Janet Jackson Is Muvah!
Jackson very much slayed her recent performance at New York's Madison Square Garden. 10s across the board! Icon status secured!
The first time I saw Janet Jackson perform live, I was 15 years old. It was 1987 and my aunt took me to see her at at Madison Square Garden, where she performed after the Ice Capades. Why after the Ice Capades? It was the 80s. Don’t ask me. LOL! In any event, she wowed the audience with renditions of “Nasty” and “Control,” and it was easy to tell even then that she was going to be a megastar.
I returned to MSG 37 years later on May 9, 2023 (with my mother this time; an early Mother’s Day gift for her) to find that Janet Jackson is still in full and complete control of the stage.
Jackson’s outing this year is special not only because it celebrates her reuniting with fans post-COVID, but also because it commemorates her 50th anniversary in show business. That’s right. Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty first strutted her stuff back in 1973 at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas as a part of the Jackson Family act.
Janet Jackson’s 10th tour, The Together Again Tour, has sold out in every city it’s been to so far. I’ve been to almost all of her tours. However, this was my mother’s first time seeing Jackson live and I wondered what she might think. My mother’s musical tastes, which have wholly informed mine, are a who’s who of legends: Aretha Franklin, Grace Jones, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Stephanie Mills, Minnie Riperton, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Dionne Warwick, Deniece Williams. How would Janet Jackson measure up?
My mother got her entire LIFE. She was rapt. She didn’t take her eyes off the stage for a second. She stood up longer than I imagined she could. She did her little two-step. She had a grand old time. And afterwards, she told me that she was stunned that a 57-year-old Janet Jackson could get up on that stage and do what she did.
“How is she not tired?” she kept asking me.
R&B, hip-hop, pop, rock, and even jazzy moments here and there, Jackson’s repertoire is broad. What’s overwhelming is remembering just how deep her catalog is. The number of actual hits seemed endless—and she didn’t even perform all of them!
The crowd went wild when special surprise guest Busta Rhymes showed up to perform their hit song, “What’s It Gonna Be?”, give Janet her well-deserved flowers, wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, and present her with an early birthday cake (Janet’s birthday is May 16) designed with images from the video of the song.
I should also mention that the opening act, Ludacris, brought a tremendous amount of energy and fun to the show. At first, I didn’t understand why he was chosen, but his irreverence was actually a wonderful complement to Jackson’s commanding presence.
Building on the traditions forged by Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Tina Turner, and others, Janet is a master of her craft and has been for some time now. She is the blueprint for so many things, but, in particular, for how to put together a concert. Part Broadway, part Hollywood, part Vegas, part party, part runway couture, part adult revue, part sermon, part spectacle, the Together Again Tour is a marvelous journey.
And the show doesn’t fall into the trap of being overproduced such that the star of the show becomes merely a cog in a machine, hiding a lack of stage presence behind laser shows, technological razzle-dazzle, overwrought aesthetics, and a million back-up dancers. Nah: Jackson has your attention whenever she’s on stage. She returned to her troop of four male back-up dancers, moved the band behind the stage, and other than some video screens, it’s really just Janet giving you dope dance moves and swinging that ponytail like a helicopter, all while rocking some fly outfits—designed by none other than Christian Siriano.
She also seems to be at her most comfortable, interacting with the audience more than she ever has before. I guess that’s the confidence that comes with knowing that you have done all that there is do, broken every record there is to break, won just about every accolade there is to win, proven every success there is to prove, and now you’re really just out here doing it because you love it.
You will likely see hundreds, if not thousands, of clips of The Together Again Tour on YouTube and other social media sites. I’m glad that people who might not have access to the show will get to see it. But I also have to be honest: video does not do the show justice. You have to see it in person to understand its grandeur, its larger-than-lifeness, its magnificence.
And there’s another thing you probably won’t be able to discern from the videos: How diverse the crowds at her shows are. Name a sociopolitical identity and they were in attendance.
What makes this tour extra-remarkable is knowing all of the obstacles Jackson had to overcome to restore her reputation after having been sabotaged by powerful people in the industry. With the outstanding success of The Together Again Tour, she gets the last laugh.
Having shown herself as an artist with a rare career longevity, some wonder if she will ever release another album. Who knows? And you know what? It doesn’t really matter (see what I did there?).
Janet Jackson has cemented her position as one of the greatest, most iconic entertainers the world has ever seen.
And isn’t that more than enough?
Set List
Act I
1. "Damita Jo"
2. "Together Again" (DJ Premier Remix)
3. "Feedback"
4. "So Much Betta"
5. "If" (Album Version/Kaytranada Remix)
6. "No Sleeep" / "Got 'Til It's Gone" / "That's the Way Love Goes" / "Enjoy"
Act II
7. "What Have You Done For Me Lately" / "Nasty"
8. "The Pleasure Principle"
9. "Because of Love"
10. "When I Think of You" / "Diamonds"
11. "The Best Things In Life Are Free"
12. "Control"
Act III
13. "When We Oooo" (intermission interlude)
14. "Together Again" (Deeper Remix)
15. "Come Back to Me" / "Let's Wait Awhile"
16. "Lonely" / "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" (Remix)
17. "Again"
18. "Any Time, Any Place"
19. "I Get Lonely" (TNT Remix)
Act IV
20. "The Body That Loves You" (interlude) (contains elements of "Runaway", "You Want This", and "Spending Time With You")
21. "Doesn't Really Matter"
22. "All for You"
23. "Come On Get Up"
24. "Free Xone" / "Throb"
25. "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" / "Like You Don't Love Me" / "Do It 2 Me"
(For the May 9 show at Madison Square Garden: “What’s It Gonna Be?” with Busta Rhymes)
26. "So Excited"
Act V
27. "New Agenda" / "The Knowledge"
28. "Miss You Much"
29. "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"
30. "Alright" / "Escapade"
31. "Scream"
32. "Black Cat"
33. "Rhythm Nation"
Act VI: Encore
34. "Together Again"
To purchase tickets for The Together Again Tour, please visit the Janet Jackson website: HERE.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert