Several music critics gave the show positive reviews, with a variety of publications praising both the tour's production and Beyoncé's performance and vocal abilities.

Supporting acts also included artists signed to Beyoncé's own management company, Parkwood Entertainment, such as the duo Chloe x Halle, who were just starting their careers at that time.

After the first North American leg of the tour was completed, it was announced that fans, who had the option to add a donation to the Flint water crisis when purchasing tickets, had raised $82,234 for the cause.

[12] In the same press release, Beyoncé's partnership with THX was announced, with the purpose of providing the highest level of audio quality at concerts for the duration of the tour.

Designed by Es Devlin and engineered and built collaboratively by Stageco and Tait Towers,[17] the tour's stage features a centrepiece of a revolving 60 foot tall box, made with video screen walls.

"The pool of water is the antithesis to the fire-spitting monolith; the most joyful, redemptive sequence of the show takes place here, from "Freedom" through to "Halo"", stated Devlin.

All styled by Beyoncé's stylist, Marni Senofonte, references of the tour's costumes were compared to that of the wild west, the "antebellum south", Africa and BDSM.

[20] The opening outfit consisted of a Victorian-inspired look created by Dean and Dan Caten (DSQUARED2), complete with a crystal embroidered bustier and an oversized western style hat.

[20] Peter Dundas of Roberto Cavalli produced an all over black crystal embroidered bodysuit for the tour, which also included gold metallic thread and accompanying knee high tiger print boots in a military style.

Alessandro Michele working for Gucci designed a sequinned bodysuit for Beyoncé, incorporating a geometric print and a red mink fur coat.

[21] Beyoncé also requested to Kudo that the outfit was in sync with the antebellum theme which runs through the tour's supporting album Lemonade, which influenced the inclusion of frills across the chest and scooping neckline.

Beyonce commissioned several ensembles from Inbal Dror, a designer notable for "attention-demanding details like sheer cup corsets, dramatic cut-outs and slits, and barely there silhouettes" for the Tour.

[27] Fishnet tights worn in accompaniment with the tour's outfits were hand dyed in crock pots in order to correctly match the varying skin tones of Beyoncé's dancers.

[20] Throughout the concert, a large, rotating LED screen is featured centre stage, projecting live images of Beyoncé and her twenty[29] backup dancers to the audience.

[33] The stage is then seen to contain human sized boxes, in which Beyoncé and her dancers perform inside of, in sync to the 2014 remix of "Crazy in Love", which is then followed by "Naughty Girl".

[35] Kelli Kennedy writing for the Associated Press noted that Beyoncé "slays at tour opening" and further commented "her commanding performance of "Freedom" served as reminder to the world that she 'breaks chains all by myself.

[36] Becky Randel of Billboard felt that emotion guided the mood for the evening and stated that "Bey was overcome when the audience knew all the lyrics to her new song, "Hold Up" and she often stopped to smile or nod at her exuberant BeyHive.

[37] Writing for Rolling Stone, Kat Bein said Beyoncé was "a prime example of entertainment and a vision of an artist at her apex" and later commented "the show was a visual feast as well as an emotional tour de force, packed with fireworks, confetti, rearranging stage designs and aerial dancers".

Ruggierie praised Beyoncé's performance, particularly the strong vocals demonstrated in "1+1" and concluded "watching her command a stadium stage for two hours was another reminder of her limitless ambition".

[40] Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times concluded her positive review of the Pasadena stop of the tour with "Soaking wet and sitting onstage alone, she left the audience with the closing number, "Halo".

Despite this, Sandra Sperounes of the Edmonton Journal commented "not even rain or bitter wind could stop our Ms. Flawless, our Survivor, our Queen Bey from dazzling an estimated 40,000 fans at Commonwealth Stadium on a stormy Friday night."

[46] Mathilde Doiezie of Le Figaro ended his positive review of the Saint-Denis show with "A moment of grace concluded by Halo sung open heart, kneeling in water, face still dripping.

However, the article also felt the show lacked emotion in certain parts, noting Beyoncé did not mention the 2016 Nice truck attack that happened one week prior to the concert.

[50] During the first round of the European general sale, Beyoncé's performance at Amsterdam Arena sold out within 20 minutes, prompting a waiting list to be opened and promoters attempting to organise a second show.

[51] Some Swedish fans were left unhappy due to the speed tickets sold out for the Friends Arena date of the tour, with complaints being made about the queueing system implemented by Ticketmaster.

[54] After the first round of dates for the North American general sale opened to the public, an additional show was added at Chicago's Soldier Field, due to the "overwhelming demand".

[56] On February 17, 2016, Live Nation gave a press release announcing that nearly 1 million tickets had already been sold for the tour in 48 hours, including sell-outs in Miami, Arlington, Pasadena, Toronto, Chicago, Foxborough, Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore, Sunderland, London, Manchester, Dublin, Amsterdam and Stockholm.

The leg included two sell out nights at London's Wembley Stadium, playing for 142,500 fans and grossing $15.3 million, the sixth largest boxscore of the year reported by Billboard at the time of the article.