2011年 Mar 10日 Thursday, 23:53
Review for Tue 8 Mar – Janet Jackson, Mindless Behavior:
First of all, I want to start by saying that I did not see Mindless Behavior. I was too busy buying merchandise and trying to get a glimpse of Janet Jackson entering the building. I have nothing to say, good or bad, about them.
Janet Jackson. Oh. My. God. That woman is amazing and fierce and unbelievable. I wish I could look that good and dance like that when I'm over 40! Her outfits were beautiful, too. Her first outfit was this amazing silver cat suit, then she had this light pink evening gown with sparkly straps, then my favorite was a plain black tank top and black pants with rhinestone covered suspenders hanging down and a BLACK SEQUINED BUSTLE. It was fabulous! Then she had a black suit with sparkly accents and her last outfit was this white suit. Just like Michael, she loves her sparkles!
Being in the audience was amazing. There were all sorts of people there; young women, old women, boyfriends who didn't want to be there, black, white, gay, straight… everyone was part of the Rhythm Nation. Everyone screamed in between songs, but no one screamed during songs, unlike every other concert I've been to. Instead of screaming randomly, everyone sang along. Normally that would drive me nuts, but I was guilty of doing it, too, and it didn't matter because the sound system was great. Everyone was in a good mood and happy to be there. The atmosphere was, dare I say it? Magical.
The theater was fabulous. The Chicago Theater is the best place for a concert; it's not outside, it's not huge like the Allstate Arena, it was perfect. The only thing that would have made it better was if the audience was raked a bit. That would have been better.
Because it was the Number Ones tour, she did all of the favorite tracks. She even did her parts of Scream, and when video of Michael came up on the big screen behind her, everyone cheered. It was fun watching the audience during this song because you can tell who was a Janet fan and who was a Janet & Michael fan. All of the people who loved Michael were screaming and singing along and dancing. All the people who were Janet fans only were standing there smiling, like, "Okay."
During the first costume change, clips from Good Times (the Penny-is-about-to-get-whipped-with-an-iron scene), Different Strokes, the "poonani" scene from Poetic Justice, and the infamous golf club scene from Why Did I Get Married Too?. Everyone was cheering during the golf club scene, shouting "Aww yeah! Get it girl! Do it!!". It was lots of fun.
The second set, with her light pink dress, was all about the slow songs. Normally this is where I might get bored during a concert, but not with Miss Janet. She kept the audience engaged, partly due to her live singing. It was a real pleasure to hear Janet's beautiful voice live, not just a backup track that she danced to. Even though I'm not a huge fan of "Nothing," her soulful performance was one I'll remember.
Songs I was somewhat surprised to hear at the concert included Diamonds and The Best Things in Life Are Free. I always felt like Luther Vandross (rest in peace) MADE that track. But Janet sang it and did a great job. I was surprised that Go Deep was not included in the set list. It's a fun number and was definitely on her Number Ones album.
Janet dedicates one number one hit to each city she travels to, and she dedicated All For You to Chicago, which was really fun. The video played at the beginning of the concert before she came out, and when she did it in the middle of the show, she was all like, "This is for YOU, CHICAGO!" and everyone cheered. She was just so beautiful and so amazing and I just had such a great time. Another stand out song from the first set was Miss You Much. Janet sounded great and she and her backup dancers did the original 1990 choreography, which looked dated but was still AMAZING and really fun to watch. That dance routine is one of my favorites of Janet's, so I really enjoyed it. In the 4th set, Janet did one of my favorite songs, If, a dirty song with some dirty choreography. It was really fun singing and dancing to that.
She closed the show with Together Again, which has had more meaning for her (and the rest of the world) after Michael died. Halfway though, pictures of Janet and Michael from when they were really little came up on the screen, and everyone cheered. It was so beautiful watching her sing about her brother, and at one point, she just stopped singing while the band kept playing, and she just looked up at the sky. I like to think that Michael was watching over Janet and everyone at the Chicago Theater then. (Okay, I know that sounds really sappy, but just go with it.) Everyone jumped and sang along; the audience put their whole heart and soul into it. We weren't just singing along with Janet, we were singing FOR Michael.
To sum it up, I had an amazing time. I wasn't sure if I'd ever have a chance to see "Ms. Rhythm Nation" in concert, but I was blessed with not just the opportunity, but with floor level seats. Everyone was like a big Janet Family, and I had tons of fun.
If anyone has a chance to see this Number Ones tour, I highly suggest it. Janet Jackson proves that not only does she still have it, but she can still "compete" with the more popular young stars of today. (And she didn't need dancing penises, either, unlike Ke$ha!)