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Usually, when a pop star appears on stage, it's his special moment. But when Ariana Grande climbed across the floor of the Xcel Energy Center last night, she was snuggled into a sculptural body entanglement.
We had already heard the nasal sonorally nasal soprano rush into the arena under the nickname "Raindrops," his brief comment of a Frankie Valli oldie, left a cappella of an invisible source. And we knew where to look for her in the middle of the Last Supper, her team of dancers recreated from the video "God is a Woman". She was there, the five-foot star with the two-foot ponytail, in the purple-shaped sleeves of an anime Renaissance courtier or an imaginary insect glamour.
No matter what Ariana Grande has become over the past two difficult but artistically successful years, she's not a diva. For the next 100 minutes, Grande mostly walked the stage in a group with her dancers, as if she were looking for security in numbers. And she was stuck in this dim lighting that has attracted critics since her first time at Coachella, a soft pastel combination that seemed to be a protective atmosphere for her, with no spotlight to accent her presence.
There may be no celebrity on earth who deserves the right to make the scene a safe place. Like many young pop stars, she had sorted personalities like evening dresses during the early years of her career, trying and throwing them aside. Then a suicide bombing in 2017 killed 22 fans during his concert in Manchester, giving greatness to Grande and she stood up to face the circumstances.
The Great who emerged on the following albums, on Sweetener in 2018 and Thank you U, Next This year, the three-dimensional contrast with the adaptable polymorph that it had been was striking. It was a sensualist based on emotions but assertive, who sought sexual satisfaction rather than exhibiting pop-domme exhibitionism. When she underwent the scrutiny of the paparazzi during her short relationship with Pete Davidson and following the death of her ex, Mac Miller, the music became increasingly informative. as a means of enduring pain and seeking pleasure in a dangerous world.
But the Xcel de Grande show was a good opportunity to ask why "the young woman reacts to a large-scale trauma with the loudest music of her career" is a story that we all cherish as much. At one level, this narrative reinforces the grotesque belief that wisdom is transmitted only through suffering (which is not peddled by powerful people with material means to avoid the most suffering). However, expecting a superhuman resilience from a 26-year-old who sings very good songs very well is another indication of our excessive cultural dependence on the hero. My main conclusion of Grande's concert was the difficulty with which it was difficult for her to project this confident but firm playfulness into a room full of humans who draw their inspiration from her show of strength.
The show was divided into five acts, each staged by video interludes and costume changes. The first continued from the baroque pride of "God is a Woman" to the pure and simple song of "Bad Idea" (which ended when Great acted on one of her dancers), leading to frisky "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm bored. "
The second part opened with "REM", the song that Grande had summed up a few nights earlier (not tonight, "Rubberneckers"), featured a twinkling double of "Loser" and "Success" with the "Side" Well-established "Side" that tackles post-coital mobility disorders.
Grande largely avoided vocal acrobatics until the third part of her set, and this restraint bore fruit when she dropped out at the end of "Breathin '," which She was wearing an extra breath that she would not have had if she had been partying all night. . During "NASA", she announced "here's a new piece" while a giant moon was coming down over the audience. This satellite was in keeping with the vaguely interstellar minimalism of the scenography, which consisted only of Kubrick curves and white ovals.
Speaking of space, the music of both Sweetener and Thank you U, Next has a lot, and these tracks do not always translate into a hockey arena; the mix was powerful and unclear, suggesting the difference between having a soft pillow under your head and choking it from above. And the vocal style of the vowel, fascinated by Grande, which blends into a fuzzy luxuriance with the music of her recordings, has developed to give a life not always charming or indistinct.
Each of these songs was professionally interpreted, memorable and entertaining. The problem is that the intimacy that Grande manages so easily to her recordings can not simply be duplicated by reproducing these live sounds. The emotional connection requires a form of structured presentation: framing, stimulation and especially communication. Great did not have much to say (though she expressed gratitude for being in St. Paul so often that one would have thought that the city was going to have its own verse in "Thank U, Next"), and without the dynamic presence of stars in the center, the performance was both overflowing and informative.
Curiously, two of the most directly effective performances took place during the fourth segment, in the form of older and less emotionally complex songs in styles that Grande had later abandoned for her, a more complete character. The film band "Dangerous Woman" was the occasion to launch a vocal moon shot, a foretaste of the little divadom Mariah that Ariana could have chosen. And "Break Free" was one of those anonymous and gigantic pop hits from EDM that Grande could have relied on several times for her professional safety if she wanted to, as Selena Gomez often does.
But Grande reminded us of the path she had chosen instead with the remarkable "No Tears Left to Cry", the first new song she released after Manchester. It starts like the ginormous ballad that one could expect from a diva who makes a statement, but then the rhythm comes in and the voice becomes more human. The lesson of life is obvious: when you can not cry anymore, a commitment to the rhythm will carry you through difficult times.
And yet, while "No Tears Left to Cry" worked well as a standalone performance, again, he was missing the drama he could have had in a more structured show. Similarly, when the night ended, as it should, with "Thank U, Next," this farewell to the boyfriend's past was more of a fatality than a triumphal climax.
But how could it be otherwise? For two years, Ariana Grande has created a multi-faceted pop based on lived experiences that the transparency of celebrities aged 24 to 7 prevented her from hiding. It is therefore not surprising that she appears overexposed live, now that she has had a hard time not asking for more than she can reasonably expect.
setlist
Raindrops (an angel cried)
God is a woman
Bad idea
Breaking with your girlfriend, I'm bored
R.e.m.
Be well
Sweetener / successful
side by side
7 rings
Love Me Harder / Breathin
Needy
Fake smile
Makeup
There / You'll never know / Break your heart at the back
NASA
Get well soon
Everytime
The light comes
In you
Dangerous woman
S & # 39; escape
No tears to cry
Thank you U, Next
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