Cyndi Lauper proves she's still a trailblazer as she plays farewell show at Manchester's Co-op Live
We're only halfway through Cyndi Lauper's show in Manchester and her band have been jangling away on tambourines and percussion boxes for a good few minutes now - but there's no sign of the native New Yorker to be seen.
And then, out of nowhere, she appears from a trap door dressed in a red suit jacket with yellow tassels with a bright canary yellow wig to match. Oh, and she's also wearing a washboard as a sort of armour plate. She's essentially a medieval Ronald McDonald if he was walking London Fashion Week and everyone is loving it in complete bewilderment.
But this is Cyndi Lauper we're talking about, after all. And subtlety is not her thing nor does anyone want it to be. Taking to the Co-Op Live stage on Sunday night (February 9), she's here in the city for the first time in 14 years and she's saying goodbye.
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'This is it for me,' the 71-year-old tells the crowd after opening with She Bop just in case any of the 23,500 fans in attendance aren't convinced if this is the last time they'll see her on tour. But she's insistent on going out with a bang - 'If I was going out, I was going out big!' - even if she does take the crowd on a few little detours and prolonged anecdotes along the way.
On some occasions, the show becomes more of a chat show than a concert, with Cyndi quite willing to stand on stage for five minutes straight to discuss why you should not buy a house over a graveyard or how she once took down a professional wrestler. But this is Cyndi as she has always been - candid, a non-conformist and, of course, unusual.
'I'm only talking to you because none of this is bigger than you and me,' she explains about wanting to capture an intimate setting amongst her fans - albeit in front of thousands of them. 'I love Manchester,' she tells the crowd amongst one of her many other interludes. 'I know it's the heart of rock and roll in England.'
Having emerged onto the scene with her debut album She's So Unusual in 1983, she immediately broke records making her the first female singer to have four top five singles from one album on the American charts and becoming one of the best-selling albums of the 1980s.
The set-list for this Farewell tour mostly remains in that 80s era - with the likes of Goonies R Good Enough and her stellar cover of Prince's When You Were Mine both getting early performances - which means there's no songs from her insanely-underrated 2008 dance-pop album Bring Ya To The Brink to be seen, which is a bit of a shame personally speaking but I'm aware I'm perhaps very much one of the only ones that was hoping for such.
For casual fans, there is perhaps a bit of a dip in memorable songs in the middle of the set - but it's also here where Cyndi is her rawest as a performer. Opting for acoustic openers with the likes of Sally's Pigeons and Fearless, any nay-sayers worrying that her quirky voice may not be up to scratch are quickly shut down as she captivates the huge auditorium with not a pin drop to be heard.
Of course, it's songs like I Drove All Night and Time After Time which the masses are here for and they are both delivered to rousing applause and singing along. Change of Heart and Money Changes Everything also get a surprisingly big reaction too - with the latter including a lot of shuffling and even a bit of rolling around on stage from Cyndi.
There are a few wig and costume changes along the way too, with the likes of Geoffrey Mac and Christian Siriano both heavily involved ('You know I love glamour, I clamour for it,' she tells the crowd as she giggles to herself).
However, the show is not without a hitch. There are a couple of small setbacks, although nothing largely noticeable. On a handful of occasions, Cyndi's vocals are drained out by the live music, there's a couple of issues with battery packs and a guitar rendition just never quite gets going quite like it perhaps should ('ah, **** it,' she tells the crowd after giving up).
But, it's her rendition of True Colours which really stands out as a special moment that many fans in the audience will cherish for a long time to come. Recorded shortly after the death of her close friend Gregory Natal, who passed away from AIDS, the track became an important rally cry at the time and meant so many different things to so many people.
Having since also deeply resonated with the LGBTQ+ community, her rendition on a second stage in the middle of the crowd as she waves a rainbow flag above her is something simple yet effective. Surrounded by a sea of mobile phone lights, it's powerful and shows that this is why Cyndi has stood the test of the time.
With that song, alongside her most famous of hits, it's a reminder that Cyndi has not only always dared to be different, but she's also stood up where it counted the most and has been a voice for so many who often feel unheard. In one on-stage reflection, she recalls telling a singer who challenged her on being a 'feminist': 'If I'm not interested in my own civil liberties, who will be?'
While she steers away from discussing modern politics, she tries to enlist her own pearls of wisdom on the crowd about aiming for the stars and never feeling like things are over. In another act of support, she explains that profits from wigs sold as merchandise are going towards women's rights charities - and there's plenty of them in the audience tonight.
But, of course, Cyndi knows what most of the people - especially the casual fans - are here for and she teases them for it until the very end. Bringing out Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, whilst dressed in a polka-dot Red Nose Day-infused outfit from Yayoi Kusama, it's gleeful, energetic and delivers a real party atmosphere - even if it's teetering on 11pm on a Sunday night.
Midway through the song, she breaks out into a rap in a similar fashion to her Glastonbury performance where she asks the audience to chant out that Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights - a nod to her women's rights fund.
Cyndi has always chosen to do things her own way, and she's keeping true to that with her farewell to the UK. Throughout her career, she has always been a trailblazer and she still remains one today. It's sad to see her leave the world of touring behind her, but she promises that it's definitely not going to be the last time we hear from her - and that's something to look forward to.
She Bop
The Goonies 'R' Good Enough
When You Were Mine
I Drove All Night
Who Let in the Rain
Iko Iko
Funnel of Love
Sally's Pigeons
Fearless
Sisters of Avalon
Change of Heart
Time After Time
Money Changes Everything
Encore:
Shine
True Colours
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
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