Beyoncé, Mrs Carter Show, LG Arena Birmingham, review What is most amazing about these cultural forest fires is that they have been sparked by a performer who, unusually for a child star and soul diva, has very little side to her character. As a beautiful, middle class Texan girl with a relentless work ethic and a traditional belief in marriage, children and religion, along with swishy hair, Beyoncé is practically Kate Middleton in a sequined leotard. But how would Queen Bey top her breathtaking performance at Glastonbury in 2011? The answer seemed to be by more of the same, turning up the imperial drama with opening mission statement Who runs the World (Girls). With an all-female band, playing to her almost entirely female audience, thanking them for their loyalty and trying to point out her very small bingo wings, the concert had the air of an ancient goddess worship ceremony. That didn't also stop it at times also having the air of an expensive revue show, but Beyoncé's brand of feminism seems to come styled by Gok 'get em out girl' Wan. In lieu of a new album, Beyonce appears to have been working more on video clips with poetic empowerment narratives. To refresh the back catalogue, the hits were frequently refashioned, sometimes to ponderous affect, sometimes brilliantly as when she mixed in Donna Summer. There was none the less a sense of stasis - with the choreography often outshining the music- that all the wind machines and sharp costumes in the world couldn't disguise. Yet Beyonce was never less than compelling to watch, and often blistering in her vocal attack and her best hits, loaded towards the end and bolstered by Destiny's Child numbers, are copper bottomed. Perhaps she can sustain a career forever on being the perfect girl every other girl wants to be but you get the feeling her creative ambitions might still have new avenues to explore and more risk taking wouldn't go amiss. That would be really inspirational.