Beyoncé released ‘Cowboy Carter’ album one year ago: A look back
It’s been one year since Beyoncé released her eighth studio album, “Cowboy Carter.” Here’s a look back at the album’s impactful year.
- Beyoncé fan Matthew Serafin live streams concerts for fans unable to attend.
- Serafin began streaming during the “Renaissance” tour and gained a large following.
- He plans to stream the upcoming “Cowboy Carter” tour.
Beyoncé fans who can’t attend her highly anticipated “Cowboy Carter” tour in person won’t have to miss a beat thanks to fans like Matthew Serafin, who turned live streaming her shows into a passion and an act of service.
Serafin has been a longtime Beyoncé fan since she took on the role of Deena Jones in “Dreamgirls” in 2006.
“Her music has just kind of been something that I’ve always been able to find comfort in,” Serafin says. “I just remember being in awe of her talent and her beauty and just everything that she is.”
The Chicago native first saw Beyoncé in concert in 2013 during her Mrs. Carter World Tour, and since then he hasn’t missed any of her tours. “So I’ve seen every show,” Serafin says.
And after going live during Beyoncé’s 2023 Renaissance World Tour, he has now become a streaming aficionado on a mission to help other fans experience her shows if they can’t go in person.
It all started in Stockholm
Ten years after his first concert, Serafin attended Beyoncé’s opening night on her Renaissance World Tour in Stockholm, Sweden. There, he live streamed a concert to Instagram for the first time.
“I didn’t stream a show before that. ‘Renaissance’ was the first time I ever did that,” Serafin says. “I was there alone, so I thought this is kind of a fun way to share this with some of my friends from home — not at all thinking that it would totally blow up.”
To to his surprise, thousands of fans from all over the world joined his live stream, and he decided to stream the entire show.
“There was so much excitement. We didn’t have any visuals. We had no live performances from the (‘Renaissance’) era. We had no idea what to expect,” he says “It was sort of that perfect storm of all of that excitement. And for whatever reason, my international AT&T plan had a clear stream and people found it.”
Serafin found himself at eight other “Renaissance” concerts in 2023, and he continued to bring digital fans along with him.
“My mind was blown (by this) opening show, and I found that community. Suddenly, I was a part of it, and I was able to sort of share that with everyone in a way that I previously hadn’t connected online with,” he says. “It was one of those things that as the tour went on, I just had a lot of fun with it.”
Serafin works a full-time corporate job by day, but he says it was his experience as a photographer that may have also contributed to the overall success of the initial live stream.
“I have worked as a photographer for years, so I know how to frame a shot,” he says. “That’s not my main job now, but I am very adept at holding my arms up and being very still.”
‘I found fellow Beyoncé-lovers who I can always go to’
After successfully streaming Beyoncé’s opening show, Serafin quickly found himself as one of the go-to live stream sources for the duration of her 2023 tour.
“I started becoming a place people would go, even when it wasn’t at the show. I would always have who was going to stream,” he says. “Once I started posting people going live, then when people were going to go to the show and go live, they would message me.”
And while Serafin acknowledges he “was a bit later to the live-stream world,” he appreciates the wider community and genuine connections he quickly grew.
“I think through live streaming, I found fellow Beyoncé lovers who I can always go to and people who I can always share that (experience) with,” he says.
Serafin says there are always other fans excited to live stream the shows, too, and he encourages folks to find an account that resonates with them the most and enjoy watching.
Gearing up for the ‘Cowboy Carter’ tour
Of course, Beyoncé first announced her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour the night before this year’s Grammy Awards, where she took home best country album and album of the year.
The tour is set to kick off April 28 in Los Angeles and include 32 stadium shows across the U.S. and Europe. Since the initial announcement, Beyoncé has added a handful of concerts including final shows in Las Vegas. She’s on track to make history with her scheduled tour dates.
“I am so excited to see how she translates this album to the stage,” says Serafin as he prepares for the upcoming shows.
Serafin says he’ll attend multiple concerts, including the opening and closing shows.
And, while he’s looking forward to seeing her “Cowboy Carter” spectacle for himself, he hopes to again help “folks who not only couldn’t get a ticket, but maybe just geographically, there’s no way that they’ll get to see Beyoncé live.”
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
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