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Letter: Here for It, #345

R. Eric Thomas

01 Jun 2025 • 8 min read

Hi! It's R. Eric Thomas. From the internet?
Hi!

I love so much about the Beyoncé concert experience, but I think the thing I love the most is that it's like Burning Man for aunties. The audience vibes are so immaculate,. No one is weird or rude, everyone kind of loves each other, strangers will hype your outfit up. The whole stadium has fully bought into the project of feeling incredible about yourself and the people around you.

I went to the Cowboy Carter show at Met Life last Wednesday, also known as Rain-assance, because we stood in a nonstop downpour for the entirety of the concert. And you know who minded? Not I, said the fly. My cowboy boots were soaked, my little sparkly neckerchief was so weighed down with water it was falling off my neck; my Apple Watch was like "Are you swimming?" And yet, it was perfect!

I have to say, seeing water drip off of your cowboy hat in dramatic lighting absolutely makes you feel like you're a badass who just rolled into town to tussle with some varmits in a Western movie. So, thanks Bey!

You'll notice the poncho in my hand and not on my person because I looked adorable and Beyoncé needed to know.

The concert was a gift not only from Beyoncé but also from two producers, Isabel and Laura, with whom I'm working on a project. Honestly, a flex on their parts and, honestly, me telling you this is a flex on my part. How kind! Work vibes immaculate!

They rented a party bus to take us to the concert and the driver told me that I was the first person to ever do work on the party bus.

Is this how I type?!? Am I typing this like this, too?!

But, like, this was a work trip, lol! I had work to do! I was in New York working on the project. What am I supposed to just stop working? And then, what? Relax?! Enjoy myself?!

Anyway, I think Beyoncé, the consummate professional, who performed flawlessly and without complaint in three hours of cold rain, would approve. Beyoncé and I are the same age and that's hard for me to think about sometimes because, well, no offense to me, but I don't know that I'm taking full advantage of the opportunities of life. Like, I danced in place for the entire show and had to take to my bed for a fortnight. Meanwhile, she got up the next day and did the show again.

That is actual rain, not lighting effects. Also, what makeup setting spray does she use because the face did not budge!

I will say, there were so many incredible moments in the concert but I think one of my favorite all-time Beyoncé moments came right at the end. It was an unscripted moment, which exceedingly rare for her. I don't knock her at all for being so precisely programmed. It's how she ensures excellence.

But, during our concert, she walked by someone in the pit who had a sign up asking her to announce the results of their gender reveal. And she stopped and agreed. I love the idea of asking Beyoncé to do errands for you. Beyoncé, I know you're working, but can you organize this Excel spreadsheet for me? Beyoncé, I need that PowerPoint by 5. Beyoncé, can you help my grandmother fix her Roku?

So, again, it's been raining for three hours. She has sung and danced the entire time. But she stops and kneels down to grab this soaking wet large manila envelope from, what I presume is, a pregnant couple.

For reasons that probably made sense in the doctor's office, they have sealed the envelope shut. And Beyoncé, for reasons that make sense in the context Beyoncé, is wearing elbow-length opera gloves and a cowboy hat. So, she can't get the envelope open and we can see her brain start to process, "Oh no, a thing is happening that I did not plan down to the millisecond and I can't stop now and WHY IS THERE GLUE ON THIS ENVELOPE?!"

It made me think of that great Maya Rudolph sketch where she plays an increasingly flustered Beyoncé eating wings on Hot Ones. The core idea being that Beyoncé never loses her cool, and so when she does, she short circuits.

She didn't lose her cool with this envelope but I kept hearing Maya Rudolph's Beyoncé impression in my head going "Y'all made Beyoncé open mail! I don't receive correspondence! What is this?!"

She finally got it open by ripping it completely in half, which is incredible to me. She Hulk Smashed this gender reveal, which is praxis. Judith Butler was thrilled.

And from within the envelope, she pulls a shard of paper, soaking wet, that reads half of the word "Cowboy" and it's astounding that even though this is not at all how this was supposed to go, Beyoncé is so perfect that even the ripping is aesthetically pleasing.

The whole stadium erupts. And, like, I don't need to get into this, but I do not believe in gender reveals and I've never been to one and I do not know or even see this couple, but for some reason I'm screaming with joy about the news that there is a fetus out there with an X and a Y chromosome whose parents can afford $2,000 seats. And that's the magic of the Beyoncé concert.

Of course, after it was done, Beyoncé's benevolent nightmare wasn't over because she still had this sopping wet envelope in her hand and she couldn't just throw it on the ground because it was literally the construct of gender and she'd just spent three hours unpacking and reclaiming Americana and she didn't have time to get into all that right now. But she has a final, operatic moment in the show that she has to do, so she's just anxiously folding and refolding this pile of envelope in her hands as she moves to her final spotlight and the cast joins her. And the envelope is somehow getting bigger and more unwieldy. She's like, "Y'all made Beyoncé do origami and I don't think this is one of my spiritual gifts."