Review: Beyoncé lives up to her superstar status at Dublin's Croke Park

Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Croke Park Stadium on Saturday, July 9, 2016, in Dublin. (Photo by Andrew White/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP Images)

Éamon Sweeney

The Queen Bey is back in town, nineteen years after she burst onto the world stage alongside Destiny's Child.

The Texan is now arguably the biggest pop star on the planet, and her eagerly awaited Croke Park appearance certainly does not disappoint.

Sashaying onstage via a trap door, Knowles knows how to make an entrance and deliver a jaw-dropping curtain opener. "OK, Ladies, let's get in formation," she bellows to her dancers and the crowd. The Formation tour has landed.

Run the World (Girls) has every corner and crevice of Croker on its feet. It's a startling ambitious and highly effective show. The production and execution is impeccable, and Croke Park's notoriously unreliable acoustics are expertly negotiated.

Beyoncé lives up to her superstar status with a rip-roaring set of pop classics and remarkable energy, especially considering she was cheering on Serena Williams earlier in the day at the Women's Final at Wimbledon.

"I've done some of the best shows of my career in Dublin, Ireland. Thank you for your loyalty and support over the last nineteen years," Knowles beams to an ecstatic audience. The rotating cube of screens is dazzling, and the pyro-techics and fireworks kick in at all the right moments.

As someone put it beautifully on Twitter, no one has slayed Croke Park so well since Stephen Cluxton's free kick against Kerry . Beyoncé Knowles donned her empowering jersey; came, saw and conquered.