Katy Perry just roared. She swooped into Bangkok for the first time, and roared until all the young teenagers couldn't contain their excitement and climbed onto their seats while their chaperoning parents forgot that they weren't watching Madonna.
Except for Disney On Ice shows, I've never seen so many young people congregate in the same place. The average age on Thursday at Katy Perry's Bangkok concert seemed to be somewhere between 11 and 17 years old, some so underdeveloped that they needed to be on their seats or their fathers' shoulders to see Perry. They were so young that pre-gig music of 90s hip hop mega hits, Perry's cover of Vogue and a session of Eurodance's biggest tunes seemed totally lost of them, while their parents couldn't stop shaking their tail feathers.
As one of the biggest stars of today, a more mature audience like myself braved the traffic to see what Perry was made of on stage, as well as how grand her production values were. And Perry, ever a captivating performer, delivered exactly what her fan base was yearning for — an accessible spectacle and a charismatic, I'm-your-best-friend performance. Perry's brilliance partially comes from her ability to know exactly what her audience wants. There was no humility nor subtlety in her showcase. Everything was in your face, loud and proud, without complicated artistry. Coherence might not have been key, as she jumped from an Egyptian, cyberpunk-inspired theme, to cats, to sunflowers and later to flashy 90s Eurobeat sensibilities, but that did not matter, thanks to Perry's fantastical costumes, her over-the-top props, her gutsy stage design, her high-tech screens, her expensive lighting, her exuberant dancers and band members.
Perry kicked off the night with Roar, Part Of Me and Wide Awake, before turning into an Egyptian goddess riding in on a human-operated giant horse puppet, appropriately during Dark Horse. After her performing her first hit, I Kissed A Girl, Perry treated fans to all things cats, from jazzy felines to theatrical kitties. Hot N Cold received a jazzy treatment, which raised a few eyebrows, as it was the song that broke her into Thailand and earned her sizeable following. The acoustic session was supposed to be mellow, but as Perry pulled two devoted fans dressed as sharks — an homage to her iconic Super Bowl performance — the crowd erupted. The two sharks spent a lot of time on stage with Perry, taking selfies and whatnot. It went down very well with her adoring fans. The two sharks were, I have to admit, giddy and adorable.
The megamix dance session was fun, with bouncy versions of Walking On Air, This Is How We Do and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) before crazy neon props launched us into Teenage Dream and California Gurls. The last number was Firework, and it was the most fitting way for Perry to bid Thai fans goodbye, as a longer show would have bordered on over-long.
Besides Perry herself, the most exciting thing about her concert was the use of "prism glasses". The 3D glasses were handed out to enhance the viewing experience, complementing the excellent visuals and lighting techniques. The end result was a pure (albeit not chemically-enhanced) trip. Perry might not have the best voice nor the best vocal techniques in the industry, and she got by with technological aid, but that didn't really matter. Perry will always know what her fans want, and in this case, that's what counts the most.
