Live Review: Beyonce, Iggy Azalea

It's either a case of style over substance, or the booming, bouncy songs of Iggy Azalea just aren't translating well to an arena setting, but her performance just doesn't cut it tonight. Joined by a DJ and two dancers, the former Mullumbimby girl who now speaks and raps with an American accent has the makings of a good stage show, but that will only mean so much if the songs don't get any better.

Bounce, Change Your Life and Work might sound hot now, but it'll take more than this to keep the attention focused on her for any prolonged amount of time. But, whether you like her performance or not, she's off stage in less than 20 minutes, so it needn't worry you too much.

The initial reveal of the superstar is one of the most exciting things about a pop show; choreographers, pyrotechnicians, video designers, dancers, musicians, artists and more all work in harmony to make that first glimpse of the talent completely intoxicating.  Beyoncé and her team have nailed it on The Mrs Carter Tour, which has wound up in Brisbane tonight, with an utterly spectacular beginning to proceedings.

There are all manner of teases as video screens move around the stage, decoy dancers are deployed, explosions, flames and a fired up band all build feverish anticipation. Then as if by magic, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is suddenly standing front and centre, casting a silent and strong pose in white as thousands scream hysterically.

The silence from the stage is cut with the mammoth, rumbling beat from Run The World (Girls) and the party begins; a glorious cacophony of dance, music, singing and cheering is all a bit overwhelming, but in a great way, of course. The stage is bathed in purple light and the singer shifts from white to black attire for the downbeat If I Were A Boy (which she turns into The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony for a short moment), but this is a rare slower moment in what is a frenetic couple of hours of performance.

It's immediately obvious that this is a lavish show. It's about grandiosity, money, power – there's very little about it that is humble, it is over-the-top spectacular and thankfully doesn't try to be anything else.

Beyoncé tries on a little James Brown band-control in between calls for the crowd to get vocal, before calling the room to dance to the heavily rhythmic Get Me Bodied. The risqué Naughty Girl sees the artist playing with fire (literally), before she brings The Mamas – her brilliant backing singers – to the front of stage for Party.

Beyoncé's auxiliary members are all brilliant, but her band is particularly incredible and it's a shame they're not made more prominent in the context of the show. During Freakum Dress guitarist Bibi McGill gets a rare shot at being front and centre of the stage as she lays down a blazing solo.

Next, Beyoncé does everything she can to ruin Why Don't You Love Me? with far too much “you're not loud enough!” posturing – but it doesn't work, both her and the band's performance of the song are simply too good to be spoiled by even the most clichéd tricks.

Pianist Rie Suji appears at the front of the stage to run through an epic classical number, but soon Beyoncé is crawling all over the piano in a sparkly suit, crooning through the sappy and sleazy 1+1 as smoke covers the stage to make things look and feel even more sensual.

It's quite a rapid change then to see the singer soar across the crowd showering the audience in glitter to perch herself on the second stage set up on the venue floor. A stripped back Irreplaceable is her first song from her new stage, a stage that allows her to get far more crowd interaction in with the lucky few seated at her feet. The brilliant Love On Top – one of the great soul songs of our time – sees the dancers join her on the new stage and one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night.

The sight of 10,000 teens pumping their fist to Destiny's Child's Survivor is more comical than powerful, but it's interesting to see just how strongly the 12-year-old pop song has endured.

Unfortunately we don't get a live version of Countdown (a recorded snippet plays through the PA though), but that disappointment is forgotten pretty quickly as the horn line of Crazy In Love blares from the brilliant horn section, before Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) ensures there's nothing short of frenzy all throughout the arena.

The first verse and chorus of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You is sung a capella, which quickly turns into Halo, a song fraught with heavy emotion; though nothing is as emotional tonight as the young lady to whom Beyoncé sings Happy Birthday – you've never seen so many joyful tears.

The show has been frenetic from go to whoa - perhaps the low, down tempo moments aren't quite low enough to counter this manic energy - but that's a tough criticism to give an arena pop show; particularly one delivered with the proficiency and class tonight's has exuded.