BEYONCE

On a hot August night in 2009, Beyoncé performed in front of a small crowd at Wynn Las Vegas, documented here on two CDs and an accompanying DVD. The show is certainly a theatrical production worthy of Vegas, with Beyoncé and her large backing band energetically rolling through the singer's back catalog. On the portion of the set that begins on the second disc, she takes the crowd through her biography -- with plenty of spoken interludes and planned interruptions -- beginning with her version of Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are” (the first song she learned), continuing through a 12-minute Destiny’s Child medley and “’03 Bonnie & Clyde” (her first collaboration with Jay-Z), and concluding with her biggest hit to date, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” What makes I Am...Yours stand apart from a typical live-album cash-in is the mostly unexpected covers that are weaved into the set. Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” and Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” (a possible inspiration for “Ring the Alarm”?) are treated with as much passion as the originals, while some songs are acknowledged instrumentally, like MGMT’s “Electric Feel,” which bridges “Get Me Bodied” and “Single Ladies.” As live albums go, this is not quite destined to be one of those all-time classics; a couple missing songs and a little too much talk aside, however, the fans couldn’t ask for more. Andy Kellman.

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