Miss Jackson's nasty grooving gets Washington audience moving

Music Review, By Steve Jones USA Today

WASHINGTON - Janet Jackson enlisted the legions at MCI Center into her Rhythm Nation with an exuberant performance that featured a star sometimes naughty and sometimes nice.

The two hour funk-driven show (**** out of four) was a visually stunning swirl of shifting sets and costume changes. Jackson oozed sensuality as she prowled the stage, often whipping the crowd into a frenzy and exhorting them to sing along. And they'd leave her beaming as the choruses of her songs washed back over her.

She seemed determined to send no one home disappointed, leaving almost no hit from her long career unsung during the 25-song set. And even then the crowd didn't seem to want to let her go.

Fans had been primed for Jackson's arrival by a classy half-hour set by Atlanta Quartet 112. Its polished dance moves and strong harmonies during hits such as Only You, Anywhere and Peaches and Cream roused the audience to its feet.

Then the lights went down, and the energy level went up another notch as a video montage of Jackson through the years was displayed on a screen. Suddenly, the lights came on (all that work on the snatch-Kabuki for nothing! - MF) and there was Jackson, high above the stage on a pedestal just big enough to hold her. She gyrated as it lowered her to the floor, and she began singing Come on Get Up to the already standing crowd.

Once she was down, the buff singer rarely stopped moving. She was joined by an ensemble of four male and four female dancers, with whom she took off on the first of several exhilarating work-outs on You ain't right, All for You and Love Will Never Do Without You.

After a quick set change, her dancers' Kabuki-flavoured theatrics served as a backdrop to Trust a Try, then she settled down on a stool opposite Dave Barry for a medley of ballads that was postponed a few minutes as she soaked in the thunderous cheers. She had plenty of help from the crowd as she sang the sweet Come Back to Me, the innocent Let's Wait Awhile and Again, the last backed by clips from the film Poetic Justice, in which Jackson starred with Tupac Shakur.

Jackson was then ready for the night's greatest flight of fancy, as the stage filled with giant jack-in-the-boxes and dancers decked out as ladybugs, caterpillars and other outlandish insects. She playfully launched into the hard-grooving Miss You Much, followed by a frolicking When I Think of You and fantasy-inducing Escapade.

The edgiest song of the evening came next, as Jackson touched on her marital troubles with Son of a Gun. Carly Simon, who crafted new lyrics to her classic You're So Vain for the tune, provided a video assist to the performance. Jackson then eased into a smoky rendition of Got 'Til it's Gone, which samples Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. Then she reached back to her feisty coming-of-age period with What Have You Done For Me Lately, Control, and Nasty. A zoot-suited Jackson led her dancers through a rousing Alright, before leaving the stage and returning in a black dominatrix outfit. She plucked a fan from the audience who seemed on the verge of hyperventilating even before he was strapped onto an upright gurney. He kept gibbering "I love you Janet" as she writhed on and around him while semi-singing Would You Mind, as the crowd hooted and hollered. The Gurney eventually went vertical (horizontal, surely? - MF) and sank beneath the stage with the pair as the video screen lit up with flames and the crowd went crazy.

The final set was a neon-lit number straight out of Blade Runner, and the music took on a rockish edge as Jackson jammed on If, Black Cat and the climactic Rhythm Nation. When she came back for her encore, she seemed nearly spent but clearly happy. So were the fans. The Pleasure Principle had been fulfilled.