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Beyoncé may not be able to stop the rain, but she can single-handedly keep the subway trains running.
The superstar paid $100,000 to keep all 98 trains in the D.C. Metro system operating for an extra hour on Sunday after her latest Renaissance World Tour performance was delayed due to lightning and heavy rains. This was her second night performing at the FedEx Field in Maryland, roughly 11 miles east of Washington, D.C.
“The additional hour will be funded by the Tour to cover the $100,000 cost to run more trains, keep all 98 stations open for customers to exit, and other operational expenses,” the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said in a release.
At 6:40 p.m. FedEx Field announced a “shelter in place order,” asking fans still outside to return to their cars and for those already in the stadium to “shelter under covered concourse and ramps until further notice.”
Due to lightning in the area, we are currently under a shelter in place order.
Fans outside of gates and in the parking lots are asked to return to their cars.
All fans inside of the stadium are asked to shelter in place under covered concourse areas and ramps until further…
— FedExField (@FedExField) August 6, 2023
The order was lifted at 8:25 p.m. But during the nearly two-hour wait, several people were treated for heat exhaustion and one person was hospitalized given the temperatures and number of people packed in the concourse, according to WJLA, the D.C. local television station.
The D.C. Metro announced that the last train departing from the Morgan Boulevard station, the closest station to the concert venue, would be delayed to 1:04 a.m., instead of 11:34 p.m., per the release. The Metro had already extended service by 30 minutes before Beyoncé’s team paid for the extra hour.
In the state’s excitement to host the Grammy-winning artist, earlier in the day on Sunday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared that August 6, 2023, would be recognized as “Beyoncé Day” or “B’Day.”
The ‘Beyonce Bump’
The U.S. leg of Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour kicked off on July 12 in Philadelphia and will end in Kansas City in October. With over 57 global stops, the tour is supercharging local economies, alongside Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Beyoncé is poised to have the highest-earning tour in history, expecting to earn over $2 billion—nearly $500 million more than Swift’s anticipated $1.6 billion profit, Forbes reported. Both are on pace to smash the current record held by Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which earned $818 million and ended just a few months ago, according to Billboard.
Renaissance, released in 2022, is the singer’s seventh solo album and debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart. It’s a house dance record that was the most critically acclaimed album of 2022 and named best album of the year by publications including the New York Times and Rolling Stone.
“Whether it’s people looking for dining and nightlife options, getting glammed up, or booking transportation, the ‘Beyoncé Bump’ is real, and it’s helping more people connect with local businesses in their communities,” Tara Lewis, Yelp’s trend expert, said in a July report.
