While Lady Gaga has her Butcher’s-window dresses and Miley Cyrus her Gene Simmons-styled tongue (and potty mouth to go with it) it could be said that Katy Perry has the records, and the chart records to go with them. Her second major album ‘Teenage Dream’ became the first since Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ to produce five number-one billboard hits (‘California Gurls’, ‘Teenage Dream’, ‘Firework’, ‘E.T.’ and ‘Last Friday Night (T. G. I. F.)’), making her the first female artist to do so. While Gaga may appear to be the bigger artist, sales for both ‘Teenage Dream’ and last year’s ‘Prism’ surpassed those of ‘Born This way’ and ‘ARTPOP’. As a performer, however, Perry’s show appears a much more regimented affair than Gaga’s Monster Balls (erm…), despite its 17 UK arena dates (more than Miley’s recent ‘Bangerz’ tour and Gaga’s upcoming ‘ARTRAVE’ combined).
The Prismatic Tour is split into five sections, allowing for costume and set changes, which includes one seemingly influenced by the Cats musical, with giant scratching posts and a jazz-hands version of ‘Hot n Cold’. A neon-jungle opens the show, with Perry belting out recent anthem ‘Roar’, followed by the equally, purified pop of ‘Part Of Me’. The die-hard fans and those there for the singles are quickly separated, with album cuts from both ‘Prism’ and ‘Teenage Dream’ dropped into the set, before a quick change to an Egyptian theme. Easily the highlight of the show, the second fifth featured recent single ‘Dark Horse’ followed by ‘E.T.’, with Juicy J and Kanye West appearing on the screens respectively. Of course, these dates are more “shows” than “gigs”, but the Egyptian segment was well produced in comparison to other areas, with costumes appearing to have been caught from an explosion in a Primark bargain bin and props straight from the nearest Family Bargains.
An acoustic section allowed Katy to strap on her guitar and take to the B-stage, performing slower numbers including ‘Unconditionally’ and ‘The One That Got Away’, with the whole thing slightly soiled by an introduction to ‘By The Grace Of God’ of how Katy does whatever she wants, but is “accountable to God.” The mischievousness that once made Katy and Russell Brand seem like a well made match appears to have been lost, with between-song chats often awkward, staged affairs. (The Liverpool crowd were referred to as “Scouzers”, before being told how they “always sounded so smart”… Surely a comment made to all British fans based on tea-drinking, Family Guy cutaway characters.) Huge inflatables were lead through the arena for a rave inspired final section (including the smiling poo emoticon), before an encore of ‘Firework’, and actual (indoor) fireworks. While die-hard fans were clearly overwhelmed with the overly American production (Katy jokes about she’s “actually from California!”), those impressed with Katy’s knack for writing a decent pop-single will perhaps appreciate the odd YouTube video a little more.
@danbull7609
Dan Bull
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