Despite having arrived during a time in which it is more and more Challenging To to be has the fanNicki Minaj’s concert last night at Seattle’s Climate Plage Arena was too good to temporarily forget any complaints you might have about going to the show.
The focus of the evening, naturally, was on Minaj’s new album “Pink Friday 2“The LP is meant to be a spiritual sequel to the 2010 studio album that served as his mainstream success, after several years’ worth of buzzy mixtapes. I’ve struggled to warm to it since it came out in December. It seems, for me. , a bit too thirsty for another “Anaconda” moment-slash-tiktok virality, deploying obvious samples that can sometimes win (“Everybody” to Jr. Sr.’s inexhaustible “Move Your Feet,” “Red Ruby Da Sleaze” in the summer Use is a fantastic reworking of Lumid’s “Never Leave You (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)”) but is generally more likely to make you “come” too much. we“ (“My Life” uses “Heart of Glass,” “Pink Friday Girls” based on “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”). But the mostly smart curation of the setlist, which includes most of the 22-song-long “Pink Friday 2,” makes you regularly listen to the songs anew, for me, personal questions about whether I should be faithful to my early. Reaction.
While not impervious to over-reliance on the backing track, Minaj sounded good, thrillingly oscillating, as she does so incredibly on record, arching playfulness and don’t-mess-with-me, knowing Cheshire Cat-grins often at her best. Book witty lines. . After kicking things off with “Pink Friday’s” declamation “I’m the Best,” she strutted around the stage with the blooming self-respect of someone exhilarated by the power to drive the crowd wild with just the blink of an eye. All of her hair and outfit changes—my favorite pieces were a stunning hot pink Dolce & Gabbana faux fur coat and metallic XI SCORPII breastplate—became events within the event, always stylishly suited to a given musical aesthetic. segment (the themes of which, to put it loosely, include Minaj’s personal ambiguity, sexuality, and, in some of her sounds and visuals, Orientalism.)
The image of the concert was often spectacular. It beautifully capitalizes on the Barbie-dreamhouse otherworld of Gag City, the universe in which “Pink Friday 2” is said to exist and was created next, and created into online memes by fans who know how to work AI. In concert, the backdrops recalled Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” (1927), splashed in bright pinks and blues. Minaj, however, didn’t give us much to see during the long transitions. Audiences mostly saw Barb robots produced in a factory room created by Minaj cartooning like Chun-Li of “Street Fighter,” which she added to her expanding arsenal of alter-egos in 2018. Lasted for what felt like. An eternity, the finale was just pitch-black nothingness, set to the sort of mindless ambient music you might expect to hear while waiting in line for a space-themed roller coaster at an amusement park.
The latter transition came after a puzzling stretch of concerts that threatened to erode what was previously enjoyable about it. After the 80%-slowest segment of the show — where Minaj focused on songs defined by their emotional earnestness (whose sincerity I don’t doubt but which I’ve always found to be the most musically uninteresting) — we got a 90 Festival-length sets from ’90s R&B icon Monica and rapper Tyga. The placement was odd, and felt almost unintentionally meant specifically for Monica. Who wants a fun, high-energy concert suddenly interrupted with a beautifully sung slow jam? The crowd, mostly seemingly uninvolved, used Monica’s appearance as an excuse to rest their feet. They did, however, go wild for Tyga. Desperate for Minaj to finish the late-running show, I could only get impatient.
Minaj wisely returned with a slate of crossover classics that made you (almost) forgive her for the unwanted distraction. Among the hits on offer were “Anaconda,” “Starships,” and “Super Bass,” all songs I’ve always admired, compared to the more ferocious, previously played “Monster,” “Romance’s Revenge,” and “Feeling Myself.” ” (which disappointingly excises its roadster-fast last verse). During this stretch you might get the strongest sense in the room of how much Minaj’s music means to people, unmistakable from good times past and present. The show reinforced what it might feel like to be an arm’s-length fan in 2024: any enjoyment is inevitably compromised by frustration. On Sunday, however, I declared myself mostly the former.
