Music & Concerts
When life throws you lemons …
Beyonce stuns with throbbing, messy new album


Beyonce’s new album was released simultaneously in audio and video form. (Still courtesy Parkwood/Columbia)
This isn’t your Grandma’s lemonade — it’s spiked with a complex brew of pride and nostalgia, anger and betrayal, defiance and resolution.
Or maybe it is Grandma’s, depending on who she is — history tends to repeat. Beyoncé’s sixth album, “Lemonade” (released online April 23 but in stores Friday, May 6) is a bold and relentlessly innovative fusion of ultra-modern R&B with strong undercurrents of classic soul and gospel slashed with elements spun from a staggeringly diverse sonic universe. It’s a deeply personal journey that chronicles a complex relationship riven by distrust, rage and anxiety that is echoed in the context of an America roiled by blazing social upheaval.
Coursing through the minimalist electro-beats and throbbing bass are samples and interpolations from sources as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Soulja Boy, Alan Lomax and others. There are few easily digestible pop hooks. Although detractors deride her as a vapid pop diva propped up by her songwriting and production team, Beyoncé is confident enough not to simply find the 12 catchiest songs her cadre of collaborators could write. “Lemonade” isn’t loaded with tracks that will burn up Top 40 radio — she’s beyond that — but it remains accessible and engaging.
The lyrics on “Lemonade” often read like the journal of a woman scarred by betrayal, unambiguous in how ripped asunder she is, but with a tenacious determination to rebuild. The haunting “Pray You Catch Me” sets the relationship dynamic that forms the core of the album immediately: “You can taste the dishonesty/it’s all over your breath as you pass it off so cavalier/but even that’s a test/constantly aware of it all, my lonely ear pressed against the walls of your world.”
“Hold On” contrasts an almost jaunty musical vibe with lyrics seething with suspicion and acrimony. “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” a collaboration with Jack White, sears with razor shards of guitar and one of Beyoncé’s gutsiest vocals. The Weeknd brings a smooth, sexy sheen to the provocative “6 Inch,” an anthem of empowerment. “Daddy’s Lessons” is a surreal country stomper that finds Beyoncé gazing back at her childhood experiences and relating flaws and fissures that both men in her life have in common. “He told me when he’s gone/here’s what you do when trouble comes to town/and men like me come around/oh, my daddy said shoot.” Her aim proves dead-on true.
“Sandcastles” is a devastating ballad, Beyoncé’s heart laid bare with a stunning vocal performance. The hurt is there, but it’s also buoyed by the hope of a flame that may burn with rage and regret but still feeds on passion.
Kendrick Lamar joins her on the powerhouse “Freedom,” a blistering reflection on the resilience and strength of a woman as an individual as well as collective battles being fought every moment. “Lemonade” closes with the audacious strut “Formation,” in which Beyonce revels with pride in her personal heritage. It’s a remarkable bit of studio wizardry with a deeply pulsing bass and vocals that leap out of the speakers like knives in a 3-D movie.
Like Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” before it, “Lemonade” captures the zeitgeist of an era that has seen the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement amidst broiling social tensions. A new world of omni-present video-capable smartphones has suddenly exposed what has been hidden in plain sight for years but was too often ignored because it wasn’t blaring across the internet and the 24-hour information enfilade that marks our current reality.
It’s clear that Beyoncé felt she needed to make a statement, and she does. It’s symbolized in the album’s stirring one-hour visual accompaniment which features appearances by the mothers of three young black men whose brutal murders became flashpoints and helped ignite a firestorm that shows no sign of abating: Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin. These are names that will ring through history.
“Lemonade” is a soul-rending catharsis both intimate and vast that will be looked back upon as strongly evocative of an era of growing anger, tension and an absolute unwillingness to accept the status quo. Beyoncé wrings the sweetest juice from the bitterest lemons the world flings in her direction.
Music & Concerts
Red, White, and Beyoncé: Queen Bey takes Cowboy Carter to D.C. for the Fourth of July
The legendary music icon performed on July 4 and 7 to a nearly sold-out Northwest Stadium.

Just in time for Independence Day, Beyoncé lit up Landover’s Commanders Field (formerly FedEx Field) with fireworks and fiery patriotism, bringing her deeply moving and genre-defying “Cowboy Carter” tour to the Washington, D.C. area.
The tour, which takes the global icon across nine cities in support of her chart-topping and Grammy-winning country album “Cowboy Carter,” landed in Prince George’s County, Maryland, over the Fourth of July weekend. From the moment Beyoncé stepped on stage, it was clear this was more than just a concert — it was a reclamation.
Drawing from classic Americana, sharp political commentary, and a reimagined vision of country music, the show served as a powerful reminder of how Black Americans — especially Black women — have long been overlooked in spaces they helped create. “Cowboy Carter” released in March 2024, is the second act in Beyoncé’s genre-traversing trilogy. With it, she became the first Black woman to win a Grammy for Best Country Album and also took home the coveted Album of the Year.
The record examines the Black American experience through the lens of country music, grappling with the tension between the mythology of the American Dream and the lived realities of those historically excluded from it. That theme comes alive in the show’s opening number, “American Requiem,” where Beyoncé sings:
“Said I wouldn’t saddle up, but
If that ain’t country, tell me, what is?
Plant my bare feet on solid ground for years
They don’t, don’t know how hard I had to fight for this
When I sing my song…”
Throughout the performance, Beyoncé incorporated arresting visuals: Black cowboys on horseback, vintage American iconography, and Fox News clips criticizing her genre shift — all woven together with voiceovers from country legends like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. The result was a multimedia masterclass in storytelling and subversion.
The “Cowboy Carter” tour has been a social media sensation for weeks, with fans scrambling for tickets, curating elaborate “cowboy couture” outfits, and tailgating under the summer sun. At Commanders Field, thousands waited in long lines for exclusive merch and even longer ones to enter the stadium — a pilgrimage that, for many, felt more like attending church than a concert.
One group out in full force for the concert was Black queer men — some rocking “denim on denim on denim on denim,” while others opted for more polished Cowboy Couture looks. The celebration of Black identity within Americana was ever-present, making the concert feel like the world’s biggest gay country-western club.
A standout moment of the night was the appearance of Beyoncé’s 13-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. Commanding the stage with poise and power, she matched the intensity and choreography of her mother and the professional dancers — a remarkable feat for someone her age and a clear sign that the Carter legacy continues to shine.
It’s been nearly two decades since Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child parted ways, and since then, she’s more than lived up to her title as the voice of a generation. With “Cowboy Carter,” she’s not just making music — she’s rewriting history and reclaiming the space Black artists have always deserved in the country canon.
Music & Concerts
Berkshire Choral to commemorate Matthew Shepard’s life
Concert held at Washington National Cathedral

Berkshire Choral International will present a concert performance of composer Craig Hella Johnson’s fusion oratorio “Considering Matthew Shepard” on Friday, July 11, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the Washington National Cathedral.
The program will be guest conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Benson, a native of the DMV who currently serves as Director of Choral Activities at San José State University. The concert is a partial benefit for the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Notably, Matthew’s remains are interred at the National Cathedral and his parents, Dennis and Judy, will give opening remarks at the performance.
Tickets are $20 – $65, and 50% of ticket proceeds will be donated to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Tickets are only available online at berkshirechoral.org.
Music & Concerts
Indigo Girls coming to Capital One Hall
Stars take center stage alongside Fairfax Symphony

Capital One Center will host “The Indigo Girls with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra” on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at 8 p.m. at Capital One Hall.
The Grammy Award-winning folk and pop stars will take center stage alongside the Fairfax Symphony, conducted by Jason Seber. The concerts feature orchestrations of iconic hits such as “Power of Two,” “Get Out The Map,” “Least Complicated,” “Ghost,” “Kid Fears,” “Galileo,” “Closer to Fine,” and many more.
Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or in person at Capital One Hall the nights of the concerts.
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