The Hollywood Bowl opened its 2023 season with a hell of party Saturday evening (June 10), thanks to Janet Jackson and her Together Again Tour with special guest Ludacris. It’s Jackson’s first major outing since her 2019 Metamorphosis Las Vegas residency and, later that year, her 30th anniversary celebration of 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814.
Borrowing its name from the hit single featured on Jackson’s 1997 sixth album The Velvet Rope, Together Again fittingly embodied the reunion vibe coursing throughout the multi-generational and multi-racial audience inside the Bowl. Both Jackson and Ludacris kept the sold-out, constantly cheering, sing-along crowd on its feet from beginning to end of their Los Angeles stopover.
Before coming to the Bowl, Jackson and Ludacris performed the night before (June 9) in Irvine, Calif. Additional California stops on the Together Again Tour — which kicked off April 14 — include Chula Vista (San Diego, June 11), San Bernardino (June 14) and Mountain View (June 16) before heading to Portland, Oregon (June 20) and Seattle (June 21), and then wrapping Oct. 27 in Lincoln (Sacramento, Calif.).
Here are five memorable highlights from the Los Angeles show:
Grand Entrance: Jackson prefaced her one hour and 45-minute set with a video compilation of pivotal moments in her life and 50-year career, from growing up as the youngest sister of the famed Jackson 5 brothers to becoming a solo star in her own right. Then several beats after the video ended, followed by flashing colored lights, Jackson walked onto a circular platform in the center of the stage to extended thunderous applause and shout-outs, resplendent in a floor-length, purple-hooded cape tied with a bow at the neck, purple lipstick and a waist-long, top-knotted ponytail. Dropping the cape, she launched into “Love Me” and then “Damita Jo” wearing a gold sparkly jumpsuit and matching boots. As most fans know, the latter…
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