Concert Review: Katy Perry Makes The 2nd Stop Of Her "Witness: The Tour" At Mohegan Sun

Elite pop artist Katy Perry kicked off her brand new "Witness: The Tour" last Tuesday in Montreal, Canada to stellar reviews. Her first U.S. date on this 5-month tour was Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT and it went wonderfully, with only a couple of hitches. Walking into the arena, you were greeted by a huge eye-shaped video screen that stood from the ceiling to the stage floor and took up the entire width of the arena. Flowing from the eye was an extended catwalk in the shape of a tear that was used extensively during the evening's performance.

 

The night was broken up into five different acts, each grouped together with songs that carried a common theme. As the lights went out shortly after 8:30 p.m., The huge eye-shaped video screen came alive with a space-like introduction. Each of the night's five segments kicked off with a video introduction, plus each act had it's own set of outfits for Katy Perry and her dancers.

 

As the opening video's journey ended, the screen split in two to reveal Katy Perry on a giant metal star being lowered to the stage as she kicks off her show with one of her new songs, "Witness." The awards show-like production of her concert featured giant dice with dancers coming out of the holes during "Roulette" and even left shark (from her Superbowl halftime performance) made an appearance during "California Gurls."

 

The night became a little more improv and less scripted when she called her mother from the stage to see how she was doing. Her mom asked how Katy was doing, by using her nicknames, "feather" and "turtle" and Katy's mom also told her to try the sky drop (which actually appears at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino).

 

Katy Perry continued to rock the night away with the guitar frenzied monsters of "E.T." and the funky groove of "Bon Appetit," before being eaten by an enlarged venus fly trap. This being only the second show of her extensive tour, she hit some technical difficulties when the planet she was supposed to ride would not drop from the ceiling in order for her to get on. After a short wait, Katy Perry was able to climb aboard her planet which would bring her on a track throughout the arena as she sang one of her favorite songs acoustically, "Thinking Of You."

 

Dressed in a sliver, shimmery costume, Perry would perform one of her new ballads "Save As Draft" from a smaller stage located in the middle of the area, before a laser show signaled the intense drum roll of another one her new songs, "Power." The final act of the evening included a ride on Tron-like motorcycle during "Hey Hey Hey" and a giant basketball shoot-up between Katy Perry and a father from the audience (who made his daughter's day by getting Katy Perry to wish her a happy birthday) during her recent hit single "Swish Swish." She finished her set with a giant lion's head appearing from between the video screens during her performance of her big hit single "Roar." 

 

The encore would feature Katy Perry rising from under the stage at the end of the tear-shaped catwalk. She would appear in the palm of a giant inflatable hand in a perfectly fitting evening gown to perform her hit song "Firework" as every fan in the arena was singing along, almost drowning out the pop star. So even though the beginning of her tour was delayed and she overcame a couple glitches in her performance this evening, Katy Perry made the audience feel extra special that night for being a part of her dreamlike, spectacular concert. 

 

The evening's opening act featured pop singer, Noah Cyrus (daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus), as she performed a short 30 minute set that included a cover of Lady Gaga's "Million Reasons" and her brand new single, "Again." Her performance also featured a quick, 2-song acoustic set, which seemed to fit her country background.

 

Setlist: Witness, Roulette, Dark Horse, Chained To The Rhythm, Teenage Dream, Hot N Cold, Last Friday Night, California Gurls, I Kissed A Girl, Deja Vu, Tsunami, E.T., Bon Appetit, Thinking Of You, Save As Draft, Power, Hey Hey Hey, Part Of Me, Swish Swish, Road Encore: Firework