Are They Worth Seeing Live?

Demi Lovato ★★★★★

French Lovatics were hopping up and down with impatience at the thought of seeing Demi Lovato performing in Paris on this day of June. Indeed, the multitalented American artist had never toured Europe on her own yet. Only the luckiest (and -above all- longtime) fans were able to see her live in 2009, when she was part of the Jonas Brothers’ world tour, or in 2014 supporting Enrique Iglesias. Therefore, the public was waiting for Lovato to perform both her recent songs taken from her sixth album "Tell Me You Love Me" and her old material, through which they fell in love with her music... Well, their wish was granted!

And the singer set the bar high! A lot of dancers, several costumes and hairstyles: beautiful settings are following one another and are up to our expectations. The surprisingly high scene allows Demi Lovato and her dancers to appear and disappear from underneath it, adding a little bit of magic to the whole performance.

Different atmospheres are depicted. After opening the show on an impressive and acclaimed rendition of "You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore" - brilliantly showcasing the popstar’s powerful vocals - we find Demi Lovato laid on a sofa to sing «Daddy Issues», as if she was confessing to her fans, psychologists for the night.

The room is now lit in red lights and "Cool For The Summer" broadcasts a more sensual mood, where Demi Lovato gets closer to her male and female dancers, claiming: "Love who you want and go tell your mother!". The singer is indeed one important voice defending the LGBTQ community’s rights and values.

The crowd is carried away by "Sexy Dirty Love" before going wild on two classic tracks: "Heart Attack" and "Give Your Heart A Break", huge successes respectively taken from "Demi" and "Unbroken". On "Give Your Heart A Break", we discover with surprise and amusement the famous ‘Kiss Cam’. The Lovatics are willing to play the game and offer a great dose of love!

Change of outfit for the beautiful Demi and we find her as a victorious boxer. The stage becomes her ring as she proudly sings "Confident". Then, for three tracks, "Concentrate", "Cry Baby" and "Lonely", she performs on a bed. Alone with her guitar for the first one, she is then joined by two dancers for a poetic choreography, before going voluptuous on the final track.

For this European tour, Demi Lovato chose to perform all of her latest collaborations: "No Promises" she recorded with Cheat Codes in 2017 and "Solo", her more recent collaboration with Clean Bandit. Then comes "Échame La Culpa", a latino anthem she sings along with Luis Fonsi, father of "Despacito". This is the occasion to hear the singer in both English and Spanish, which she masters perfectly. Then, time comes for "Fall In Line", she usually shares with Christina Aguilera. Close to perfection, this live version totally competes with the studio one.

It also was the moment for Demi Lovato to go back to her childhood days and explains how much she used to listen to Aguilera’s tracks, trying to hit the same high notes as the diva on karaoke versions. What a road it has been for the artist from dreaming of pursuing a music career in her bedroom to international recognition... The French public warmly applauses!

Right after, Demi Lovato goes for more intimate territories as she sings alone with her piano two of her most personal tracks: "Warrior", taken from her fourth album, and "Father", featured in "Confident". "Warrior" tackles a really important subject to her: mental issues.

Mental illness stays a taboo all over the world and it seems crazy to me that we don’t take care of our spirit as much as our body.

Demi Lovato is indeed suffering from bipolarity, but she learned how to live with it, and she insists on the fact that it doesn’t prevent her from living her life to the fullest. The public greets this message full of hope and as a proof of support of this fight, they loudly sing along the lyrics of "Warrior". Before striking up the emotional "Father", Demi Lovato goes back to the complex and difficult relationship she had with her father, before he died in 2013. She explains the anger she felt towards him, for being absent, and how this felling left her when he tragically passed: "I hope that Heaven’s giving you a second chance".

It was time for me to grow up and letting go.

The time has passed too fast and the show is already coming to an end. Demi Lovato chose to close her show with two of her most recent and appreciated singles from her latest album: "Sorry Not Sorry", where the singer proudly addresses to her haters and "Tell Me You Love Me", which rings like a natural conclusion to this ‘Tell Me You Love Me Tour’. According to her wide smile and numerous words of love, Demi Lovato really enjoyed this Parisian show, despite the boiling heat in the venue. She confesses wanting to come to France for the summer holidays and promises to come back soon for a show as well.

Words by Déborah Gaillard with Coraline Blaise | Photos by Déborah Gaillard

KATY PERRY ★★★★

on’t be surprised if some of the following lines seem out of this world to you... You really can not put yourself in Katy Perry’s shoes and anticipate what you’ll see from the pop icon live. She’ll always have crazier and more surprising ideas than you ever did! Indeed, we were lucky enough to be part of the crowd on one of the two sold-out shows of Katy Perry’s «Witness The Tour» in Paris. And what a wild ride!

The venue is really packed a few minutes before the show begins. And it’s under the eye of Katy Perry herself that her eclectic fandom is waiting feverishly... A huge screen in the form of an eye actually plays a continuous uptake of Katy Perry’s look. This XXL glance can become quite heavy after a few minutes, diving us into some kind of distopic mood announcing the rest of the show... Watch out, Big Brother is watching you! Suddenly, that glance vanishes, lights go out and Katy Perry’s distorted vocals rises from a distance along with muted, deep noises. A colourful and exhilirating intro, borrowing images from outer space and melting bits of all of Katy Perry’s hits, plays on the screen and brightly announces all the extravaganza ahead!

The eye/screen breaks in two parts and allows Katy Perry to enter the stage, in the middle of a huge illuminated star. "Will you be my witness?" sings the artist as some kind of welcome. Witness of Katy Perry’s undeniable talent and limitless imagination? Hell, we were! What we will remember from this show is indeed this continuous demonstration of creativity, disinhibition and freedom. Because more than a live performance, Katy Perry’s show is above all a visual journey like you’ve certainly never seen before!

And it begins right after this star episode, on the electric track "Roulette". Huge golden dice are set on stage, with kaleidoscopic visuals infused with a Casino atmosphere playing in the background. On red glittery suits, Katy Perry and her impressive dancers perform in and on these setting elements. Only the first of a true collection of acrobatic choreographies! And when you realize confettis are already flying up in the air at the second song, you know it is only the beginning of a spectacular night.

We could literally write pages and pages about every funny or stunning details in Katy Perry’s show. We are hypnotized by the eerie and frantic atmosphere depicted on "Chained To The Rhythm". The song is inhabitated by a horde of dancers with heads as televisions. Huge puppets with the same features are moving back and forth at the back of the scene. Being a direct critic towards the crazy path of our society, this is one of the few scenes that could be read and understood at different levels and we really appreciated that.

"Teenage Dream" is depicted on a cinematic proposition, somewhere between "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "The Truman Show". On a yellow beam, Katy Perry goes up in the air and carries out a flawless - almost mechanic - choreo alongside her team. One moment to remember!

Going for wilder moves songs after songs, Katy Perry doesn’t cease to amaze us, for better or for worse. You could be spending the night thinking «What the f*ck» and «This is amazing!» from one second to the other.

At multiple times, Katy Perry leaves the safe floor of the AccorHotels Arena’s stage to go for higher levels. On classic "I Kissed A Girl", the performer rises from the floor, tied up by one hand, and ends up eaten by giant and bright red lips hung from the ceiling. A few minutes later, she literally sings "Wide Awake" on a replica of a planet, flying above the public. On "Pendulum", she travels around, standing up on a moving clock. All this technical set-up also allows a giant inflatable lion to emerge from the back and slowly goes forward until it reaches the middle of the room during "Roar".

All these eclectic and grandiloquent pictures doesn’t go without a structure. Indeed, the show is parted in five acts and seems to tell an actual story. From the earlier and candid days of "Hot’N’Cold" or "California Gurls" to the empowerment of the grand finale in "Fireworks", Katy Perry also shows her vulnerability on "Into Me You See" or reborn from her ashes on "Part Of Me". This whole course somehow cristallises Katy Perry’s journey as an artist and a human (at least, that’s how we interpreted it). This message is also delivered through the numerous visuals of herself played on screen during the night. Either in the form of colorful depictions -like a pop madonna- or through more personal footages, Katy Perry’s portrait is everywhere. Catharsis or egocentricity? The limit is sometimes thin.

We have to say this. Even if every minute of Katy Perry’s show is impressive for a reason, the whole thing ends up looking almost too perfect to be true, too mechanical. The show is so overwhelming at times, it prevents you to really see the artist behind. And it’s when Katy Perry takes it simpler, that she reaches further. For example, her interpretation of "Power" particularly stands out for her simplicity. Alone, with delicate wings spreading out behind her back, Katy Perry finally touches our soul after one hour and thirty minutes of show. There, we not only hear her, but listen to her and eventually realize her vocal abilities are simply stunning. Too bad this statement didn’t come to our minds earlier... We were literally too blinded by the lights to really open our ears so far!

However, Katy Perry chooses rare but relevant moments to open up to her fans and say how grateful she is for them to be here. When she talks about the universal power of music, bringing people together all around the world, her Parisian crowd cheers warmly. She also, in a more funny way, greets the public with compliments on French culture : "You pretty much invented everything, fashion, romance, food. You’re your own kind of people! I love that!" The artist even integrates one lucky fan to the show, inviting her to play a basketball game on stage (yes, you read that! FYI, we lost, Katy won).

Then, it is pretty clear... If you’re looking for a fun and thrilling night? You’re right where you’re supposed to be! If you’re searching for music to trigger your emotions, then choose another way. But this doesn’t take away Katy Perry’s immense talent, carrying away a more than 2 hours show with an endless energy and flawless vocals. The multiplicity of settings, outfits, choreos clearly has the power to brighten up your day and take you to a whole other planet (even several) for a few hours. Because, if there is one thing Katy Perry surely is doing, it is pushing the boundaries of entertainment.

Words and Photos by Coraline Blaise