Formerly reluctant to acknowledge that Beyoncé’s talent may actually match her beauty and status – it was with great cynicism that I took my seat along the fringe of Wembley Arena’s belly and awaited her bespangled arrival.

With a 13-piece femme fatale band in tow, Ms Knowles materialised onstage through a layer of thick white smoke and immediately poured on her number one smash ‘Crazy in Love’, the natural opening, which morphed into a delicious cover of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ moments later. You couldn’t fail to be engaged from the get-go.

What followed was 160 minutes of unadulterated showmanship and it was quite the ride! Whether belting electrifying pop gems like ‘Freakum Dress’ or propelling herself through such ballad blockbusters as ‘Dangerously In Love’ – Beyoncé sexed up the scene with never-faltering energy levels that forced us on our feet. The tempo glided effortlessly from sassy to sultry and back again with Bee-diva at its centre; slinking her way through it all and barely breaking a sweat. Her very own version of Gladys Knight’s ‘Pips’ consisted of three buxom black beauties singing backup and adding particular oomph-factor to tailor-made tracks like ‘Suga Mama’.

Interludes were infrequent and swift enough to keep the air buzzing. All four female backup dancers put on a women-scorned stint from Chicago which made perfect prelude to the ferocious performance of ‘Ring the Alarm’ from Beyoncé who at this point donned a fiery red trench dress.

One highlight was ‘Check on It’ which Beyoncé performed unblemished acapella after announcing that she was going to give it to us, “nice and easy!” The heartfelt rendition of ‘Flaws and All’ adoringly reduced her to tears and I couldn’t help but notice (on the big screen) that she meant them.

Her legacy within super girl group Destiny’s Child was compacted into a feel-good medley which included such girl power delights as ‘Bugaboo’, ‘Survivor’ and nose-in-the-air ‘Independent Woman’; setting long-time fans alight! The lack of special guests mattered not – Beyoncé tackled all collaborative tracks with an emphatic “watch this!” and tossed material from the Dreamgirls soundtrack in for good measure.

Her ability to throw herself around in strappy heels and make use of the stage’s every square inch was reminiscent of Tina Turner’s passionate love affair with music when performing live: the audience feels privy to a private celebration. Performer does so for herself.

Finally closing with an interactive version of ‘Irreplaceable’ (some 12,000 voices singing every line) people began to filter towards the doors; seemingly unaware that lighting was still dim. The more clued-up stayed put and sure enough, after a costume change during the guitarist’s solo, Ms Knowles returned on conveyor belt for an encore dose of ‘Déjà vu’. The crowd growled and Beyoncé shimmied right up until the curtain fell.

This was a culmination of the bends in the road that made her and its erratic summarising worked splendidly! Peppered with sparkling costumes, impossible choreography and a vocal domination to leave the ears ringing; this spectacle firmly heralds Beyoncé as the best in this booty-shaking business today. I should have seen it coming.

Verdict: Fabulous Four!