With empowering energy, Lizzo, Latto light up Fiserv Forum
Two songs into her Fiserv Forum show Tuesday, Lizzo started wiping tears from her eyes.
The feels only grew from there. Lizzo has been atop the A-list for four years now, and she is more than three months removed from being the first Black woman in nearly three decades to win record of the year at the Grammys for “About Damn Time.”
But she’s clearly not taking anything for granted.
For Tuesday’s second song, “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready),” she journeyed from being on the verge of a panic attack at the beginning to opening her heart to affection by the end. The passionate, singing crowd soaked in and amplified the self-love, an overwhelmed Lizzo wiping tears and flexing her arms like a bodybuilder.
“Bitch, I’m crying out of one eye, what the (expletive) is happening to me,” Lizzo laughed.
Raw emotion, no apologies, some cheeky profanity — all things fans who filled the Bucks arena to near-capacity expected when they bought tickets to a Lizzo concert.
One of the most unexpected and delightful pop success stories of the past decade, Lizzo, through her infectious personality, playful humor and unflinching positivity, bent pop culture to her will, skyrocketing beyond indie music success to become a beloved superstar for our cynical, divisive times.
In return, Lizzo Tuesday proclaimed the Milwaukee stop of her “Special” tour (named for her latest album) “a safe space to be yourself, to celebrate yourself.” Fans quickly took that mission to heart.
Lizzo led by example, whether she was recognizing trans women and gender non-conforming femmes leading into “Everybody’s Gay,” or pausing the show for a “bad bitch meditation,” during which she encouraged fans, via recording, to “visualize your higher self.”
Again and again Tuesday night, Lizzo did just that.
For the “Special” title track, Lizzo’s voice soared with anguish as she sang about being “used to feeling alone,” that “we,” all of us, “feel so alone,” bonding her fans through confidence and community. “I’m so glad that you’re still with us,” Lizzo sang with empowering radiance. “Broken but damn you’re still perfect.”
She brought that same emotional depth and uplifting encouragement to “Jerome” and “Naked.” For the former, she didn’t even need to stand, draped across a chaise lounge, noir-like black lines covering her body, the betrayal of a bad lover bringing her voice to a breaking point. “Special” standout “Naked” was stirringly staged, with Lizzo in the shadows, aside from her face, as images of falling rose petals, fluttering butterflies and twinkling stars were projected on her. At the end, the images were replaced with the words “Free Your Body.”
Beyond such vulnerability and humility, Lizzo didn’t restrain her showmanship in the slightest. Toward the end of “Cuz I Love You,” Lizzo belted out a 10-second note so sumptuous that she earned the right to lick the tips of her fingers in the aftermath. She busted out her flute, dubbed “Sasha Flute,” on four occasions; the loveliest solo was reserved for her swooning
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“Special” ballad “Coldplay,” and later she played flute and twerked simultaneously for “Truth Hurts.”
Dazzling as Lizzo was on stage, she gave ample space for her 16 backing musicians and dancers, all Black women, to shine. With her three backing dancers, Lizzo exchanged churchworthy vocals for Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman,” while guitarist Jordan Waters, just 19, unleashed a ferocious solo ahead of “Tempo.”
The choreography for “Soulmate” was especially sharp, with the eight dancers taking turns popping their bodies and falling into the splits, before Lizzo matched their swagger, bent over, twerked for the crowd, then popped up to blow them a kiss.
But even with all the talent on the stage Tuesday, Lizzo also made sure to turn the spotlight on the crowd, talking with several fans for more than eight minutes near the night’s end.
There was an artist from Sheboygan, who gifted Lizzo a painting; she plugged his Instagram page in return. Three fans celebrating birthdays got special gifts: a selfie with Lizzo, a “Happy Birthday” singalong and autograph, and the chance to twerk with her. Lizzo exchanged sassy lines with Milwaukee drag queen star Ester Flonaze, and signed a Grogu cutout (in honor of her “Mandalorian” appearance this season) for a fan named Juno who was celebrating their new name Tuesday night, to boisterous applause.
And as an exuberant Lizzo met these elated diehard fans one by one, you could see tears flowing again in the crowd.
Latto plays for just 19 minutes, skips ‘Lottery’
In theory, Lizzo’s opener Latto Tuesday night should have been a huge letdown. Her DJ, DJ Von, spent 13 minutes warming up the crowd, only for the fast-rising rapper to grace the stage for just 19 minutes. Latto didn’t even perform her new hit single “Lottery” at Fiserv Forum Tuesday.
But it was hard not to like Latto, who really made the most of her time. She did not hold back, strutting and twerking through “He Say She Say” while every single raunchy lyric was projected on the screen. Latto led “my body my choice” chants ahead of post-Roe rallying cry “(Expletive)” while her dancers held up “Protect Women’s Rights” signs. And Latto stayed in lockstep with her four dancers and whipped her hair through an arena-scale, rollercoaster remix of breakout smash “Big Energy.”
At one point, as Latto passionately talked about rapping as an 8-year-old and selling her first mixtapes in parking lots for $5, you couldn’t help feel great about her success. The “big energy” she brought to her set showed she’s still hustling — but it also wasn’t cool seeing her cut corners in Milwaukee.