Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour Crashes 4th of July in Washington, D.C.: 7 Best Moments

“My House,” the house-rap track Beyoncé dropped to commemorate Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé hitting theaters, was always destined to be an explosive live performance. From its raucous horns to its frenetic chants, the track was an instant fan favorite for a reason. On July 4, however, there was a certain gravity felt across the stadium when Beyoncé chanted, “Get the f— up out my house!”

After all, Northwest Stadium is just a 25-minute drive from the White House, where the sitting president signed a devastating new bill mere hours earlier. In a country that’s getting increasingly explicit about who it feels belongs, “My House” offered the crowd a moment to flip the narrative and find an outlet for their rage.

Fashion has long been a key component of Beyoncé’s stage show — especially after the Renaissance World Tour’s silver theme took over the globe in 2023 — and the Cowboy Carter Tour is no different. Throughout her latest stadium trek, she has debuted a plethora of Western-themed outfits, some of which also nod to the aesthetic of Renaissance, the first LP in her still-unfurling album trilogy.

To open her July 4 show in Washington, D.C., Beyoncé opted for an eye-popping fur coat printed with the design of the American flag over a figure-hugging gray and silver-blue leotard emblazoned with stars. If the coat was a nod to the Cowboy Carter aesthetic, then the leotard nodded to Renaissance — the vibrant Black foundation that America relentlessly attempts to stifle and erase.

Ever since she kicked off the tour in Los Angeles (April 28), Beyoncé’s otherworldly transition from a vocal interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s 1969 Woodstock rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” into her own “Freedom” (which soundtracked Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign) has been an interesting point of discussion. While some didn’t understand the choice and others felt it was in poor taste, Beyoncé’s intentions couldn’t have been clearer as she delivered a dirgeful version of America’s anthem on its birthday. Preceded by her own “Ameriican Requiem” and succeeded by her cries of “Freedom, freedom, where are you?”, the opening act of the Cowboy Carter Tour felt especially poignant on July 4.

About 15 years ago, Anthony Cosby (hyphen Knowles!) became a BeyHive legend ever since he hilariously proclaimed to be both Beyoncé’s cousin and husband during her I Am.. World Tour. Cosby has popped up at Bey’s tour ever since, including the July 4 Cowboy Carter show, where Beyoncé shouted him out, saying, “C’mon Anthony! I see you, cousin… husband!”

Already a Grammy winner and box office-topping voice actress in her own right, Blue Ivy Carter needs no introduction. Her Cowboy Carter Tour solos have quickly become the show’s most buzzed-about moments, and not much changed in Maryland on July 4. As Honey Balenciaga closed out her part of the rodeo-ballroom section, tens of thousands of phones rose en masse as Blue Ivy emerged from the stage lift, hitting a nasty slow motion turn into her catwalk and “Déjà Vu” dance break — all while donning a new custom costume, of course!

The “Attack of the 400 Foot Cowboy” interlude is one of the better breaks in Beyoncé’s three-hour Cowboy Carter set, thanks to both her globe-trotting, slapstick humor and BigXthaPlug’s wavy “The Biggest.” In the interlude, a 400-foot-tall version of Beyoncé struts around the world and treats various world landmarks — from the Statue of Liberty to the Eiffel Tower — as playthings. Of course, when the Lincoln Memorial winked at her in response to her hat tip, the crowd went absolutely nuts.

Notably, Beyoncé’s exclusive T-shirt for her D.C. stop features a picture of her posing in place of Lincoln on the memorial. Looks like we’re one step closer to that Beyoncé-Oh, Mary! crossover.

One of the more overlooked songs on Cowboy Carter, “Alliigator Tears” remains one of the album’s strongest tracks over a year after its release. The song explores the toll it takes to transform yourself to fit demands you’ll never meet, set by people who’ll never truly see past their own insincerity and manipulation — and Beyoncé drove that message home with her new costume.

Donning a sparkly, red grown with a thigh-high slit laced with blue frings and white stars, Beyoncé, once again, looked to the American flag to inform her outfit. During this section (which also included gorgeous renditions of “Protector,” “Just for Fun” and “Flamenco”), the costume emphasized the way “Alliigator Tears” illustrates the larger dynamic between Black people and the American project. When she sings, “You say changе religion/ Now, I spend Sundays with you/ Somethin’ ’bout those tears of yours/ How does it feel to be adored,” she’s directly calling out the U.S. for its constantly-shifting goalposts. Whether it’s an effective line of questioning is another conversation, but it certainly packed an emotional punch.