Washington will have to wait for Justin and Christina. After a falling aluminum lighting grid caused approximately $1 million in damage to the set of the Justin Timberlake/Christina Aguilera “Justified/Stripped” tour last Saturday in Atlantic City, tour promoters rescheduled all remaining dates. The tour’s stop at MCI Center, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed to Monday, Aug. 25.
One of the biggest concerts of the summer, the “Justified/Stripped” co-headlining tour has been virtually unstoppable throughout its strong-selling 42-city North American run.
Both Mickey Mouse Club veterans shed their teen-pop-idol images this year with the release of multiplatinum solo CDs. On his first solo CD, “Justified,” Mr. Timberlake, formerly of ’N Sync, channels the Michael Jackson of the “Thriller” days. Miss Aguilera takes the “Dirrty” route on “Stripped,” revealing more of herself emotionally, musically and, if you have seen her videos, physically than she did on her 1999 self-titled debut.
Based on their performances on the “Justified”/”Stripped” tour, the evolution is in full effect. The lady goes first, opening with a video montage of images and words before launching into her controversial hit single, “Dirrty,” with a flurry of pyrotechnics and writhing dancers. Her set, which runs a little more than an hour, includes the bulk of the tracks from “Stripped” as well as revamped renditions of earlier hits such as “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl Wants.”
Though there was a time when Miss Aguilera was thought of as Britney Spears’ biggest competitor for pop-princess status during the teen music boom a few years ago, “Stripped” makes it clear who has the better set of lungs. Her vocal power and range are breathtaking live; one imagines she could be heard in the rafters of the MCI Center even without a microphone. Even more impressive, the petite Miss Aguilera takes on a couple of Etta James tunes midset and gives them almost as much body and weight as the legendary blues diva.
Mr. Timberlake’s singing chops may not match those of his co-headliner, but he more than makes up for it with his charismatic stage presence. Although he fills his stage with backup dancers, jolting pyro and a tight band that includes a funky horn section and a DJ, he is the one to watch.
There’s a hip-hop groove that pervades Mr. Timberlake’s set, echoing the blue-eyed soul of “Justified” rather than the bouncy pop of his former group. Though he does include a couple of ’N Sync songs (“Gone” and “Girlfriend”), the showstopper features Mr. Timberlake not singing or dancing, but popping, spitting and stuttering as a human beat box backed by old-school tracks spun by the DJ. It turns the venue into the hottest club in town.
While either “Justified” or “Stripped” segments alone will leave a fan sweaty, exhausted and very satisfied, the concert also includes an opening performance by The Black Eyed Peas. The funky quartet, currently enjoying the success of their Top Ten single “Where Is the Love,” featuring Mr. Timberlake on background vocals, is working hard to keep up with its headliners.
“I like Diet Coke,” singer Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson says when asked how she keeps up her energy for the grueling tour schedule. “I’ve never experienced anything like this — me and 11 guys on the bus. We’re doing 85 shows in 90 days. It’s sick.”
In addition to its 30-minute set on the tour, the band often headlines its own show at a smaller venue in the area later that evening. The group played the 9:30 Club last Sunday.
“It’s really great to do the arenas. It’s so overwhelming seeing thousands of people waving their hands to our music,” Miss Ferguson says. “And then to do the smaller venues, the clubs, and feel that energy and crowd surf and just do whatever you want, it’s amazing.”
Sensitive rockers The Counting Crows open for equally tough-but-tender singer-songwriter John Mayer tomorrow night at the Nissan Pavilion. The band is touring in support of its current CD, “Hard Candy.”
Though the Counting Crows have yet to reach again the dizzying heights they achieved with their 1993 debut, “August and Everything After,” keyboardist Charles Gillingham says the band’s still pretty happy with the view.
“We have this core audience of a million or more people, which is plenty to pay the bills,” he says. “We’ve had them all along. Most of our hard-core fans knew us when they were 14, and they’re still following us. … It’s not in the cards for us to be Justin Timberlake, so most of our musical decisions are just us trying to keep very genuine and find the music we really love … not just what everyone else is doing.”
Driven by the evocative storytelling of songwriter and frontman Adam Duritz, the Counting Crows have a reputation for lyrical honesty as well as solid musicianship. For their opening set, expect to hear plenty of tunes from the band’s hit list, including “Mr. Jones” and “A Long December,” as well as one or two songs you may not have heard before. Though the band changes the set list nightly, it likes to begin with more acoustic-tempered songs as the sun is setting, then move into harder-driving songs once darkness falls, Mr. Gillingham says.
Whatever the size of the venue, the band works hard to reach all the notes both big and small.
“A lot of our music is personal, and if we’ve been successful, you should feel you made one friend in Adam and really talked with him,” he explains. “But there also [are] a number of songs that are just huge, and then it’s about that — the big light show, the slides and all the multimedia you’ve just come to love.”
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