Katy Perry Brings California Dreams to U.S.

Now that Katy Perry has wrapped up her European tour and gotten things underway in the States, one has to wonder how it's going? Before heading out, Perry warned, "Touring is no longer an ordinary thing where you play an instrument in jeans and a T-shirt. It has some pizzazz these days, and I'm definitely bringing the pizzazz with a lot of bells and whistles.

"The show has a Broadway feel to it. It's got a storyline that's going to be very interesting — kind of loosely based on my life, but a cartoon version. ... It's the first concert that's going to smell good."
And so it was that Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour, replete with Smell-O-Vision, took the show on the road. How have critics responded?

In London, The Telegraph wrote, "Her California Dreams Tour is less of a pop concert and more of a megawatt jukebox musical. Aesthetically borrowing from Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Perry performs on a stage littered with giant fairy cakes and lollipops and threads her songs together with a film story that involves ogreish butchers, lost cats, dodgy brownies, and the quest for a handsome baker boy."

Huh. Okay. What about a U.S. outlet... Bloomberg? "Waves of pop confection bounce perkily from the sound system. There's an echo of Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour, though Perry is at the frivolous end of the pop spectrum. She does jokes. Madonna takes herself too seriously to do that."

The Orlando Sentinel proclaimed, "With peppy, irresistible songs such as 'California Gurls,' pop star Katy Perry is the perfect summer diversion — and it doesn’t take long to feel the good vibrations in concert. ... Maybe it was a concert, but it was powered by all the elements of an ancient fable."

So, with all of that sugary superficiality on full display, it may come as a surprise to some folks that Perry is actually thoughtful and politically aware, as evidenced in the new Rolling Stone which boasts her on the cover. She even fessed up to the irony: "I’m not a dummy. I know ‘California Gurls’ isn’t going to save the world. But I got a lot of heart from my upbringing and I put a lot of heart in my songs."

In the interview, Perry touched on issues like health care and gay rights, along with some lighter fare, as well.
On the former subject, she said, "I think we are largely in desperate need of revolutionary change in the way our mindset is. Our priority is fame, and people’s wellness is way low. I say this knowing full well that I’m a part of the problem. I’m playing the game, though I am trying to reroute. Anyway, not to get all politically divulging and introspective, but the fact that America doesn’t have free health care drives me f*cking absolutely crazy, and is so wrong."

That's not the only disparity in the Perry personality, either. Seems her health-fueled discipline on the road will be eagerly tossed aside as soon as the tour ends. She told the UK's Daily Star, "I'm pretty boring on the road because I save it all for the stage, so I'm on a strict vitamin diet. But when the tour is over I'm going to be a devil and hit a wild streak. I'll be face down in the porcelain."

About the Author
Brynn Alexander writes for the Best Show Tickets Blog, a regularly-updated blog about sports and live music. The blog is part of a tickets website that has a large inventory of concert tour tickets such as Katy Perry tickets and Jimmy Buffett tickets too.