Britney Spears: Piece of Me "live" in Las Vegas

Britney Spears used to sing live, sometimes. She gargled her way through an excruciating live rendition of her hit 'Everytime' on her Onyx Hotel Tour, something I witnessed before my very eyes and ears. At least she could be patted on the back for effort, perhaps even ballsiness for even attempting such a bold move when her singing voice isn't particularly...strong. So when it was announced she was going to take up residency in Las Vegas across the latter stage of 2013 and throughout 2014, I couldn't be blamed for presuming it would be a mime fest. 

Her team tried to quash this idea that resonated in global pop consciousness with statements along the lines of 'she's ready to sing' and 'her voice is better than ever' (words to that effect). So, a flash of doubt darted across my mind and I thought "OK, maybe she will do her job and actually sing live. Maybe she will stop being lazy or at least hold her hands up and admit that she's a shit singer'. I was wrong to doubt myself, oh fucking wrong I was! I owe myself a big fat apology. 

There she goes again, with the fucking arms!

Her residency kicked off on Boxing Day 2013. Predictably, the set is quite great. It's brimming with life, movement and flashing lights, glitz and glamour. It's all very exciting, expensive and well put together. Just for the record, I wasn't there, but I have seen enough YouTube evidence and photographic evidence to back myself up. The epic club worthy synths of Work Bitch kick in and the show begins. The dancers work very hard throughout, cutting fine shapes, defying gravity and synchronising perfectly. Who is this blonde who has seemingly intruded on what is a fun dance show with an entertaining backing track? Oh wait, (lol) it's Britney Spears! In fairness, her energy is on point for the first 30 seconds of the performance and then, typically for this performer in this era of her career, her energy drops and the lazy arm focused dance moves commence. Her legs work out of time with the dancers and it's so obviously a lip sync session it's laughable (at least record a live backing track darling). 

 

From what I can gather, this is a trend throughout. She cracks out 4 of her most immense tracks, Baby One More Time/Oops! I Did It Again, Stronger and Crazy. This is the Britney people want to see and by 'people' I mean me. Again, another obviously lip synced segue commences with a medley of her two most well known hits. Gone are the dance routines of yesteryear and in are the arm movements, being carried by dancers and getting entangled in red cloth a la Rachel Stevens Sweet Dreams (My LA Ex). It's so lack lustre that if you put the track on in an old people's care home you'd get more energy out of it. The dancers again, work very hard and without their efforts this show would be a laughing stock. Thankfully, for Britney at least, the surrounding spectacle distracts everyone from her obvious attitude of 'I'm rich and bored and I really don't want to perform anymore'. There isn't even a hand-heart-pump dance move shoved in for nostalgia's sake on Oops. There are performances of non-singles from her brilliant Blackout album, but these could have been replaced with other hits like Overprotected and instead of the song equivalent of the turd Lucky, she could have shoved in Born To Make You Happy or at least a superior track from one of her later albums. 

 

She closes off the show with pop rave tune Til' The World Ends. It's a superb club song marred by a lifeless attempt at interacting with her dancers and a piss poor attempt at pretending to have fun. Yes, hands are in again, as are fist pumps and lots of jumping on the spot. Really, for an act who pretty much redefined pop music of the late 90s (that's questionable in itself - I think we have Max Martin to thank for that) and early 00s with songs and videos like Slave 4 U and Toxic, this is a really deflating Vegas residency which had it been done years ago could actually have been pretty incredible.

Rated: Mutya Keisha Siobhan do Scala; are still very good.

Yes, another MKS post. Yes, this blogger is obsessed. Yes, I wish I was batting for Keisha Buchanan's team because she's banging. Yes, the original Sugababe's trio performed a full live show for the first time in over a decade and yes, they were very bloody good.

I wasn't there, so my "very bloody good" is based solely on Youtube clips, the witness accounts of others across the internet and through extreme personal bias. Mutya Keisha Siobhan kicked things off with their debut single 'Overload', a song that's still too cool for its own good. They continued rolling their fans down the grand hill of nostalgia with should have been a mega hit 'Run For Cover' and an incredible performance of 'Stronger'. You can't even hear Siobhan's rendition of the Heidi Range vocal properly because the crowd morph into a pack of wild bitches on heat. 

Enough of the oldies, we want to hear some new music. One of the standouts from the set is 'I'm Alright', a Sia Furler co-pen with the group. It's a mid-tempo piece of balladry with a catchy as hell chorus and lots of lovely MKS harmonising. Keisha's vocals are strong, Siobhan's packed with emotion, but it's Mutya's middle section that stands out. 'No Regrets' is another new track, similarly to 'I'm Alright', it's mid-tempo and about love. Keisha opens it with a stunningly performed verse and Mutya kills the second verse with her smooth soulful rasp. Another new, killer track is 'Lay Down In Swimming Pools', a spin on a Kendrick Lamar song. It oozes cool more so than any of the other new tracks, perhaps more than any of the Sugababe's back catalogue. 

They close the show with new single 'Flatline'. This is my song of the moment, that's no secret. It's creeping up to the higher reaches of my top songs of 2013 draft right now. The performance is solid; amazing vocals, blends, energy thumping through the crowd (if I'd been there I'd probably have stomped a trench into the floor).

Having Mutya Keisha & Siobhan back together is more significant than a lot of people realise. It's not just three women singing some songs and selling some records, it's much more than that. All three of them are skilled songwriters and two in particular (M & K) are responsible for some of the UK's most successful and most critically acclaimed pop songs, making them important contributors to British pop as a whole. If the Scala gig in London serves as a taste of what to expect from the quality of their second album together, we're about to be presented with a very exciting and important moment in UK pop music.

Rated Jessie Ware - Devotion On Tour

I've been plugging Jessie Ware a lot over the past 12 months. I'm sure you're sick of me constantly trying to sell her millions of records. I'm sure I don't care if you are. I do care about an artist as talented and just damn lovely as Jessie making it BIG though and although her debut album Devotion hit number 5 on the charts, she deserves so much more success than she's getting! 

Jessie toured last year, but through unfortunate circumstances I missed the bloody gig; devastated. Then I got the most amazing Ticket Master notification ever, tickets for another leg of Jessie's tour were available. Shit the bed! Time past; I got tickets; I got drunk; I went to the gig; I got more drunk; I had one of the best nights ever.

Opening with the album's title track, she kicked things off in chilled fashion. The twinkles and the haunting beats meandering through one another right before those soft, soulful vocals pour down like a chocolate fondue waterfall. Following this Jessie performed all of Devotion bar 'Something Inside'. Her stage presence is undeniable; it's just her and her 4/5 piece band, stood in front of a large sign that reads 'JESSIE WARE'. It's all black, so there's no gimmick, no tack, this is pure class. Her banter is brilliant, joking with the audience throughout; looking appreciative and humbled by the audience's immense reaction to a gorgeous rendition of behemoth tune 'Wildest Moments'. This is a woman who knows she's good, but hasn't let it go to her head. 

'Wildest Moments' was a predictable highlight, but a surprise favourite for me was 'Still Love Me', which sounded so much more powerful in a live setting. That and a bloody awesome performance of personal favourite track 'Sweet Talk', which got some belting vocals in the climax, and moving performances of 'Swan Song' and 'Taking In Water' (I saw tears in some audience member's eyes). I've always said live music is better than studio recording. The beats are heavier and the artist has so much more freedom vocally. Closing track 'Running' has a pretty big finish in the studio version, but Jessie carried that mid section note of 'keep me running' into the stratosphere. 

I was always going to enjoy the gig, there was no doubt about that. I know Devotion, word for word - start to finish. I'm a super fan who doesn't have time to raid Jessie's bins and steal her belongings. I knew she could sing, but I didn't expect the power I witnessed. That voice is something really special, I'd even go as far as saying the record only showcases 75% of her vocal abilities. If you're looking to stand in the path of a hurricane force voice, this is the gig to see.

5/5

Rated: Rihanna + Xfactor = Poporgasm(s)

The Xfactor Live stage is used to ol' dirty Rihanna Fenty parading up and down its walkways with her buns out. She's belted out some impressive and, at times, iconic, performances on its fancy glowy surfaces. Her recent performance of 'Diamonds' saw her get totally drenched on stage and I am pretty certain that's never happened on the show before; well it did happen to Chris Maloney every week (nervous sweats). 

Tonight saw RiRi slow things right down with her beautiful new single 'Stay' from 7th album Unapologetic. It's one of the good songs from the album and she showed off some vocal ability many probably didn't expect her to have. It was lovely, really just lovely, but I wanted more... well fuck me did I get more?! She only blasted out 'We Found Love', which is only one of the best pop songs of all time. The joint was pumping. I was elated to the point of palpitation and my faith in her was once again restored. 

Rihanna, as much as I don't love your newest album, I still love you... almost as much as my mum and cat. Almost.

Click through below for some Rfactor highlights!

Rated Last Girl On Earth.

Black leotard, back crunching heels and a hair cut that would intimidate any heterosexual male, Rihanna has landed. It’s been a while since the Barbadian beauty toured, but she’s certainly making up for lost time with her 2010, Last Girl On Earth extravaganza. In support of her brilliant album Rated R, the queen of vampy ensembles brought to Glasgow’s SECC a post-apocalyptic vision of the contemporary pop-concert. Military, metal, gas masks, weird stilt wearing monster people, two giant metal guns and a pink tank; every prop oozed Rihanna’s pop identity. In a surprisingly brilliant performance, Rihanna captivated everyone in the audience, especially me, who was slightly doubtful of her live quality. What a fool I was.

Following a strong support show from Pixie Lott, the arena went black (30 minutes later of course) and everyone went insane. A screen illustrating the idea behind the tour is filled with distorted images, Rihanna is dreaming but her dreams are real - thus we are living her dream. A simple concept, which is revealed to be infused with military chic, so this girl obviously loves soldiers, guns and tight outfits. Rated R’s intro track ‘Mad House’ kicks in and shortly ‘Russian Roulette’s’ riff screams into the arena. The final gun shot of the track is accompanied by a visual of a bleeding  human heart. The biggest surprise is Rihanna voice, which is pretty damn good. I expected some mild screeches and breaks, but she kept it together and delivered a massive punch. Descending from her podium and simultaneously changing costume, the face slapping “yeah yeah yeah” of ‘Hard’ pounds its way through my ear drums. Engaging the crowd for the first time, mainly getting us to sing with her, turns out to be one of the best qualities of Rihanna as a live performer. For the whole show she engaged the audience and made sure we were doing some work too, whilst intermittently reassuring us of where we were, “Glasgow! Make some fucking noise!”.

Hit after hit, she battered out consistently strong vocal performances and cut some impressive shapes, mainly with her ass, which took on a life of its own during the intoxicatingly delightful ‘Rude Boy’. Encased in a black latex leotard and thigh high latex wedge boots, Rihanna belted out ‘Rockstar 101’, ‘Hate That I Love You’ and ‘Rehab’. Of course there was a ballad segue, which included an amazing performance of ‘Unfaithful’ and the new single ‘Te Amo’. The latter was accompanied by two aerialists who ‘stole the show’ (excuse the cliche) by doing things in the air I didn’t think a human body was capable of. 

Rihanna proved that her classic songs still have relevance and still sound good alongside her new, improved, edgier sounds. Barely dressed, in a white strappy (I mean just straps) number, she belted out ‘Please Don’t Stop the Music’, a welcome addition to the line-up, being about the most poppy of the whole show. ‘SOS’ sounded great with a rock remix laced through the original track, as did her final ballad ‘Take A Bow’. Another quick change of outfit and we were treated to a medley of ‘Wait Your Turn’, ‘Live Your Life’ and ‘Run This Town’, right before one more outfit alteration and ‘Umbrella’. 

After 22 songs Rihanna showed no signs of failure. Her vocals remained brilliant throughout the entire show and blew all ideas of a ‘not so great’ singer out of my mind. It’s clear that Rihanna won’t be going anywhere. She seems head strong, intelligent, and most importantly she is a superstar-class live performer. She may have some great song writers behind her and some equally as talented producers, but the quality of her new music which had a substantial input from the lady herself proves her worth as a musical artist. Plus, she can still look like the coolest, sexiest woman on the planet after sweating for 2 hours, that means something, right? The show didn’t feel like a GaGa imitation (who her final outfit will no doubt draw comparisons to - bored), nor did it feel like it was themed. It avoided the ‘Britney Spears miming in a sort-of circus’ pointlessness and presented eager fans with a 100% live, mind blowing, Rihanna identity parade. 

May 19th 2010 - LOVE.

Rated Rihanna.

So I went to see Rihanna last night (my new obsession) in Glasgow and it was immense. I've seen Beyonce twice and her stage presence was almost on par. I was pleasantly surprised and exhilarated. I'm going to post a proper review of the show in a couple of hours, but here's a little teaser of what I had (about 20ft) away from me last night.

Riri - Glasgow 19/05/2010 (Rated i.)