Justin Bieber: Purpose Tour

If you would've asked me the start of 2015 whether I wanted to go to a Justin Bieber concert my reply would've been a flat out no. So, when my friend Nikki asked me if I wanted her spare ticket, even I was taken back at the excitement I had to see The Purpose Tour live.

I mean, being on the wrong side of thirty and with an army of teenage fans loving the 22 year old singer...should I even by there?!

It goes without saying I've loved the tracks Bieber has been releasing from his latest album Purpose as much as anyone else and particularly loved his collaboration with Jack U on Where Are Ü Now. I've also been known to bust a few moves to ‘Sorry' at my local nightspot with my pal Amy B.

It was time to rid myself of any previous inhibitions and see what Justin Bieber was all about…

There were stunning visuals during Justin’s performance of I'll Show You, with him singing in a dome surrounded by a firefly of gold lights.

To my surprise, during some acoustic sections of the show Bieber played the guitar for one song and the drums to another, demonstrating music talents critics state popular artists currently in the industry do not possess. It also gave a different element to the show and the intimacy of him sat on the couch playing the guitar bizarrely made me reminiscent of MTV’S Nirvana Unplugged. As Justin sang and played the guitar to an acoustic version of ‘Love Yourself’ the crowd wholeheartedly sang along with him.

A more upbeat performance was seen for ‘Company', with the singer and his backing dancers lifted on a platform over the crowd. It transpired this was no ordinary platform however, but a giant trampoline. Biebs was doing back flips on the trampoline and was later running about the stage with videos of him skate boarding in the background, which were really fun elements to the show.

During the concert, Justin talked directly to the crowd of young fans, lucky enough to have standing tickets in a cutout section of the stage, and asked them to stop screaming as he found this rude. I'd heard he could be a bit of a diva, but surely when you have such a young following like Bieber does it comes with the territory. Those of us in the crowd were perplexed at his audacity to remark at the fans being rude with their screaming, when in all honesty the youngsters were so excited to be within close proximity to their idol. 

Seeing Bieber previously on shows such as Comedy Central’s “The Roast Of Justin Bieber’ and Lip Sync Battle he came across as laid back with a good sense of humour. In Lip Sync Battle, Biebs dressed up and lip synced to a Black Sabbath track as Ozzy Osbourne.

With this in mind, it makes me wonder whether addressing the crowd in the way he did was because of the media storm that would be created following his actions, similarly to his no selfie rule with VIP fans; rather than the screaming being something he finds offensive. Such a strategy seems to work with other artists such as Kanye West, who is more widely known for his criticism of other celebrities and outrageous comments than he is for his music these days.

Notwithstanding, all was forgotten when Justin wowed the young crowd with big fan favourite hit ‘Baby', which is one of his cheesier tunes. Following the screaming comment it was nice to see Biebs singing a couple of older, cheesier tunes to keep his young fans happy, even though he's now got all hip and with it with latest album Purpose.

As if my fear of being too old to be at a Bieber concert could get any worse...yes it could. After getting into a conversation with the lady next to me... “hi Adele”, who was at the concert with her eleven year old, she very politely asked me if my friend Nikki (who is a couple of years younger than me) was my own daughter! I was speechless...gobsmacked even...I mean...Nikki was wearing a Bieber concert t-shirt but to assume I was her mother...give me a break!

So the answer was yes, I probably was too old to be at a Bieber concert but I loved every minute of it!

The Purpose Tour continues in the UK next Summer with gigs in Cardiff and London Hyde Park, and with supporting acts including the phenomenal DJ Martin Garrix (he really is amazing), I might be tempted to see the Purpose Tour once more. 

In complete contrast to the Bieber concert, next Summer you will find me rocking out to Gun n Roses with my mother - who says we can't have diverse musical tastes?!

Did you see the Purpose tour? Lifelong fan or recent Biebs convert like me?! I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading,

Jaz

Xoxo