Janet Jackson celebrates 50 years of hits at the Hollywood Bowl
Singer-songwriter, actress and dancer Janet Jackson is celebrating her 50th anniversary in the music business while out on her Together Again Tour. The jaunt also commemorates the 30th anniversary of her 1993 self-titled album and the 25th anniversary of her highly successful 1997 album, “The Velvet Rope.”
Jackson, the 10th and youngest child of the star-studded Jackson family, gave the sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Saturday night merely a sampling of her illustrious, hit-filled career during a two-hour set that included 40 songs. The 57-year-old began officially began performing at the age of 7 when she joined her older brother Randy on stage at the MGM Casino in Las Vegas.
She went deep into her catalog on this tour, dusting off “When I Think of You,” a track written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Jackson when she was still a teenager.
“This was my very first No. 1 song … I was 19 years old,” the soft spoken singer said to crowd, which responded as enthusiastically to that 1986 hit as they did to cuts from her most recent album like “No Sleep” off of the 2015 release “Unbreakable” and a previously unreleased song, “Keep Dancing.”
Jackson’s show at the Hollywood Bowl marked the official kickoff of the venue’s LA Phil concert season, an evening which typically spotlights all of the programs supported by the ticket sales, including YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). The program gives kids ages 5 through 18 free instruments, instruction and opportunities to perform on concert stages around the world.
On this night, 16 kids came out to play Jackson’s award-winning 1993 hit, “Again,” with Thomas Wilkins, principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, leading the charge. Though she sang the majority of the song, she held out her mic for the fans to sing along. And they did, very, very loudly.
“It feels so good to be home, I love you L.A.,” Jackson, who grew up in Encino, said to the audience.
The show was incredibly fast paced with Jackson taking very few breaks other than to quickly dash off stage for a change of wardrobe. She had 40 hits to cram into the set, many of which were broken up and strung together to flow in fun medleys. While there were backing tracks, she was still singing live and dancing her butt off. Her quartet of backup dancers looked as if they were just trying to keep up.
Not only did she blast through the songs her fans adored, but the unique choreography that several of these patrons undoubtedly practiced in their bedrooms and in the clubs back in the day. There were a lot of folks busting out some dance moves in their seats and in the aisles, emulating Jackson as she grooved to songs like “Control,” “Nasty” and “I Get Lonely.”
There were some fun Easter eggs within this set, too, like Jackson and one of her backup dancers recreating her iconic 1993 Rolling Stone magazine cover during the song “If.” Her dancing is still so vibrant, playful and at times so sexy it will make you blush — the moves in “Magic Mike” have nothing on Jackson’s sultry slither.
Though temperatures cooled rapidly Saturday evening and fans were being lightly misted and then sprinkled by rain, they stayed until the end to dance along to “Escapade” and rock out to Jackson’s ode to her big brother Michael with “Scream.” She ended the main set by uniting the masses with “Rhythm Nation,” which came with a massive fireworks finish.
The stage went dark, but after a fast break the screens placed throughout the venue showed Jackson live backstage, getting her makeup touched up and sipping on some water. She looked into the camera and then returned to the stage for a single-song encore, getting fans up and dancing and singing once more with “Together Again.”
Jackson’s tour opener, rapper and actor Ludacris, was also a ton of fun. He thanked Jackson for helping him launch his career 23 years ago and played songs like “Area Codes,” “Act a Fool,” “Stand Up” and his collaborative songs like “Yeah” with Usher, “Glamorous” with Fergie and “All I Do is Win” with DJ Khaled. He also thanked the fans of the “Fast and Furious” film franchise, in which he portrays Tej Parker, for supporting him as he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame down the street from the Hollywood Bowl just three weeks ago.
The crowd really went wild and sang and danced hard when he delivered “Move Bitch” and “Get Back” back-to-back to end his set with help from fellow rapper and friend Lil’ Fate.
Janet Jackson
When: Saturday, June 10
Where: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
Next: 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 14 at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino, 777 San Manuel Blvd., Highland. 21-and-older only. Tickets are sold out, but available via secondary sellers starting at $400 at AXS.com.