‘Not today, Satan': Katy Perry aerial stunt goes awry in S.F.
Pop superstar Katy Perry was heading into the home stretch of her concert at Chase Center on Friday, July 18, riding high above the San Francisco crowd on a giant mechanical butterfly. But as she belted her 2013 hit 'Roar,' her mount suddenly jolted and dipped, throwing her off balance and shocking the crowd.
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Chase Center Setlist
Artificial
Chained to the Rhythm
Teary Eyes
Dark Horse
Woman's World
California Gurls
Teenage Dream
Hot n Cold / Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
I Kissed a Girl
Nirvana
Crush
I'm His, He's Mine
Wide Awake
Spiritual (snippet)
Legendary Lovers (snippet)
Love Me (snippet)
Not Like the Movies
The One That Got Away
All the Love
E.T.
Part of Me
Rise
Roar
Daisies
Lifetimes
Firework
After a brief pause, the aerial contraption wobbled along and came to a stop at the center of the arena stage.
'Not today, Satan,' Perry quipped. 'The show must go on.'
It ain't easy being Katy lately. The former 'American Idol' judge's participation on Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin sub-orbital space flight in April was heavily criticized. The Lifetimes Tour debut garnered less than flattering reviews and earlier this month she split with actor Orlando Bloom.
But part of Perry's aura is built around dogged determination, a trait reflected in her string of chart-topping pop bangers like 'Roar,' 'Teenage Dream' and 'Firework.'
Three months into her tour, Perry showed the Bay Area she's smoothed out most of the rough spots during her two-hour Friday concert. She gamely hit her vocal and choreo spots. But as the Spinal Tap-like mishap showed — along with an unexplained technical issue that kept the crowd from taking their seats until past the 7:30 p.m. start time — there's still room for improvement.
'Two and a half hours ago, we didn't know if we were going to actually do a show,' Perry explained to the crowd — heavy with adults who came of age during her 2010s heyday — during a break. 'And I was like, 'We're doing the show! We're in tech city! We have to be able to figure this technical problem out!''
The Lifetimes Tour is meant to be a rousing celebration of the pop scion's past and present, with a peek into her future. It's also her most ambitious production, encompassing a sci-fi-inspired tale of love and self-empowerment wrapped in a futuristic video game setting.
Rebecca Black, who Perry befriended in 2011 after her so-bad-it's-good Auto-Tune jam 'Friday' went viral, opened the show at 8 p.m. No longer a suburban eighth grader, Black has charmed the dance world by reinventing herself into a hyperpop darling popular with the LGBTQ+ community. 'Friday' was heavily remixed and indistinguishable from the original, but her 30-minute performance with two hunky dancers was a nice full-circle moment for the singer.
Then it was Perry's turn. For the next two hours, Perry committed to her role as a freedom-seeking cyborg on a mission to liberate the world's butterflies from a villainous AI Big Brother-esqe mainframe and its evil forces. And if you think that sounds convoluted, you're not alone. Interstitial videos designed to keep the plot moving were visually impressive but were difficult to follow and sucked momentum.
Pacing was another issue. The concert began with three album cuts ('Artificial,' 'Chained to the Rhythm,' 'Teary Eyes') with many fans still glued to their seats until the more recognizable 'Dark Horse' got the crowd's energy up. Maybe she was playing to the Katycats, which makes sense, but for casual fans who just want to bop along to the hits (remember she had five No. 1 songs on 'Teenage Dream') the inconsistency in spreading out the jams was notable.
Perry played her biggest hand during the second of six acts that composed the evening's program, kicking off with the girl boss declaration 'Woman's World.' She followed that with four ace cards in the form of greatest hits: the West Coast anthem 'California Gurls,' 'Teenage Dream,' 'Hot 'n' Cold,' 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).' Chase Center roiled in the throes of nostalgic feel-good vapors.
Perry dedicated 'I Kissed a Girl' to the LGBTQ community and gave thanks for their acceptance.
'You've been there since I moved to L.A. when I was 17,' she said. 'You told me the truth, you cried with me, you held my hand.'
Perry's audience rapport went above and beyond, inviting five lucky fans (including three from the very top row of the upper deck) on stage to join her for 'The One That Got Away.' It was cute and endearing, but the segment went far too long as she did Q&A with all of them, from a 5-year-old who explained her tooth loss to a mother-to-be who requested that Perry name her baby (Katy's choice: Lily).
Her voice felt strong and piercing on 'Nirvana,' 'Wide Awake' and 'All the Love.' There were no backup singers but one could make out the backup vocal track that allowed her breath control when she was doing difficult choreography.
Towards the end, she plucked 'Daisies' from the 2020 album 'Smile' as a way to clap back at the negative Nancies. 'Tried to count me out / Took those sticks and stones / Showed 'em I could build a house,' she sang.
Numbers don't lie — she's earned her place on the stage. There's no questioning Perry's conviction or work ethic. Americans love an underdog story and Perry's is a work-in-progress.
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