Destiny's Child decided to split last year so that each could go after their own careers; this was apparently a mutual decision by all concerned and it started their farewell tour, which included this date Atlanta with this final concert featuring the surviving three members and songs ranging from their first hit with "no, no, no" through to each of them getting a chance to do their recent solo stuff. Of course if you dislike them then you should probably avoid this video, but their popularity seems fairly universal and they do have a very strong back-catalogue of hits to draw on even if their most recent stuff wasn't actually that great (to me Soldier is a horrid piece of ethnic stereotyping and "Cater 4U" puts woman's lib back 50 years).
The show opened really well and aside from a very occasional dip, pretty much keeps the tempo and quality high. When the three girls are on the stage together they get a reasonably fair share of the stage. Of course the pecking order is (rightly or wrongly) is Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle but B doesn't hog it as much as she has for the past whatever number of years. The singing is mostly very good and their stage presence is great. All thee seem really aware of the cameras and the big screen and they really act well accordingly, producing lots of sly looks and facial expressions that add to their performances generally and make this more interesting than them just singing. I did have a bit of a problem with some parts of though. I know they have always used their bodies and sexuality to sell (and indeed all their dances are sexually charged here) but it was hard to ignore that the bit where they take three men out of the audience was just too close to a lapdance for comfort. The fact they were singing that horrible piece of subservient nonsense "Cater 4U" just made it even worse. The video "talking heads" immediately after this didn't work very well but happily things got back on track after this.
The middle section is good enough but not as good as the start and end. The solo stuff is a bit mixed and it must be said that Kelly comes off the weakest resorting to singing her main hit with the audience in the absence of Nelly, before turning out a couple of songs that were OK but distinctly unmemorable. Beyonce has the biggest hits and the most solo time on stage and is as crowd-pleasing as you'd expect. Michelle has the strongest voice but as usual is given the least time to show it.
Overall a really enjoyable concert movie for those that at least like most of the DC hits. It has its average moments but they are in the minority and the majority of the video will please fans with the strength of the songs, the sexually charged air and the commanding stage presence of the three women themselves. Well worth a look.
