Much like Derek Zoolander, pop singer Justin Bieber carries himself as if he’s some kind of outrageously attractive angel sent down from the heavens as a gift to all of womankind. The Calvin Klein ads that played between warm-up acts at last night’s concert at Quicken Loans Arena only reinforced the comparison.
During the 100-minute performance, Bieber lip-synced his way through a concert that, despite the lavish production (fireworks and lasers and more), ultimately lacked the kind of immediacy and intensity of a quality live performance. You can see a slideshow of photos from the concert here.
Amidst a Matrix-like video treatment, Bieber, clad in ripped-jeans and a designer T-shirt, arrived on stage in a glass box from which he sang the opening tune “Mark My Words,” scrawling notes in crayon on the box’s windows. While it wasn’t possible to see if he was truly singing or just mouthing the words to a backing track, by the concert’s third song, “Get Used to It,” it was apparent he wasn’t even trying to pretend to sing. He often held the microphone by his side during moments when his vocals could be heard in the mix. Throughout the concert, Bieber appeared detached and disinterested. Even his dance moves had a robotic quality to them.
On occasion, he showed a bit of spunk. During an acoustic rendition of the break-up song “Love Yourself,” he sang with a bit more gusto, practically sneering the refrain. And during “Children,” a song he dedicated to the “young kids” in the crowd, he slapped high-fives with a cadre of youngsters who joined the tour’s dancers for the song, telling them they were “awesome” as he let them introduce themselves to the crowd.
But then, he quickly returned to going through the motions, bouncing on a trampoline that was lowered from the venue’s ceiling for “Company” and mumbling his way through the R&B-tinged “Hold Tight.”
As if to prove he’s not just a pretty face surrounded by a live band and some darn good dancers, Bieber took center stage to hammer out a rudimentary drum solo. He’s no Tommy Lee but at least he gave it a good go.
Near the end of the 21-song set, he mimicked the moves of his talented dancers as he turned “Baby” into a rousing dance anthem that had the capacity crowd singing in unison. Before singing the set-closing “Purpose,” he talked about how life isn’t just about having fun. That might be true, but we actually would have preferred it if Bieber appeared to have more fun at last night’s show. Rather, he rarely showed any emotion as he would rather perfunctorily ask patrons if they were having a good time and at one point casually said it was the “best crowd” of the tour, making it clear he says the same damn thing at every tour stop.
Most pop and rock stars would die to have fans as enthusiastic as Bieber’s. Throughout the Q concourse, his fans queued up at merch tables like starving people in a breadline. Bieber, however, didn’t return to the favor as he simply went through the motions, something that suggests he has a long way to go if he wants to be the next Justin Timberlake.
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 3, 2016.
The spectacle brought new meaning to “Pull My Strings” (Dead Kennedys).
Well you get what you pay for…
Spoiled little punk…
Someone needs to tell me why a brilliant live vocalist and entertainer like Adam Lambert performed at the Palace Theater last December and this pathetic excuse for a singer/performer gets the Q arena and gets nominated for Grammys!
OK so the Biebs has some talent, I admit I like a lot of his songs. But he is extremely immature and I see all of this headed to a bad place. He needs discipline and structure. He also from what I’ve seen lately, looks very unhappy. If he were my child, I would be super worried!
Such a shame when people pay good money to see him ☹
Well I have to say that “The Believe Tour” in 2013 was way better than this “Purpose World Tour” of 2016!! In this performance Justin took a lot of long breaks in between his songs, he danced way more than he sang, even lip synced I think a quarter of the songs (and my 9yr old noticed that), only performed I think 3 older songs and everything else was new, the opening acts weren’t that good and combined I think were on longer than he was (only performed an hour and a half). So, overall it just was not as fun as the last one. We definitely won’t be going to anymore of his concerts. Glad I didn’t pay what others paid but I feel sad for them because they didn’t get Biebs best!! But my Mommy opinion isn’t all that important because our daughter Emily had a good time!! Our tickets were the right price but (nosebleed but only $65 each) only after bidding on them all day due to them being to expensive/sold out but she did get a new Biebs poster, bracelet, and lanyard w/picture ($30 total) because the shirts were $40 and up. She told me “thank you” a billion times and I got tons of hugs/kisses. She said it was a great early birthday present!! -disappointed in Cleveland, Ohio
This was both of my daughters first concert. They also had a great time but the mom in me did point out that he looked very unhappy. I couldn’t imagine having every aspect of my life picked apart every second of everyday. However as an entertainer I would imagine that he should have put in alittle more effort in to conceal his lack of emotion. He is a very talented young man but we also need to remember he is human. Hopefully he will be able to recenter himself around the ones who love him and keep him grounded. #mygirlsarestillbeliebers ❤❤❤
I saw him with my eight year old daughter in Columbus, Ohio back in 2010 when he was just making it as a musician. I will always remember the genuine and talented young man that by far exceeded my expectations and was not only a teen idol but a genius as an entertainer. Tonight in Columbus, Ohio, with my daughter who is now 14, I was embarrassed for him and the show he delivered to the many fans that were “Beliebers”. It was everything the Cleveland review states, and even worse if you had to sit through the show. Hopefully he can get his act together and not waste his fan’s time and money in the future. I once saw a Justin Bieber that was capable of so much more.
Don’t worry about what people think Justin!! Just keep being you ! 😘 Everyone always gonna have something to say! Put yourself in his shoes! Of becoming famous at such a young age! Just cuz he has all this money and people that love him for his music and don’t even really know him on a personal level! Except for the shit they read which is 99% of the time bullshit! He is still human!! He’s strong for what he puts up with ! He can’t smile 24/7 no one can! We all have are good and bad days!! Let’s record all yall’s life story’s and see your mistakes !! And see how u feel when everyone comments on your shit down grading you! Telling him he needs to grow up! Naww y’all need to grow up! Don’t like his music don’t like what he does! Then stay off his shit ! Cuz your comments irrelevant asf✋🏼
Why do we call them celebrities? Exactly WTF are we “celebrating” about this no-talent punk-ass piece of shit?
Chuckles the Clown