bu. Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I was privileged enough to receive an early Christmas present from my mother and received tickets to attend Janet Jackson’s “Number One: Up, Close & Personal” Tour. The show took place in Cape Town and I was shocked to see that the Grand Arena was actually full of Janet fans, since it took a while before her front row tickets sold out. Running almost half an hour late, the lights finally dimmed down, filling the room with screaming fans. After her video introduction was finished, the singer finally graced the stage with her heavenly presence and left people screaming from excitement. My mother, using every opportunity to record a performance, quickly gave me her phone to record some footage of the show. However, I was too busy shaking and crying at the fact that I was sitting a few feet away from the living legend, thus ruining my mother’s plans to leave her colleagues pressed for being too cheap to buy an once-in-a-lifetime ticket. Dressed in leather pants matched with a white diamond-padded jacket, the second-best Jackson worked her way through her earlier hits, such as “The Pleasure Principle”, “Control”, “What Have You Done For Me Lately”, the tasty jam “Nasty”, “You Want This”, and “Miss You Much” in order to wet the appetite of her older fans who still vaguely remember her back catalogue. Things really took a turn as soon as “Feedback” came on, with many of her younger fans miming the lyrics of the song. The sizzling futuristic pop jam would fit perfectly in today’s world of electro-pop! After finally warming the crowd up with her energetic performances, the singer left the stage in order to prepare herself for an “intimate” moment with the crowd. A video started playing on the main screen, displaying her A-lister acting skills in “Poetic Justice”, “Why Did I Get Married Too”, and her iconic sitcom performances. The singer retuned to the stage and made herself comfortable by resting her curvaceous body on top of a wooden stool, starting the session off with the underappreciated song “Nothing”. I don’t think anybody even knew that the song was released as a single since it flopped so hard! The singer then breezed through “Come Back To Me” and one of my favourite songs, the virginal anthem “Let’s Wait A While”. It was not until the iconic piano riff of “Again” became ubiquitous that the stadium of people triumphed. This time the crowd was given the opportunity to sing along parts of the song while Janet filled in her parts with perfectly lip-synched vocals. Another break followed, leaving Janet’s miscellaneous live band with all the entertainment duties. The band worked their way through portentous excerpts of “Rope Burn”, “Any Time, Any Place”, “Go Deep” and “What’s It Gonna Be?”. The highlight of the “Janet’s Image” segment had to be the part where her South African #1 single, the hypnotic “Gone Till It’s Gone”, was played, reminding us just how innovative and multi-dimensional Janet is with her sound. It was at this time that my fear of her not performing “Escapade” kicked in. However, a delight grin quickly worked its way onto my face as soon as the chimes of the delightful tune caressed my ears. Janet Jackson then decided to demonstrate her newly made-for-the-bedroom moves on “If” and her metamorphosis from a saccharine girl-next-door into the sexual fembot took place right before my dreary eyes. Somebody on Janet’s team forgot to tell her that a mother and their son would be enjoying her show, and things would just feel awkward with the dominatrix dry humping her dancers in front of prepubescent teens and soccer moms! All of Janet’s sexual sins were then forgiven as soon as her longest-running #1 single “That’s The Way Love Goes” bounced out of the speakers. This left the grandmas and aunties, who were preventing me from twerking my masculine self, jumping onto their feet and trying to heal the arthritis present in their fragile hands. We were also reminded of how iconic the dance break from “All For You” is to this day! Janet then took the time to loyally interact with her fans and thanked us for keeping her family in our prayers through the trial of Dr. Murray’s Michael Jackson case. This was followed with a tribute to the King of Pop, also known as the best Jackson to grace Mother Earth. As the blazing riffs of the Jackson collaboration, “Scream”, scythed through the audio set, people did just that. I was left in tears as a pop-up from the video of Michael was frozen on the screen and was reminded of how dearly the saviour of entertainment is missed. Janet finally reached her encore segment and tried to recreate her inspiring choreography on the generational anthem “Rhythm Nation”. The night ended with Janet performing her tribal anthem “Together Again”, leaving the rest of the stadium jumping onto their feet and ending the night off with gratitude. “Number Ones: Up Close and Personal” was an exceptional show, serving as a reminder of the prominent figure that Janet has transfigured. The dancing was spectacular, the lip-syncing was even more spectacular, and Janet resembled a radiant porcelain doll with her elegant beauty. However, the show was not shy of its flaws, although few remained. The show had the cheapest stage production of any concert that I have been to. Janet’s energy also began to dwindle a bit as time went on, but she’s human and still performance lights years better than any other performer that has been blessed to get me to buy their ticket. The biggest flaw of the concert was the exclusion of the “Nutty Professor” song, “Doesn’t Really Matter”. Whose idea of a sick joke was this to exclude one of Janet’s biggest singles to date off the setlist? Some lady almost lost her Blackberry Torch once I learnt of this. Other than that, I suggest you purchase a ticket as soon as she comes to your town. Janet looked just as flawless in person as she does in magazine spreads. It was a night to remember, from me resisting temptation from asking all the hot mothers for their contact details, to my mother wishing that we could relive our experience at the concert. Overall Grade: A ================================================================= *DEATH* at the bold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idrag4mj Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 ,,,i loved it ..i wonder why Janet does leave out some of her most popular hits like DRM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reyna ♔ Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Hell yes!! Whoever wrote this is awesome, hats off to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janet.1814 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 "the second best Jackson" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idrag4mj Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 "the second best Jackson" did he lie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reyna ♔ Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 *sees where this is going and leaves the thread* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bu. Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 *sees where this is going and leaves the thread* *leaves with Reyna to go get some ice cream* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarrylf Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 waves bye to you 2 (my twin & friend) and hides to watch the drama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idrag4mj Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 LOL...walks out of thread...not ready for the drama today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wonder Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 "the second best Jackson" They're speaking from a level of insanity. So Janet would be the second most insane Jackson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotboy06 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 KI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotboy06 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Janet’s energy also began to dwindle a bit as time went on, but she’s human As of late, she's proven to us that she's not.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetDAYZ Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 ,,,i loved it ..i wonder why Janet does leave out some of her most popular hits like DRM Its not that missed ...trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reyna ♔ Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 *leaves with Reyna to go get some ice cream* Ice cream! *allows you to pick your fave and pays for two cups with three scoops in each* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switchblade330 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 starting the session off with the underappreciated song “Nothing”. I don’t think anybody even knew that the song was released as a single since it flopped so hard! :blink: it did ???! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switchblade330 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 The highlight of the “Janet’s Image” segment had to be the part where her South African #1 single, the hypnotic “Gone Till It’s Gone”, was played, reminding us just how innovative and multi-dimensional Janet is with her sound. :clapping: :yahoo: :yahoo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escapade Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Its not that missed ...trust me. Speak for yourself. I think that's my fav Jan song of all times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Baby Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 did he lie Definately... And she doesn't lip sync like that on this tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Its not that missed ...trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switchblade330 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Its not that missed ...trust me. DRM was DEFINITELY missed !!! how dare u !! :flipoff: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 metamorphosis was mentioned here before it became real which means Bu is a time traveler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenzo88 Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 9 hours ago, Bailey said: metamorphosis was mentioned here before it became real which means Bu is a time traveler Nope!!! If a future album was mentioned, I’d believe it! #ImPetty #ImTight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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