Justin Timberlake plays Detroit: A young sensation finds his way to a middle-age sweet spot
A suave and polished Justin Timberlake commanded the Little Caesars Arena stage Thursday night with a veteran's poise, playing to a capacity crowd downtown in his latest Detroit visit.
The 44-year-old pop star was making good on a show originally scheduled for October, when he was abruptly sidelined by a double whammy of bronchitis and laryngitis. Those issues — along with a subsequent back injury — seemed well behind him inside LCA, where Timberlake served up reliably agile vocals, taut dance moves and a good-natured rapport with fans down front.
The postponement meant Detroit was tucked into the tail end of the U.S. leg of Timberlake's long-running Forget Tomorrow World Tour, whose accompanying album, 'Everything I Thought It Was,' supplied a healthy portion of Thursday's set list. Beyond that, the evening amounted to a live, upbeat greatest-hits compilation, showcasing the biggies from his 23-year post-'N Sync solo career.
Now more than 90 dates into the tour, Timberlake and company arrived in the Motor City a well-drilled unit: While never quite hitting a transcendent sixth gear, the show delivered a proficient and consistently entertaining performance from one of the 21st century's defining pop figures — a guy whose second-nature stage chops have been honed since childhood.
Timberlake's big bow to the audience preceded the opening twofer of 'No Angels' and 'LoveStoned,' whose warm, '70s-suffused vibes soon gave way to the sleeker futurism of 'My Love.' That set the tone for the two-hour show: mingling Timberlake's old-school influences with the innovative R&B soundscapes crafted alongside the likes of producer Timbaland.
Unlike many modern pop concerts, where supporting band members are often cloaked in the shadows or even shoved out of sight altogether, Timberlake's musicians — his much-loved Tennessee Kids — were in the thick of the action throughout. Bolstered by a horn section and three backing vocalists, the lively outfit lent a visually dynamic flourish alongside Timberlake and his small cast of dancers.
The stage production was relatively sparse in a show that relied on Timberlake's songs and showmanship to make its impact. His vocals came with tight little melismatic runs while his signature falsetto did its thing ('My Love,' 'Drown'), and he got plenty of audience singing support on older hits such as 'Cry Me a River' and 'Until the End of Time.'
Material from his 2024 album held its own while Timberlake quietly drew links between it and his past work — pairing the new 'Infinity Sex' with 2006's 'FutureSex/LoveSound,' for instance, in a tidy musical tandem.
Twenty-seven years after his inaugural Detroit show amid the frenzy of 'N Sync, Timberlake displayed the artistic maturity he has since come to embody. It was most apparent during a stretch on a B-stage situated among fans on the LCA floor, an intimate and relaxed segment capped by 'Selfish' and 'What Goes Around … Comes Around,' with the singer on acoustic guitar.
From there, it was on to a flashy, dance-heavy finale as the buoyant, sunshine-in-your-pocket charm of 'Can't Stop the Feeling!' took Timberlake back to the main stage to close out the regular set with 'Rock Your Body' and 'SexyBack.'
Nearly three decades after breaking out as a teen sensation, Timberlake may no longer be a pacesetter for the pop zeitgeist. But it's clear he is finding his way to a productive and enduring career lane — a once-precocious young star now thriving as a middle-aged veteran with plenty left to give.
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Justin Timberlake plays Detroit: Pop star finds middle-age sweet spot
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