Review: Katy Perry

Excitable teenaged girls in the front, mothers in the back. That's how most of the 1,200 people were aligned in the sold-out Beaumont Club on Monday. And though many of her youthful fans looked as if they have "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical" posters decorating their bedrooms, Perry made a convincing case that she's not just another disposable, flavor-of-the-month artist.

Since her Warped Tour appearance in Bonner Springs in July, Perry has gone a long way toward permanently embedding herself in the pop culture firmament. She's appeared in respectable fashion layouts and as fodder in disreputable gossip tabloids. That exposure, along with constant touring behind a steady stream of successful singles, has made the 24-year-old a star.

"Thank you for turning my world upside down," Perry told her adoring audience.

Perry is best known for risque hits "I Kissed a Girl" and "UR So Gay," but Monday's show was more cute than titillating. The theme of the current tour is "Hello Katy." An inflatable cat was the stage backdrop.

If Perry is sick of playing material from her secular debut album, the platinum "One of the Boys," she didn't show it. She invested seemingly sincere enthusiasm into every song.

It paid off. "Hot N Cold" is one of the most irritating hits of the new millennium. Yet between Perry's charisma and the frenzied sing-along of her rabid fans, the ditty was transformed into a definitive girl-power anthem. Crowd favorite "Waking Up In Vegas" and a solo acoustic reading of "Thinking of You" were also entirely convincing.

Perry is not a dazzling vocalist or a particularly gifted songwriter. But her casual chatter about Facebook, disappointing boyfriends and unrequited love demonstrated a more valuable asset: She's perfectly in tune with the adolescent zeitgeist.

Much of the night's success can also be attributed to the increasingly mature approach of Perry's band. They evoked the Cars, Cheap Trick and other classic power-pop acts. It's no accident that Queen's "Killer Queen" served as Perry's entrance music. She also covered Queen's "I Want To Have a Good Time." The savvy Perry clearly has no intention of becoming a forgotten flash-in-the-pan.

Opening act The Daylights were solid and their good looks inspired many ardent squeals. Even so, the odds are stacked against them. Perry, however, looks like she's here to stay.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Comments

[Jason Harper]

Bill, I think it's time you penned a few pop songs about Twitter and Blip.fm. I will lend my services on keytar.

[Steve]

1200 hundred people and now one saw it here? We are all out touch with the mainstream, I guess.

[Bubba]

Yeah, we 'happening folks' were all home listening to our EAGLES and NEIL YOUNG discs the night of KATE PERRY.

[Dexter Morgan]

I'd rather look at her than listen to her.

[Derek Donovan]

Bill, I enjoyed this. You hit just the right tone.

Too bad people don't realize she's every bit as manufactured as Justin Timberlake (tm) or Britney (tm).

[jjskck]

@Derek-
I think most people see her for what she is. I don't know anyone over 18 who takes her seriously. I disagree with Bill that she's here to stay--my opinion is that she's too kitschy and too undertalented to have much staying power.

The measuring stick for how manufactured a female artist is can be found in the title of her "debut" (gospel releases notwithstanding) album. The fake artists always have a title that explains what the record company's image of her is supposed to be. In this case, "One Of the Boys" means she's a cute girl, but she'll talk about farting and make dorky faces because deep down, hey, she's a tomboy! Buy her record!