On Tour with Janet Jackson: A Retrospective

[SonofBaldwin]

https://lntv.com/en_us/article/janet-jackson-tour

 

On Tour with Janet Jackson: A Retrospective

As she preps for a 2015 comeback, John Norris reflects on two decades alongside the incomparable Miss Jackson.

Written by John Norris /Photography by Rob Verhorst/Getty September 1, 2015 4:55 PM

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When it comes to new music, Janet Jackson hasn't done a whole lot lately. Her last album of new material, Discipline, came out seven years ago, and sold poorly compared to her once-multi-platinum status; the accompanying tour was beset by cancellations. Since her brother Michael's death in 2009, she's appeared in movies, released a hits compilation, and completed a (much more successful) tour, struck numerous licensing deals (including an unfortunate association with fur merchant Blackglama), appeared at charity functions, and married for a third time. Musically, though, Jackson's been out of sight for much of this decade—but that's all about to change.

This fall, Jackson will embark on the Unbreakable Tour, and release a new studio album (title and date still TBD). The culture seems primed for a new wave of Janet-mania—even if radio programmers have largely given her new single, "No Sleeep," the cold shoulder.

Still, the standing ovation that Jackson received while accepting the BET Awards' Ultimate Icon honor last month, following a musical tribute that included Tinashe, Jason Derulo, and Ciara, was persuasive evidence that there's still a wellspring of affection for her. It's easy to forget what a force she once was on the charts (a space where she more consistently dominated in the 90s than her brother Michael), as well as her reputation as a reliable creator of highly theatrical, bells-and-whistles stage productions. I was lucky enough to cover three of her treks—the world tour behind janet. in 1993, The Velvet Rope Tour in 1998, and 2001's All For You Tour. As fans gear up for this year's run, I've compiled some of my favorite recollections of the times I spent on the road with Janet.

Photo by Ebet Roberts, Getty Images

Cincinnati, November 1993

Janet Jackson had already cemented herself as a live force separate from her family's famous name with the 1990 tour supporting Rhythm Nation 1814, but the tour behind janet. was something different. The period at the end of the album title put distance between herself and her family's attendant baggage. More significantly, it marked the birth of a newly sexual Jackson. The woman who had sung "Let's Wait Awhile" eight years earlier made up for her late-bloomer rep with songs like the slinky lead single "That's The Way Love Goes" and its lustful follow-up, "If." This was the era of the ripped-and-toned Janet, the Janet of the memorable Rolling Stone cover that featured her partner (and, as was later revealed, husband) René Elizondo Jr.'s hands on her breasts.

MTV VJ Bill Bellamy and I were in Cincinnati for the opening night of the janet. World Tour, and although we had already reported on details of the production and had access to rehearsals, Bill and I were duly impressed with the show we saw. In stark contrast to the monochromatic blacks and greys of the Rhythm Nation Tour setup, janet.'s design was lightened up considerably: a white set, bookended by a pair of white staircases, the band on a set of risers, and white-framed video screens projecting fireworks, clouds, a panther, and clips of music videos that included the still-classic Herb Ritts-directed "Love Will Never Do Without You."

Janet told us that the work of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí served as an inspiration for the set design; while there were undoubtedly traces of his fantastical modernism, the spectacle also occasionally recalled the color-splashed costume shop aesthetics of Cirque de Soleil (still a relatively new cultural institution at the time), especially regarding the "Whimsical Medley" section of the show, which functioned as a showcase for her frothiest fare.

Photo by KMazur, Getty Images

The most common knock on the janet. Tour came from critics who felt the show was too planned and didn't possess enough spontaneity. But the level of obsessiveness, especially coming from a member of the Jackson family, wasn't surprising. While choreographer Tina Landon was on deck to create more of Jackson's most unforgettable moves, Janet told us at the time that the buck stopped with her. "I get advice from people... but in the end, it's my career. If anything goes bad, the fingers are gonna be pointed at me. So I think it's important that you make all the decisions yourself."

If Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour in 1990 was a game-changer and arguably one of the most important music tours of all time, the janet. Tour took Madonna's ambition and softened the hard edges, offering a show with sex appeal that was more sweet than it was provocative. Which is not to say that Janet didn't want to push buttons, but it'd be another five years before she took that next step.

Photo by Phil Dent, Getty Images

Manchester UK, May 1998

Jackson grew up on janet., but she got deeper, more personal, and more thought-provoking on 1997's glorious The Velvet Rope. The album is arguably her masterwork—not necessarily because it's the strongest collection of tracks, but because it represents an artist fighting through a period of depression and reaching an artistic peak of self-reflection.

The Velvet Rope was musically progressive, presaging the indie and alt-R&B movements of the 2010s by nearly 15 years. Lyrically, the album expanded the parameters of sexual identity in an era of culture that was still fixated on reinforcing heteronormative beliefs. At a time when AIDS was still a misunderstood disease, Jackson created the joyous "Together Again," a celebration of those she'd lost to the disease that earned a place alongside "I Will Survive" and "Last Dance" as an LGBT anthem. "I wanted to do something for my friends that was uplifting and joyful that would reflect their personalities," she told me during one of several interviews I conducted as MTV News followed The Velvet Rope Tour in England for the network's Ultrasound series. "I do believe that it doesn't just end here—that there's another life, and that we will be together again."

Photo by Phil Dent, Getty Images

Throughout filming, we sat in on soundcheck, watched the show from the wings, talked to fans, and hung out with her dancers (which included Jackson's current choreographer Gil Duldulao). Jackson took us through the wardrobe room and showed us around her double-decker tour bus, which was a little too cozy for her liking. We discussed recent speculation about her sexuality: "A lot of people have been asking, 'What, is she gay? Does she like girls?,'" she confessed. "And the thing is like, what does it matter? Is it gonna change the way you view me?" She also responded to conservative handwringing over her cleavage-heavy ads for the tour: "Those people don't have anything better to do," she declared. "They don't! I mean, c'mon! Cleavage? There are more important things out there in the world." This was the wisest, most emboldened version of Jackson we'd ever seen.

The Velvet Rope Tour was less bright and buoyant than its predecessor; it was still a Broadway-level spectacle, but with more red, gold, and yes, velvet. (One of Jackson's opening acts on the Velvet Rope Tour was *NSYNC, which kicked off a friendship with Justin Timberlake that would lead to the wardrobe malfunction seen 'round the world years later.) The show's darker patches attracted the most press: an interpretive dance depicting physical abuse and rape accompanied the uncommonly frank "What About," and the B&D-lite of "Rope Burn" featured Jackson picking out a male fan from the crowd each night, tying him to a chair, and having her seductive way with him. "There is a key," admitted Jackson when I asked whether she had criteria for selecting her subject, "but I don't want to give it away. It's not only about who's the cutest. Not that looks hurt, but it's never really about looks."

Photo by Dave Hogan, Getty Images

Vancouver, July 2001

For all its groundbreaking boldness, The Velvet Rope was too dark for some; to date it's sold about half of janet.'s estimated 20 million, and in perhaps a concession to that fact, her next album, 2001's All For You, split the difference between its two predecessors. New songs like the title track and "Someone To Call My Lover," which sampled America's "Ventura Highway," sounded summer-ready, and Jackson herself acknowledged that it was more of a feel-good record: "There's edgy stuff in there, but for the most part, it's happy and upbeat."

Design-wise, the tour was her most uncluttered production to date, with giant video panels flanking her band and costumes that mixed breezy and casual with giddily theatrical and downright goofy. This tour's iteration of her "Whimsical Medley" resembled a sugar plum fairy acid trip, with caterpillars, giant candy, and strange creatures abounding. On the other end of the spectrum, she brought back the bound-male routine and kicked it up a notch—this time, strapping the objectified fella to a gurney as Janet groped and grinded on him to the hot-and-heavy lyrics of "Would You Mind."

The kickoff of the All For You Tour didn't go quite as planned: We arrived on July 1 with plans of shooting rehearsals, interviewing Janet, and sticking around to cover the scheduled first date, July 5. July 2 and 3 came and went with no interview, though we did get to sit in on rehearsals—and then came word that, because a piece of the show's giant set had been delayed at the Canadian border, the tour would not kick off in Vancouver after all. It was postponed until several days later in Portland, where VH1 were set to broadcast their own opening-night special. I returned to New York, didn't see the show until the following month at Madison Square Garden, and spoke to Janet then.

Photo by Dave Hogan, Getty Images

Soon after the MSG show, the events of September 11 took its toll on the All For You Tour. Jackson's concerns about the safety of her cast and crew led her to cancel all of her European dates, which eventually ended the following February in Hawaii with an accompanying HBO special. It's arguable that, following this point, Jackson's career never really recovered. The 2004 Super Bowl incident didn't help matters, of course. It would be four years until Janet toured again for the ill-fated Rock Witchu Tour, which ran only 16 dates until it was aborted in 2008, with Jackson citing illness and the financial crisis. While she rebounded with 2011's Number Ones Up Close and Personal jaunts, it was also a tour rooted in nostalgia—to the point where "Together Again" was framed as a poignant tribute to her fallen brother Michael.

But enough looking backwards. Jackson now has the opportunity to put the past in the past and make the rare kind of comeback—one buoyed by new music that people potentially care about and want to hear. She's got her work cut out for her, though: pop stars of 'a certain age' have a tough time getting traction at Top 40 radio, and these days, if you really want to play in the pop game, you have to constantly feed the beast that is social media. Nothing we've seen to date has indicated that Jackson—a Gen X-er, for all intents and purposes—has any interest in that level of transparency. At her career peak, she still cherished her down time, guarding her privacy with a very Jackson-esque wariness. Reaching the level of ubiquity that Jackson once carried could be an uphill battle in this current meme-driven culture—after all, win or lose, she always insisted on control.

[bu.]

YAS at him getting his life in 1998 in my city!!!

[Bailey]

more HD photos of her