, Madonna, The Eagles (Witchy Woman was released as a country single), The Travelling Wilburys the list goes on and on. Go all the way back to 1958 and listen to The Quarrymen’s In Spite of all the Danger you will hear strong country influence (for those who don’t know The Quarrymen are The Beatles and this song was written by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.)

This genre of country has captured the imagination of generations of artists and music fans alike for as long as music has been made, its raw unfettered story telling is what grips fans and allows a connection on the most human level. It’s this connection that allows an Aussie from South-West Sydney to stand in a pit in Paris, France shoulder to shoulder with other fans in a stadium of almost 80,000 people and experience joy love and that feeling in your bones that only live music can offer, in the words of Queen B “If that ain't country tell me what is?”

Down on the floor in the Club Ho Down Pit sun shining, anticipation building, the show opened with American Requiem, the powerful anthem that opens the Cowboy Carter album. It was a set list built and inspired by the Cowboy Carter album, covering nearly all 27 tracks including the interludes of Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and of course Linda Martell which the crows went nuts about, on top of being littered with Beyoncé favourites like Daddy Lessons (as Beyoncé began the song she said this song is where this is all started-referencing Cowboy Carter) Formation, Love On Top, Drunk In Love, Single Ladies, Irreplaceable and even If I Were a Boy. There was also a Renaissance throwback featuring a small set of songs. 

This tour hasn’t featured special guests with the exception of Paris. Miley Cyrus popped up at the first Paris show to duet on II Most Wanted, and tonight we got a special appearance by Jay Z when he appeared during Crazy In Love - The moment marked the superstar couple’s first on-stage performance together in over six years! 

The costumes were akin to a high fashion show, the tour visuals were immaculate and featured highly stylised content interspersed with personal and political moments. The whole show was a 3 hour non-stop theatrical thrill ride not through the “old west” this was the “new west”. 

The star of the night really was Cowboy Carter in all its glory and the songs that make up the genre bending ode to country music. It was a world class show, with world class production by one of the biggest names in music today. 

They say all great art starts a conversation and Beyoncé with Cowboy Carter in its album form and its live show form have done just that! 

“Them old ideas (yeah) 

Are buried here (yeah)

Amen (amen) - AMEN”