Local News Interviews That Man Who Read A Book At A Beyoncé Concert

Local News Interviews That Man Who Read A Book At A Beyoncé Concert

Beyoncé took Lemonade and her massive Formation World Tour to Raleigh, NC’s Carter-Finley Stadium on Tuesday. But not all audience members were enthralled by the performance — during the show, concertgoer Michelle Gardner was walking down from section 11 when she spotted an elderly man in a folding chair intently reading a book. She couldn’t resist recording the scene, and the footage quickly went viral on social media.

Thankfully, Raleigh’s ABC11 Eyewitness News managed to track down the reader in question, one George Papageorgiou, and they’ve gotten to the bottom of the story. What book could possibly be more interesting than a Beyoncé concert? A Greek-language copy of Jules Verne’s The Danube Pilot, of course, which Papageorgiou’s parents bought him in Cairo 53 years ago, when he was just 13 years old. He says he’s read it at least seven or eight times. “I love it — probably not another book that’s influenced my love for geography as much as this book,” he explains. “It’s about a trip from Georgia and the caucuses all the way to Beijing, China with a whole bunch of adventures in-between, so it’s an exciting book.”

Papageorgiou and his wife were at the venue working concessions for their church and only pulled up seats once they were done. “After a while, we watch the show. It was OK, and then we just sat down. I pulled up my book and start reading,” Papageorgiou recalls. “I mean, I find Beyonce a great show woman, and very attractive. But her music? Eh, fine, but not my style. I listen to ’50s, ’60s, ’70s music, and a lot of Greek music.”

Watch his full segment below. Hopefully he’ll go on Ellen next.

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