The Knightly News

By: Emma Killeen

Justin Bieber’s Purpose tour launched March 9 of this year in Seattle, Washington where hundreds of fans united to be purely entertained by the one and only JBiebs.  Since then, the pop star has been dancing in a hail of sparks and through sheets of water across the nation.

Saturday, May 7, all Beliebers on the east coast congregated at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to sing along to Bieber’s recent hits, as well as the best oldies.  Though it was somewhat hard to hear the performance over the screaming girls all around shouting “I love you, Justin!”, including myself, any fan would say that it was excitingly electrifying and fabulously flawless from the layered harmonies to every dance step.

Opening up for Justin Bieber was rapper Post Malone, who charged up the crowd with “White Iverson” and “Antidote.”  Moving slyly across the stage and effortlessly spitting out lyrics to some of his most popular hits, Post Malone was not just an opening act, but the perfect appetizer for an amazing meal.

When Bieber finally appeared on stage and the lights went out, he opened up with the slower “Marked My Words.”  Shocked by the more subdued choice for the introduction of the concert, I wasn’t expecting how the opening song would proceed, but Bieber was sublime vocally, visually, and musically.

Throughout the performance, Bieber’s band performed flawlessly alongside the focus of the night.  The vocals and instruments always lined up perfectly; Bieber proved that night that multitasking is in fact one of his fortes.

In the middle of the concert, a huge trampoline descended from the ceiling during “Company,” where he and his dancers were performing 30 feet in the air, each dance move mistake free.  And as if dancing and singing simultaneously wasn’t enough for the wild pop star, the audience was in awe while Bieber began doing backflips on the trampoline of a stage.  I’m sure I speak for everyone in the audience when I say that everyone wanted to join Bieber in his dancing and acrobatic escapade on the trampoline.  Some kids had this opportunity.

During the song “Children,” Bieber put on a show with about seven kids, who were the most talented 10 year-old dancers I’ve ever seen.  Keeping with Bieber’s every choreographed step and his complex rhythm, the children really showed what they were made of. It’s clear that Bieber didn’t pick just any 10 year old dancer to perform with him live because the dances were picture perfect.

Though often referred to as a punk by the media, Bieber showed genuine decency by introducing every one of his little dancers by saying “give it up to…” and then said the names of each dancer, which was followed by massive cheering and support from the audience.  To the older members of the crowd, this showed the authentic side of him as an artist, who is always singing about being real and a good human being.  To younger fans, this was immensely encouraging for aspiring dancers in the audience, revealing that anything is really possible if you work hard for it.

Working outside of the Purpose album, Justin performed some oldies but goodies, such as “Baby” and “Boyfriend,” back from 2010.  These songs that used to make Bieber seem like a cute toy have now a different meaning, for now they mark the maturity of Justin Bieber and show that the artist has a deep background.

Ending with a bang, things got wet and wild when Justin got rained on for his performance of the song “Sorry.”  Bieber made splashing through puddles and jumping in the rain look professional, and the challengingly choreographed dance seemingly effortless.  In my book, it’s never too late for the Biebs to say sorry.

As for Bieber’s sheer talent: this performance showed the amount of time and effort that was put into the show, with choreography, lyrics, and rehearsal showed perfection.  I think this is just the beginning of the musician showing the world that he’s taking control of his art and his audience will always be vibing along for his journey.