Live Review: Lizzo
Lizzo – The Special Tour at the RAC Arena Perth on 14 July 2023
Review by Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
These are songs about self love, family love, friends love, sexy love
Love is what this place needs to be a better place
Take time to give love to yourself everyday
Treat yourself the way you deserve to be treated
Treat Others the Same – that expands, that grows, that can save a life
This is a moment to love on yourself, to dance, sing, giggle, scream…
…The portcullis of wonderment slide outwards, as light escape and spearing through the smoky air, carving a majestic silhouette of the divine figure. Hysterical abundance is sparked by the haloing aura, echoing across the arena of dreams, while the musical theme brews a sense of culmination that’s about to hit by a jazzy crescendo. Like a call of the wild, the vocal soprano howls, drawing her pack and calling for attention, spurting into an unbridled fanfare. The stage is met by her inner circles of dancers and musicians, as they surround the queen of soul, funk, rap and soprano.
Sing it! She commands
I’m cryin’ cause I love you – as 15,000 fans is succumbed under her spell.
Melissa Viviane Jefferson, aka Lizzo, oozes as much sass, spunk and funk as the names that read on the big screen midway through her set; Tina, Whitney, Ella, Etta, Sylvester, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and owning the black and white swagger of Motown from the untamed wilderness of The Supremes and The Pointer Sisters to the groove train of Marvin Gaye. She’s also a world class rapper, donning a mellifluous staccato beat that evokes involuntarily jitters from the ravers. On stage, her feisty vocals of crackling vulnerability possess the savagery of a political activist and the vulnerability of a broken woman, a relatable and inspiring combination that made her into fan favourite and a world class live act. For those who sensed the funk connection, indeed, her former mentor was her fellow Minneapolis resident, the late Prince.
Her army and the curious alike at the RAC Arena were smooched by the vocal effervescence of continuous soprano range and show-womanship that are undeniably Lizzo – an internationally accredited singer songwriter, an entertainer, a classically trained flutist, a successful business woman, and above all, an individual who inspires so many through a genre of her own.
From the moment she classily stormed onto the stage with Cuz I Love You, the show became a night of multiple culmination, peaking at every song within the setlist. That’s every song. Afterall, Lizzo is a four-time alumni of the Grammy Academy (only four?), yet it was surprising to imagine that the 35 year old had only received her seat to the stratospheric layer of fame not so long ago, powered by the Netflix Somcome Great in 2019 with the funky rap Truth Hurts.
The opening number was sprinkled with a honey layered staccato at the intro, a paradoxical combination of soulful jazz, illuding to the most euphoric filled entrance since KISS landed with their spaceships at this arena not so long ago. The chorus with her operatic range was glass shattering, as she absorbed the energy of the self-appointed backup singers of mums and daughters, sisters and nieces, and this photographer cum writer with his KISS T shirt. Apart from the screen with love hearts, messages of hope and stylistic shapes, no pyro juggernaut was required; just her vocals, stage presence, and a bevy of high tempo dancers, dictated by an all-female class of musicians. Juice was next, a disco-esque hot stepping number that got the audience disco dancing like it was 1979, capping a white-hot, one-two combo from the Grammy winning 2019 album Cuz I Love You. The benchmark has been set. This is Lizzo LIVE, which is a different breed from Lizzo studio recordings – which themselves are mind blowing.
I’m back here doing a tour, visualising my higher self, loving my higher self, loving my present self, I can come here and look cute and sing songs, but if you don’t feel better about yourself when you came here, I did not do my job, Perth.
Lizzo sits comfortably from the rap breakout hit Truth Hurts to Coldplay’s ballad Yellow – which she did a shortened melancholic number with the poignancy as the original. Her latest album Special which this tour is based on is as edgy and zestful as the previous album. Lizzo once said, to make her song, you gotta make it sound positive, even if the lyrics may not pass the sniff test of a Hallmark card, such as “is it just because I’m black and heavy” in her album title single Special, sparking a moment of reflection and consolidation from the crowd. There were heartfelt moments, almost choking in tears, ‘That’s why we feel so alone, that’s why we feel so much shame…I’m used to feeling alone, that’s why we feel so much shame’. But the crowd kept revving her on, as a sea of hands waving side to side into a celebration of unity.
That moment was a break – almost – from the shenanigans from front row to the four-storey nose-bleed sections. Her lyrics are honest, vulnerable and exposed, yet there was an aura of hope to those yearning for consolation through her soprano range and flaunt in musical chapters such as 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready). The pounding zest was felt throughout, the tongue and cheek anger and the rebound anthem turned into something that’s positive. Lizzo’s charisma and relatability is the muse for many, and engraved into the souls of so many who were here for the first time.
Tonight wasn’t all song and dance. In a Washington performance, The Minneapolis resident was offered by the State Library to perform the former US President James Madison’s crystal flute that was offered to him during his second inauguration in 1813. That sparked a raucous on social media citing sacrilegious indulgence. Little do they know that Lizzo is a classically trained flutist, and when she played tonight, the arena was smothered into a collective gracious awe, as the moment was recorded by every phone as if she’s a classical musician from 200 years ago that has been brought to live. Thanks to moment like this, classical music lives on.
There were also non-sonically charged moments of connection with the audience, from the Grammy winning singer taking video selfies from several of the audiences’ phones to signing autographs on a teddy bear (Liz B Bear) and cardboards. She also spilled Birthday Girl by singing happy birthday to a fan. She also lent her flute to an audience by the name of “Lozza” to play before 15,000.
So it is like Lizzo, with an Australian accent and twist. Her humour and Aussie connection win our hearts.
And within a blink, Lizzo is back to her feisty vocals with cracking vulnerability – seemingly is her trademark. Her live performances such as Good As Hell took us to another notch of euphoria through the massive speakers and top rate sound system. There was so much of swagger . And it seems that every moment of Lizzo gave us a great reminder of why we were there. And for the newbies, there were no regrets.
On soul fest songs like Jerome, she drowned in utter honesty about a good looking, immature lover, and colloquially known as “f*ck boy” while bellowing the vocals that is far reaching across the arena, as the modern day lighters were swaying and appearing like creatures of the night, eyeing on the main character. And with a flick of the switch, she dazzled with the triumph with pride in Everybody’s Gay – another culmination of the night through the perpetual bliss and everyone was on their feet.
There were highlights throughout – every performance has that hook and that orgasmic sexiness in her attitude. The genreless tracks was brought to live with a performance of high intensity and fun, as she flaunted and twerked like a bad ass through every turn and moves. Her personality and life experience are manifested into her lyrics, and in turn comes to live through an array of colourful performance and Vegas inspired showbiz.
Yet, we would like to think that Lizzo does have a genre – her voice, and she as herself as she once said in an interview. Women who are heartbroken, women who suffered from identity or confidence, independent women, powerful and vulnerable women, which in turn bring the inspiration to some men. For others, it was pure entertainment of the highest order. So it wasn’t surprising that the majority of the crowd were from that demographic – it was as if fifteen thousand besties decided to appear under the roof – commanded by the lady at centre stage.
The night ended with About Damn Time, and yes it is about damn time that we are once again entertained by someone like Lizzo, as tonight was as Good as Hell. By far, Lizzo is possibly the best performer to grace the Perth shores since her mentor – Prince, entertained us with his solo performance two weeks before his passing.
Lizzo is touring across Australia – visit Live Nation Australia for tickets and info
Sheldon Ang Media expresses his gratitude to Live Nation Australia, Revolutions Per Minute, and Lizzo for the Press Accreditation and Reviewer seats.
About the Writer/Photographer: Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) have been accredited to photograph and review the hottest acts in Perth including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Post Malone, Sting, Harry Styles, Backstreet Boy, KISS and Florence + The Machine with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem, The Fabulous Caprittos and Synthony on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) and forty other legends.
