Katy Perry has established herself in the upper echelon of female pop stars. In 2011 she brought her "California Dreams" tour to Calgary for the Stampede, which she referenced during her return on her Prismatic World Tour. "We ate everything deep fried. They could deep fry your car keys and we would eat it." That also summed up that tour, a sticky sweet spectacular that left fans in awe. Her current Prismatic World Tour showed a more mature Katy Perry that actually exceeded her previous tour in grandeur and quality.
A prism-based stage complete with a ramp around the "reflection section" GA pit that gave those farther back multiple times to see the star close up, the show defined what the female pop star concert is. It isn't a new concept – inflatables, dancers, elaborate costumes have been part of every major female star’s show from Madonna, Janet Jackson and Cher to Britney and P!nk to Rihanna and now Katy. It has almost become a case of "can you top this" among them, (or as Cher famously quoted a decade ago "follow this you bitches") and Perry's over 2 hour extravaganza certainly came out on top.
Dancers in rainbow lit roman garb marched the stage as Perry emerged from a prism that raised from centre stage for Roar. With glowing braids in her hair she continued with Part of Me and Wide Awake before departing for the first of many costume changes. An Egyptian theme complete with gold horse for Dark Horse and ET. Then came large breasted mummies thrusting about the stage for I Kissed A Girl. Even the band got into the act, her two guitar players flying above the stage and shooting fireworks out of the end of their guitars. It was excessive, it was a spectacle and the sold out audience loved every second of it.
Yet despite the showwomanship Perry really excelled when she stripped it down. After bringing a 12 year old boy named Walker on stage and giving him pizza because "I can no longer have gluten. I don't even know what that is!" she performed By The Grace of God and The One That Got Away. Without the distraction of lasers and effects it was one of the highlights of the show. It was beautiful and when Perry shined the brightest.
Also interesting to note is that many of the songs were reworked to sound different from the album including Hot N Cold which became a more loungey bluesy number as "Kitty Purry" and her cat suited dancers crawled on giant cat houses. It added another interesting dynamic and feel to the show as it was unique to the concert experience. Perry even offered a bit of retro for the adults in the audience during a dance party mix while she changed outfits again. The kids in the audience just danced along in hopes of being seen on screen while the adults sang along to snippets of songs like Good Vibration and Everybody Dance Now – which many of the audience were not even alive to appreciate. Perry's incredible backup singers had a moment to shine covering CeCe Peniston's, finally. There was also a brief homage to Madonna. "It's Pride this weekend I know some of you can Vogue!" Perry decried as they worked the runway.
The spectacle returned to the stage as Perry with green hair and a retro polka dot outfit walked over the pit and the audience on a harness for Walking on Air. A giant black and white dress rose 20 feet in the air for It Takes Two. Giant inflatables of champagne, Covergirl Lipstick (I am not kidding) and amusingly "Katy's Taco" floated around the arena while Perry and her dancers made their way down front in an inflatable pink convertible for This Is How We Do/Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) The big hits wrapped things up – Teenage Dream, California Girls (complete with Hollywood sign), and Birthday which saw an August 12th birthday girl brought on stage which turned into a giant birthday cake while Perry sat on her lap. The finale required "Prism Vision" - 3D Glasses that were in the lobby before the show and added an extra dimension as Perry in a stunning dress concluded the show solo with Firework, as fireworks exploded from the prism behind her.
Katy Perry has her share of detractors as it seems any "pop" artist does. She has built a successful career in part due to what she creates visually in videos and concerts, and it is spectacular. It is for the most part clean compared to the more sexual antics of Rihanna and Ke$ha. Her fans absolutely adore her and they were out in full force from young girls to ecstatic gay men. Even the adults who were there purely because their kids wanted to go, you could tell were quickly drawn into the show. It was just that good.