My Review: Justin Timberlake @ The Tabernacle. Atlanta, GA. August 20, 2006.

Yesterday was such a loooooooong day, but totally worth it. We woke up at 8:00AM and didn’t stop until 2:00AM the next morning. Went to Best Buy, got two sets of free tickets and between half a tank of gas, getting beaten by the sun and then drenched in the rain three hours later, I was kinda pissed by the time we got to the venue, but like I said, totally worth it. We got to the venue at 7:00PM and still ended up being in THE front row, directly in front of Justin’s mic. I know. Thank you, Best Buy, for rewarding us after the sucky listening party.

Not much to detail for the listening party, except that it was hot outside, it was hot and crowded inside, we seemed to be standing in the giant section, because it seemed like all people over 5’8 crowded in front of us (me and my best friend are both under 5’2), and Justin came out 20 minutes late. Oh, and they played Justin’s Live In London DVD like three times while we were waiting, so we were all going stir crazy. They played Pose before he came out, and to be honest, I didn’t like it so much. Maybe it’ll grow on me, but it was weird. I guess it works for the lyrics, because it sounds like a photoshoot, if that makes any sense. And I wish they’d played more of it, but we got maybe a 30-second clip, and it was loud so I could barely hear the lyrics. All I remember, that someone else already mentioned is, “Can I take your picture, let me see you pose for me.” And there was something in there about looking like a model. Justin came out, and after he greeted us and whatnot, he noticed someone in the audience with a picture of his backup singer, Rob, in a rainbow clown wig and the most ridiculous outfit and pose, and Justin looked down at the people holding it and goes, “WHAT is that?” Then he held it up for everyone and he’s like, “This is a grown black man, y’all.” *Cute moment* (We talked to Rob at the show later that night and he said he did it for the kids.)

First song he played was My Love, which sounds pretty much the same as the show version, but better quality, obviously. The audience loved it. Love Stoned was next, still don’t know the words, and the beat is a little more intricate than what you hear at the live show, but still an awesome dance song. They didn’t play all of What Goes Around, just the verses, but I don’t think there’s a bridge or anything, and it’s long, so I guess that makes sense. The questions were pretty lame that people asked: Will you marry me? Who’s your favorite artist besides you? Do you like older women? And some girl said she was going to Birmingham for American Idol and she asked for any advice. Justin told her to do her homework, meaning know who your favorite artists are, your favorite songs, songwriters. He said as much as he loves his job, it’s not easy and the hardest part is trying to make it look effortless. That, and don’t listen to anything Simon Cowell says. “Have we ever heard him sing a note? Exactly.” He thanked us, asked us who was going to the show, told us to have a good time, and that was about it for the listening party.

As far as the show, Oh. My. God. I don’t even know what to say that hasn’t already been said, but just for repetition, Oh. My. God. He has the most amazing stage presence (as if we didn’t already know) and being that close to him magnified it like, times eight hundred. He didn’t have any special guests pop up on stage, which I was actually a little mad about at first, but in retrospect, I think it made it a lot better, because he killed it without any help.

He started off with Cry Me a River and the whole Inspector Gadget intro, and I have to say, his band is incredible. He came out and the crowd went crazy. They had been booing about ten minutes before that, so I was nervous about how they’d respond, but they got so loud I couldn’t even hear him singing at first. I loved the “The damage is done, so I guess I’ll be leaving” part, because the crowd gets so loud on the OH!, and Justin seemed pleased, because he smiled every time we did it.

Senorita was next, which I think was the point where I pretty much lost my voice. The crowd (particularly the girls) loved the end, of course, with the whole, “It feels like somethin’s heatin’ up…” part.

I’m not completely sure, but I think My Love was next. The crowd was singing along by the end, and they totally ate up his beatbox. I didn’t realize how popular that was with the general public. Thanks to JJB and Youtube, I already knew the words and was singing along to the verses, so he pointed to me and smiled. Totally a highlight, for me, of course.

It seems like there was something between My Love and Until The End Of Time, but I can’t think of what, so I’m guessing that was next. Gorgeous song, but we were right in front of the speakers, so the lyrics were just as muffled as they are on all the videos. But I sang the words I knew and he pointed to me again; we were totally singing to each other for like 1.5 seconds.

This is where the setlist gets cloudy, so if I’m wrong, forgive me. Like I Love You was crazy. People were so confused when he started off with the whole soft intro (the same as the one from Radio 1), but as soon as he did the signature guitar riff, the crowd was insane. Sang the whole entire song, and he loved everyone singing the “I just wanna love you baby!” That’s always a highlight of the show, even in arenas, because the audience knows it so well. Then at the end, he totally rocks out and the crowd was jumping up and down, headbanging, and the whole nine. Totally awesome.

Love Stoned was amaaaazing. Those hips were on fire, and they were right in our line of view, so yeah. It was hot. It felt like he was looking right at us, though I doubt he was, so we stood there imitating all his moves. The crowd went nuts when he grabbed his ass, and whenever he turned around to dance. And he moved to the sides of the stage so people could see his footwork, which was probably awesome, but I couldn’t really see much because of the speakers or amps or whatever is in the middle of the stage. The end was kind of odd – he sang “She knows,” and “She’s got me love stoned…” to this weird, kind of slow beat and these red lights were circling him (kind of like the beginning of Beyonce’s Ring The Alarm video, if you’ve seen it). Nonetheless, I think that was definitely a crowd favorite, though.

Take It From Here was really mellow. A lot of people probably weren’t expecting it, so I think they really enjoyed it. I lovvvved the intro, which was an instrumental of Summer Breeze (Isley Bros), and it kind of just flowed into TIFH.

What Goes Around is just an amazing song, all around. The lyrics, the music, the whole vibe of the song. Since I’d already heard most of the words, what I enjoyed most was the break after the second chorus where he and the band are playing. He looks so into it, and it was very whimsical and surreal.

For whatever reason, Last Night was a stand out performance for me. I’m sure a lot of people weren’t expecting that either, and I actually forgot about it, but I loved it. I think it was slower than usual, and much less aggressive. It had a jazzy-ish vibe to it and his vocals at the end of it were phenomenal. He did the whole, “I remember… In December…” and he held these high notes that gave me goosebumps. He puts on such a show that you kind of forget that the boy can actually sing. I actually leaned over to my friend and told her that that was my favorite performance of the show.

But then he did Rock Your Body. And as tired as I am of that song, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed it more. His dancing had everyone shaking their asses, screaming at the top of their lungs and everything. He pointed to people along the front row like he was singing to them and did all kinds of grabbing and thrusting and R-rated gestures that insinuated R-rated actions. He moved across the stage a lot for that one, put down his mic quite a few times to dance and clap with us, and it was just like a big ass party for 6 minutes. I then told my friend that was my favorite performance of the show.

But then he came back out for SexyBack. Pure INSANITY. Justin was definitely right about the audience. They get their sexy on. And it’s definitely crowd-participant-friendly. I loved the way he came back out – the band was, of course, playing the Sweet Dreams intro and he kinda just slowly, coolly strolled onstage singing the words in the sexiest voice, and everyone singing along. Then SexyBack started and it got CRAZY. Ciara and Dallas Austin were there, and had been sitting the whole time, but even they were dancing to the song – especially Ciara. He seriously killed that song, between hyping up the crowd, the obscene gestures and the dancing, I was like, dying. I don’t think it was healthy to be that close to his ass, and he pointed to my friend when he said, “I’ll let y’all whip me if you misbehave.” And on the last verse, when he sings, “If that’s your girl, better watch your back,” it looked like he was staring at this guy behind us. Even if he wasn’t, it was hot. THE best performance of the night, not only because of him, but because of the crowd, and because we knew that was the last song, so we went kinda extra crazy. Those were 8 minutes I wish I could rewind. Actually, an hour and a half I wish I could rewind.

I know this was insaaaaaaaaanely long, but I had too much fun not to recap it. I wouldn’t change a thing. Not the pouring rain, aching feet, 95-degree weather, endless waiting – like I said, it was ALL worth it. I think I mumbled, “I hate Justin” about 40 times last night (because of all the waiting), but I couldn’t even if I wanted to. He probably gave me 90 of the best minutes of my life, so yeah… I love him.

Justin claims that as much as he'd like to be, he's not a Rockstar, but I disagree. He is exactly that. And then some.