For the first night of her latest tour, Janet Jackson returned to her second home, Minneapolis.
Well, actually, she was about 45 miles southeast at the Treasure Island Casino Amphitheater Saturday night for the debut of her fall outing that celebrates the 30th anniversary of her “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814” album.
But she seemed more than happy to be in Minnesota and invited her longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to join her onstage during a run of songs from her 1986 breakthrough record “Control,” including “What Have You Done for Me Lately,” the title track, “Nasty,” “The Pleasure Principal” and “When I Think of You.” (Jam and Lewis then retreated to the soundboard where they watched the rest of the show with large grins on their faces.)
Janet Jackson performs onstage during the opening night of her Metamorphosis – The Las Vegas Residency at Park Theater at Park MGM on May 17, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Farrenton Grigsby/Getty Images for JJ)Jackson, 53, took the stage looking like she would have fit right in 30 years ago. She walked out in an oversize flannel shirt over a faded Led Zeppelin tee with a long black shirt beneath that, another flannel tied to her waist, baggy blue jeans and black combat boots.
After “That’s the Way Love Goes” and “Got ’til It’s Gone” — each with added trip-hop flourishes — Jackson told the crowd of more than 8,000 that she’s not much of a talker. But she thanked Minnesota for “allowing me to discover myself; it was here I found my voice.” Then she took a seat for an extended run of slow jams: “Again,” “Come Back to Me,” “Any Time Any Place” and “Let’s Wait Awhile.”
As she did during her last Twin Cities concert, at the Target Center in November 2015, Jackson crammed a whole lot of songs into her set, more than three dozen this time around. That meant some got reduced to a mere verse and chorus, but it also meant she was able to play at least part of all of her big smashes and a fair amount of more recent, lesser known, tracks like “Made for Now,” “No Sleeep,” “Feedback” and “Rock with U.”
Jackson saved most of the “Rhythm Nation” songs for an extended medley that wrapped the main set: “State of the World,” “The Knowledge,” “Miss You Much,” “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” “Alright,” “Escapade,” “Black Cat” and “Rhythm Nation.”
While she’s never had the strongest voice, Jackson sounded pretty decent Saturday night, even if her vocals seemed to have some electronic trickery applied behind the scenes. She also interacted with an agile troupe of dancers and, to a lesser extent, her nimble band, which effortlessly tackled everything from her slowest ballads to her most upbeat jams.
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