I kissed Katy Perry and she liked it!

March 7th, 2009

Tonight I saw Katy Perry in concert, and I liked it. But more than that, I liked the whole atmosphere around the show. It started with watching the public line up to get into the concert hall at the AB (Ancienne Belgique) in Brussels, Belgium. I guess the average age was 15 or 16 years, and I was amazed to see how young kids are nowadays at concerts. When I was that age, the best I could hope for was to go on an organized excursion to Torhout/Werchter, or see maybe a folk group (Kadril) or a comedian (Urbanus). But nowadays it seems that every 14 or 15 year old has been to concerts all their lives, starting with going to K3 shows and ending up seeing the latest internet hypes like Lily Allen or Katy Perry.

The support group was called 3OH!3 from Colorado, an electronica hiphop band known for their funny skits and outrageous costumes. It seemed they were quite popular, as everybody was dancing to their music and shouting the lyrics to the songs.

And then the moment came that everybody was waiting for: the first concert on Belgium soil by Katy Perry, America's latest teen-sensation. Queen's 'Killer Queen' came through the speakers and K.Perry ran onto the stage dressed in a pink/green outfit. Katy is famous for her "vintage style" and her clotes looked like something my mum might have worn when she was 16. Lots of colours, lots of funny touches without getting too kitschy. Except for her diamond-studded microphone, that was a bit over the top.

The stage looked fabulous, with a giant inflatable cat (called Kitty Purr) and lots of fruit. Much tastier than an inflatable pig!

The first song, Fingerprints, got the crowd wild and then the most amazing thing happened. Instead of clapping their hand or dancing or swinging (like we used to do in the good old days), the majority of the audience got out their mobile phones or cameras and started taking pictures. But because modern cameras have screens, I saw a sea of screens in front of me, all displaying Katy. A surreal experience and proof that I am no longer in touch with the modern music scene. Everybody was more busy with sending sound bites of the concert to their friends, than actually enjoying the show.

The show was well executed, with a good mix of popular tunes and some new stuff. One of her biggest hits, Hot 'n' Cold was played early on in the show, and the little chats between the songs were a bit corny and clearly aimed at younger people.

Another amazing thing was that the audience actually let her play slow, intimate and accoustic stuff.
And in the end she threw all her fruit (giant inflatable strawberries) in the audience and she stage dived during "I kissed a girl", her biggest hit and clearly what everybody was waiting for. This anthem for bi-curious girls and players alike got the whole hall dancing and everybody around me tried to kiss Katy Perry as she stage dived towards us. Some of us succeeded