This wasn't supposed to happen, but it turned out to be one of those things that afterwards you couldn't imagine not happening. You see, I used to be a huge fan of Janet Jackson, but over the past several years my devotion to her had faded. God, I remember a time when I looked forward to new Janet as much as I looked forward to anything new from Madonna or P!nk, but sadly for me, and a lot of others, too, those feelings of excited anticipation had long since gone away.
I think maybe it was the famous nipple incident at the Super Bowl. Not that I agreed with any of the sort of horror that marred that whole thing. In fact, I thought it was ridiculous! Nevertheless, Miss Jackson's star has never been the same since and that's a real shame. She became somewhat shunned and as a result I never even gave her albums Damita Jo or 20 Y.O. a chance. It wasn't until 2008's Discipline that I even lukewarmly paid attention to her again.
So late in 2015 Janet came out with her latest album, Unbreakable, and my friend Sean had me listening once again. I agreed to go to her show supporting the record, which I liked but didn't love. I hadn't seen Janet in concert since the 2001 All For You Tour, during which I actually got to meet her (and had a bad experience in the process!). We bought the tickets and then she cancelled. No bueno!
The Show
When the buzz about Janet's current State of the World Tour came around, my interest was definitely piqued, but not enough to buy a ticket. Then my friend Gary, just a few weeks ago, asked if I wanted to join him to the Barclay's show. He had an extra ticket. Hell yeah!
As the day for the show came closer, I started to become more and more excited, but I didn't get really excited until Gary and I rushed in to our seats right as the show was starting...
Prejudice----------NO!
Ignorance-----------NO!
Bigotry------------NO!
Illiteracy----------NO!
Right from the get-go it was a love-fest! After a typically big opening, Miss Janet appeared onstage to thousands of cheers and immediately broke into two classics, both from the Rhythm Nation album. It was hard to find a decent recording of both The Knowledge and State of the World, but just to give you a taste, here's the former...
And so it began, a two-plus hour spectacle that enthralled nearly everyone in the building, including both myself and Gary. The first hour or so before the show's first interlude was a veritable mànage of cherished hits from a very storied career. For myself, and I am sure many others in the audience, this was a very pleasant trip down memory lane as Janet whipped through such standards such as Nasty, Miss You Much, Control, What Have You Done For Me Lately, Escapade, All For You, When I Think of You and Love Will Never Do (Without You). Much to my delight she added tunes she probably hasn't performed in years, such cool stuff as The Pleasure Principle, Alright and You Want This. Wow, talk about revved up!
The second part to the concert was full on slow and then sexy. After an instrumental interlude of the beautiful Again (to which the entire audience sang.), Janet returned to the stage for some slow jams and some downright sexy goodness with such tunes as Where Are You Now, Come Back to Me, The Body That Loves You, Twenty Foreplay, Got Till It's Gone, That's the Way Love Goes,and Throb. Before the next interlude, Janet wowed the audience by getting sentimental, as big brother Michael appeared on a huge screen behind her and she delved into the first verse of their hit Scream. The sentimentality continued on Together Again, as the star of the evening gave an I miss you shout-out to MJ. The crowd went absolutely wild!
Another short interlude came next before Janet came out to address one of her male dancers tied to a chair as she gently, then forcefully belted out an electrifying performance of What About Us. The classics If and Rhythm Nation rounded out the set before Janet introduced the band members and dancers and exited the stage as the super-satisfied crowd begged for more.
The encore set was a little bit more of an exhalation than a big ending. Miss Jackson performed Black Eagle and Well Traveled, from her recent Unbreakable album, and sandwiched in between came a call for a New Agenda, and a medley of Damn Baby/Get Lonely. By the time all was said and done, Janet had given her audience what they had come for, and more. The buzz from 18,000 satisfied fans continued out onto the hallways and into the streets afterwards. As for Gary and I, well, we're still trading lyrics and singing songs three days later.
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