Review: Janet Jackson at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Posted by paulrivas on:
Janet Jackson's in town. She played the Santa Barbara Bowl last night and will do so again tonight. If you go tonight, hopefully you'll get more than the hour of music we got last night.
The show was historic, and awesome, and the dancing was even awesomer, but the night ended just past 9:30, including numerous film and tv clips, and Janet didn't put on any of the 'badass outfits' that the Black women behind us were demanding. Instead, she went with a fly-mom-picking-her-kids-up-from-junior-high-in-the-nineties look, with white jean jacket, black tank, charcoal jeans and diamond skull belt buckle.
One of the dancers looked just like my sister's classmate Mollie Helmuth and every member of a prestigious east-coast women's college co-op. Or, as two nearby fans combined to say, like 'a perfectly normal white woman, but with a dykey vegan edge.'
Discerning fans concluded that the Janet show didn't even sniff the NKOTB show a couple years ago, but even skeptics like me could feel Michael's presence during Scream (pictured).
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14 Comments
Comment by Ws1 on
That's some seriously hi-res iphonage you got there rivas. I remember when that video came out. did she wear the spikey foam sweater/shirt? that was awesome.
Comment by Paulrivas on
WYSIWSW. That is, no spikey foam shirt. But i have seen a lot of spikey foam backpacks lately. Coincidence?
Comment by ryan on
I had a blast! Glass half full!
Comment by Jurpy on
I went to the show last night and I thought that it was a sad excuse for a show. Granted, I am a fan of hard rock heavy metal where bands actually play 90 minutes before they finish. She played an hour and it seemed like after every song there was a five minute video clip to watch and she was not even on the stage. I was thinking "WTF I paid $150 for each ticket to watch YouTube and I'm freezing my ass off?" My wife commented that she was disappointed that Janet was not even taking that time to change outfits. The clips shown of Micheal were great, but they only made me wish that he was putting on the show rather than his sister. I won't go see her again. Out, Jurpy
Comment by Sara Hansen on
The worst show ever! She was lip-synching.
Comment by Paulrivas on
Thanks everyone for contributing to this discussion. Was or was it not a good show? Was it worth the money? Can we excuse the half-assed effort because she's Janet Jackson? @Ryan: I, too, had, as you say, a blast. BUT... @Jurpy: I agree that Michael stole the show. The whole thing kind of seemed like a giant get-together to acknowledge that nobody will ever seen Michael Jackson alive again and that this money-grab was the best we could hope for. @Sara: The lip-synch was the very first thing that popped into my head when she came on stage, but I don't have the musical savvy to make such claims.
Comment by Kimberly on
This was my first time EVER seeing her perform and I was sooo disappointed Saturday night. She did'nt change her wardrobe and took a lot of breaks. The video clips were good but would have much rather seen her on stage. I thought this concert would have been mind blowing.
Comment by Paulrivas on
I've confirmed with someone who talked to the crew that she was lip-synching some songs. This guy's words were: "If you're a die-hard fan, you probably loved it. But if you aren't, you got ripped off."
Comment by Lemonjelly on
I feel ripped off that I didn't even get the noise across town.
Comment by Margie on
I thought it was one of the worst concerts I've ever been to..but I have been to thousands over my lifetime so when I see someone performing for about 45 minutes at 150 a tickets, this is VERY disappointing!! I would never pay to see her again. Thank God, my tickets were free. Most people apund me were cussing and very upset when she ended at 9:30.
Comment by Rachel on
Huh....I heard it was a good show. Too bad.
Comment by PCat on
The OC Register says she was NOT lip synching: http://soundcheck.ocregister.com/2011/04/11/janet-jackson-in-top-form-heading-into-l-a-gigs/47899/
Comment by Paulrivas on
Thanks PCat! That's interesting. Either she was or she wasn't, I guess, depending who you believe. Personally, I don't put much stock in any newspaper that claims Janet was in top form on Saturday night. I wish I had timed how long she actually performed; then I could have made the argument that even if she had been in top form, which I and a lot of other people didn't find her to be, then surely had she played an hour or two instead of 44 minutes she would have slipped below top form. (I gave her the benefit of the doubt when I said an hour.) The lyp-sink thing is interesting, too. I don't know enough about it to say, but I don't see how the fact that you could hear her clap on her mic precludes her from lip-synching. Couldn't have she been doing so inaudibly? Anyway, as Rivas Cultural Services sees it, at best the OC Rag (a typo of Reg) comes off as elitist, being that good people like Jurpy who paid $150 thought the show sucked. *although that could have been because he didn't layer up.
Comment by DC on
Good performance, No costume changes, not worth the money, poorly done with no effort. Been to her shows in L.A. much better!