(Fairfax, VA, March 2, 2014) Demi Lovato’s Neon Lights Tour was so big and massive that I actually had to split the review in two. Demi has put together a day of girl power reaffirmation that is cleverly disguised as a regular Pop Concert. With the soundcheck party and four opening acts The Neon Lights Tour was literally an all day affair. By the time Demi herself strutted onto the stage a few minutes after 9pm the crowd was panting and shaking the building with screams. The Tweens around me were literally shaking and crying with anticipation. Part One of this Review.
Demi rocked an all black leather outfit, finished off with black boots and some weird white flaps on the back of her pants she looked very much like a Rock Queen and not the Pop Princess we think she is. Her pink hair, half braided on the side fit perfectly with her outfit and the lighting scheme. The only “wardrobe” change came at the end of the night for Skyscraper where she rocked a gothic looking black dress that was paired with black leggings. I think she was trying to channel her inner “Wicked Witch of the West” and I say this in a good way.
From the opening notes of Heart Attack to the end, for 90 minutes she owned every inch of the stage and proved that all you need is stage presence and a stellar voice to keep a crowd wrapped around her finger. As Prince often says, “real music from real musicians,” you can never make the claim that Demi isn’t seriously, scary talented. Flitting from piano to acoustic and electric guitar to drums, she does a little bit of everything.
Highlights included her amazing version of Let It Go, I used to think Indina Menzel’s (Proud of myself for avoiding a Travolta joke) version was better because it was less “Poppy” but Demi shut it down. The strength of her voice along with a stadium of 10,000 people singing every note gave me chills. She went to the wayback machine and played clips from her early career and Camp Rock days, I was so sure she’d do This Is Me, she even made a joke about her Camp Rock “dance moves,” before launching into a fun hard driving Get Back the song for her very first music video.
Demi gets a little political on us when she launches into an impassioned speech about the troubles going on in Venezuela, it proves she’s a lot more informed than I am. I didn’t even know anything was going on there, since everyone is talking about the Ukraine right now I thought that’s where she was going with it. But she dedicated the song Warrior to her Venezuelan Lovatics and it seemed like she was struggling to hold it in. Apparently the issue is very personal.
The 20+ song set list included a nice selection from her four released albums and she didn’t always go for the obvious choices, which may disappoint some. Like I said, there was no This is Me (I only wanted three songs before my iPhone died Skyscraper, Let It Go and This is Me), but she did do The Middle from her first album and during the soundcheck she did an acoustic version of Believe In Me. Can I just take a moment to say the iPhone sucks?
From her album Don’t Forget the highlights were the title track, Catch Me, Solo, Remember December and Quiet, which gave her another chance to show off her head banging skills. During Neon Lights she had everyone whip out their phones and use her tour app, which lit up everyone’s screens in a multi-colored hue that was timed to the beat of the music.
Even though I would never pay for another VIP experience, this was probably one of the best shows I’ve seen in awhile. Someone who went to the meet and greet said Demi didn’t hug people because she was sick. If this is Demi at 70 or 80 percent, I shudder to think how good she is when fully healthy. I expected my Demi obsession to conclude with this concert experience, instead its been reignited, I’m down for more Demi and now I feel like I must interview her – my next quest. She’ll do a movie or maybe I’ll get her on a Glee call, or We Day… Oh, Demi you will be mine.
Set List (Not Official)
- Heart Attack
- Remember December
- Fire Starter
- The Middle
- Don’t Care
- Catch Me
- Here We Go Again
- Made in the USA
- Nightingale
- Two Pieces
- Warrior
- Let It Go
- Get Back
- Don’t Forget
- Got Dynamite
- Solo
- Quiet
- Unbroken
- Neon Lights
Encore
- Song (I didn’t get the title)
- Skyscraper
For more information on Demi Lovato or the Neon Lights Tour check out her official site at http://demilovato.tumblr.com/ and facebook page at facebook.com/DemiLovato. Check out Adventures In Wonderland for more VIP experiences. You can watch video clips from the show on my YouTube Channel.