During a press conference for Super Bowl XLVII on January 31, 2013, Beyoncé revealed that she would make an announcement after her performance at the halftime show and added that "fans should just stay tuned to see".

[8] During an interview with Vogue, Beyoncé described herself as a "modern-day feminist" and further spoke about her decision to reference her husband's name: "I feel like Mrs. Carter is who I am, but more bold and more fearless than I've ever been.....

[12] In March 2013, Beyoncé posted a new poster for the tour on her official Facebook page showing her striking four different poses, wearing a blond wig, a white top and blue shorts.

The ban was interpreted as a reaction to the "unflattering" pictures from Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime performance showing her "jubilant exertions", that appeared on websites such as Gawker and BuzzFeed.

[16] On May 13, 2013, the general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Mickey H. Osterreicher, wrote a letter to Noel-Schure on behalf of 19 other organizations requesting from him to "immediately revise your guidelines to restore photo credentialing" for the rest of the tour in Europe and the US.

[20][23] The set list of the 2013 portion of the tour included approximately twenty five songs from Beyoncé's four solo studio albums: Dangerously in Love (2003), B'Day (2006), I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), and 4 (2011).

[42] One of Beyoncé's costumes which was worn during the first concerts was a gold bodysuit, designed by The Blonds, embellished with golden breast-cups with a complete nipple detail.

[24] An 18th Century France influence was found in the white-powder makeup and the opening costume as well as a Louis XVI theme throughout the show with oversized wigs and bustiers.

[57] Rosa Silverman of The Daily Telegraph commented that Beyoncé was "mesmerizing the crowds with her showstopping outfits... she took to the stage in a series of racy costumes that made no attempt to hide her famous curves.

[60][61] The video wall raised afterwards and a brief pyrotechnics display began as Beyoncé appeared onstage standing for several seconds prior to the performance of "Run the World (Girls)" preceded by an extended timpani interlude.

[61][65] An uptempo version of "Why Don't You Love Me" with a choreography by Beyoncé and Les Twins was preceded by a video projection showing a vintage montage of her.

[61] "Love on Top" and an abbreviated version of Destiny's Child's "Survivor" followed; Beyoncé dedicated the latter song to the members of the aforementioned girl group, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.

[61] Images of pyramids, animated lions and elephants and a portrait of the singer wearing a Nefertiti-style crown were displayed on the screen before the performance of "Grown Woman", keeping in line with the song's African influence.

[23] A montage was shown with the song "I Was Here" being played in the background showing footage of the singer with Barack Obama, taking part in charity work, during a vacation with Jay-Z and excerpts of her 2013 performance at the Super Bowl.

[65] Tiffany Poole from The Oklahoman praised the fashion, video backdrops and "some of the most impersonated dance moves on YouTube" concluding, "To say that Beyoncé puts on a good show would be grossly understated.

[61] Nick Hasted of The Independent wrote that the tour followed the stadium trends containing "big-budget movie clips and Broadway musical dance moves, with platoons of backing singers and dancers acting as extras" further hailing it as a "Cecil B. DeMille spectacle".

[71] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian who compared the singer's performance with Tina Turner praised the show's "bombastic" opening and wrote that "there's something powerful and relentless" about it.

[54] Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times noted, "What left the deepest impression was something far more elemental: Beyoncé's ability to make self-aggrandizement seem like an expression of humility... [Her] ambition seemed in proportion with her fans' expectations; she came by the sense of scale honestly.

She praised the singer's "fierce" tireless dancing and concluded, "But for all the hauteur here, in couture and bearing, Beyoncé delivers genuine warmth at close range.

[24] However Halperin criticized the show's set list mainly due to the majority of the songs from the album 4, writing, "Bey sounded terrific on all, of course, but with a... ready-to-party audience angling to groove in the aisles, rather than sway with their hands to the heavens, overall it missed the mark.

[73] A negative review came from San Jose Mercury News' Jim Harrington who called the tour "flawed", criticized its set list consisting of "plenty of filler[s]" and the many dissipating costume changes she went through for the show.

He concluded in his review, "The relentless pace, ever-changing visuals and sheer amount of songs crammed into the set is a lot to take in, let alone the fact that Beyoncé delivers the entire thing with power yet impeccable ease.

"[70] David Pollock of The Independent felt that, "this near two-hour epic is a ferocious distillation of musical styles old and new and a stunning declaration of intent that Knowles intends to be recognised as the defining pop artist of her era.

Phone firm O2, which was behind the pre-sale of the UK shows, said it could have sold out London's O2 Arena 150 times with the number of website hits with a spokesman noting the "unprecedented level of demand from O2 customers looking to buy tickets".

[82] It was revealed that Beyoncé set the record for the highest number of concert attendees in Brazil for the year 2013, with more than 230,000 fans attending her 5 shows in the country.

[83] On July 7, 2013, the Oceania leg of the tour was announced, with dates set for shows in Australia and New Zealand, where Beyoncé held a concert for the first time in her career.

[91] On December 11, 2013, a second European leg through 2014 was announced bringing the total number of shows to 132, thus becoming Beyoncé's longest running tour to date.

[92] For the second European leg, Beyoncé had beaten the record she herself had set earlier in the year, by selling 40,000 tickets in under one hour for the two 2014 concerts at Antwerp.

[100] During "The Sound of Change Live" charity concert held at Twickenham Stadium in London on June 1, 2013, various clips and performances were broadcast worldwide to over 150 countries which were believed to have reached over 1 billion people.

[103] During Beyoncé's performance at the Made in America Festival, the two opening songs—"Run the World (Girls)" and "End of Time"—were streamed live via YouTube.