Five weeks after being forced to postpone her concert at the Bell Center due to a nasty virus, American pop star Lizzo honored her commitment to her Montreal fans by offering a warm and colorful concert on Sunday evening in the form of a celebration of difference and self-esteem, accompanied by the disco-pop-r&b hits that have marked his journey to the top of the charts since the release, in 2019, of his third album Cuz I Love You. The musician slipped through 20 songs with no downtime, keeping fans on their toes from start to finish.
Lizzo alluded to her missed date last May at the end of her show: “Thank you for being patient with me! “, she said, before dedicating her success to her Quebec fans. I Love You Bitch.
Her words were all the more sincere as she had just spent the hour and a half struggling on stage to make up for lost time with this “very different” show from the one she should have presented to us at the scheduled time – l The American was then wrapping up her arena tour and adjusting her performance to the biggest outdoor festival stages, like New York’s Governer’s Ball, where she headlined opening day last Friday.
“But I think it’s even better, this show!” “, she added. Indeed: we find it difficult to find faults with it. Breathtaking performance offered by Lizzo, her seven musicians (drums, bass, keyboards, guitars, trio of singers) and her battalion of dancers and dancers – as well as her two flautists, her Sasha’s, a reference to her transverse flute that she has called Sasha Flute, herself a reference to Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé’s alter ego (it was the title of her album released in 2008).
The stage lit up on the first bars of Cuz I Love Youthreaded into those of his success Juice. Lizzo appeared in a neon yellow swimsuit, with her dancers also in neon, also sporting pink wigs; the orchestra played on small stages in a retro-neon-disco setting, like a musical revue in Las Vegas. In the background, a large LED screen, but we would be bothered to detail what was projected there since we did not pay attention to it: all our eyes were on Lizzo and her dancers, who were having so much fun to move on stage that it was contagious.
During the first half of the evening, Lizzo did not drag her feet, threading the pop refrains on disco and dance rhythms, sometimes with a few rap detours – on Grrrls (from his latest album Special, released last year) for example, with his sample of an old Beastie Boys hit. “Tonight, you can be yourself, Montreal – and I want you to dance! she commanded during the synth pop anthem 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) recalling the old successes of Olivia Newton-John.
The crowd got the message. Children, parents, young, old, gay (the pride flag flew all night in the stands), Black women and different bodies like hers, everyone was invited to her party. When she put on a beige sequined dress and then headed to the small stage at the end of the catwalk and offered a moment of soul-R&B ballads, the evening did not even know a drop in tension. The audience was simply lulled by the slightly scratchy voice of the singer, who concluded the segment with an interpretation of Doo Wop (That Thing)a Lauryn Hill classic.
And it started again on the dance floor with the Like a Girl, birthday girl And Everybody’s Gay, among others. For Truth Hurtsshe finally released the Sasha Flute that everyone had been waiting for since the beginning of the evening (remember that she trained as a classical flutist at the University of Houston), before offering a few last bombs, I Love You Bitch, good as hell and the essential About Damn Timetaking the time to greet fans and read aloud the posters they had cobbled together for her.
One that caught Lizzo’s eye was written: “THICK BITCH ERA! The musician did not hide her appreciation of the message.