Beyonce: The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour

To be fair, I never really followed Beyonce's career. I didn't even see her Superbowl Half-Time special. I just knew her work by osmosis, because quite frankly, she's everywhere! Advertisements, documentaries, big-ole' football games, animated films...you can't escape her.

So I was curious to see her fourth tour, "The Miss Carter Show World Tour" to understand what all the hoopla was about. To be fair, I think she's a powerful singer and there is something appealing about her humility juxtaposed with her Sasha Fierceness.

At the same time, she seems as untouchable as a literal queen, not just pop music royalty. So I went in without any expectations. And the result? I was impressed. Not only is it just a fun show, but Beyonce is a woman who gives everything she has for two hours, bringing a constant A-game and making her unattainability seem a bit more attainable.

The show opens in standard pop concert tradition. There's a huge LCD screen on which appear elaborately staged sequences of Beyonce in Marie Antoinette garb walking slo-mo through various locations. Countless poetic whispers and key phrases echo throughout the stadium as her pre-recorded image whips the audience into a desperate frenzy of adoration.

By the time she rises out of the stage in a wave of smoke and light, it's a veritable scream show. After she revels in the adulation for a moment, hand on hip, she bursts into the recent hit "Run the World (Girls)" whose repetitive refrain continues to get the crowd worked up.

By the time she moves into "End of Time" the staging, lighting and sound are so amped it's hard not to worry they are blowing their money within the first ten minutes of the show. But it does the job and gets the crowd moving and mesmerized by the intricate choreography that, it must be noted, didn't make Beyonce lose one breath. It's that rare thing in the pop world where not only can she sing flawlessly, but do so while thrashing her head and body around as if in the middle of a demonic possession.

Thankfully, she quickly tones it down with the ballad "Flaws and All" before bringing it all back full force with the hit "If I Were a Boy." While the pyrotechnics are as flashy and bombastic as most pop shows, the lighting design was impressive with tendrils of light blasting out into the audience, and the bass amped up so much the hair on my arms stood at attention.

The choreography by Beyonce, Jaquel Knight and Chris Grant is complex and striking. Over the course of the evening there were touches of modern hip-hop, Fosse, African Jazz, and '60s Vegas showgirls. It's almost a class in the history of dance which is nice to offer to a crowd that might not be as familiar with classic styles that have influenced many of the acts of this generation.

Frequently, Beyonce would address the audience, coming across as just a friend who happens to be putting on a show. She was kind and humble when she wanted, and sassy when she was feeling a bit more playful. She took her down-home sensibility deeper into the pack by literally flying over the audience and landing on a small stage in the center of the main floor. There she greeted fans who ended up having the best seats in the house.

Performing two songs from her Destiny's Child days -- "Irreplaceable" and "Survivor" -- plus recent track "Love on Top," she wowed the crowd in a sparkly purple pantsuit and an infectious energy that was earnest and genuine.

Of course no Beyonce show would be complete without her most famous hits, "Crazy in Love," "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) and the new hit "Grown Woman." Strangely, she didn't sing one of her best ballads "I Was Here," instead opting for the lyrics to be used as a sort of poem during a video screen interlude.

Also missing was her hit "Listen" from her big screen debut in "Dreamgirls." Toward the end of the evening, she did appear on a dark stage with a beam of light shining down on her as she began singing Whitney Houston's iconic "I Will Always Love You." It was a curious choice as that song can make or break a singer. Thankfully, she nailed what she did sing, but before it really kicked in she simply segued into her hit ballad "Halo."

What's interesting about this tour for Beyonce is that while it has that bombastic over-the-top dazzle that is de rigueur for pop music these days, there was also a simplicity to it. Most of the numbers were performed front and center with a majority of the stage taken up by her band. The (very) wide-screen video monitors provided much of the backdrop, but it wasn't overly staged with elaborate set-pieces. Despite the modern contrivances, it had a simplicity about it that allowed the talent of Beyonce to shine through.

In addition, Beyonce made note that everyone on stage with her (with the exception of two male twin dancers) were women. Her eight-member band "Suga Mama" are all female, as are her three back-up singers and eight dancers. Clearly, in Beyonce's universe, girls surely do run the world. Maybe not run, but they certainly took over the Staples Center in a tornado of energy with an electrifying performance by one of pop music's reigning queens. For that we can all bow down.

The concert was the kick-off for the North American leg of the tour and was sponsored by BET as part of the "BET Experience" which was a weekend of special events marking the BET Awards move to LA Live.