While his highly touted return appearance at this year’s Super Bowl half-time show served up little in the way of excitement, Justin Timberlake pulled out all the stops in an incredibly sensory new tour that arrived at the United Center Tuesday night. It proved an ambitious feat in scope, size and style.
Justin Timberlake at the United Center ★★★ When: 7:30 p.m. March 28 Where: United Center, 1901 W. Madison Info: livenation.com
Much of the show (which repeats Wednesday night at the venue) dallied between hits from his massive 2006 album “FutureSex/LoveSounds” and his newest release “Man Of The Woods” without flinching, even though more than a decade separates the two very different works. Hits “SexyBack” and “Summer Love,” paired with laser lights and a giant rotunda of video screens, brought a sweaty club vibe into the massive arena, with Timberlake and his crew of dancers even jumping from the stage at one point onto a neon dance floor in the midst of the crowd. But new favorites like “Flannel” and “Montana” tempered that carefree feel with the exploration of a more grown-up, risk-taking artist.
Timberlake famously started his career as a child actor, singer and dancer, and though he stayed close to his pop roots while in the ‘90s boy band NSYNC and even his earliest solo albums, “Man Of The Woods” explores his autobiographical roots, growing up in a simpler life near the music meccas of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. The familiar sounds of those cities were reflected on songs like the jazzy funk of “Midnight Summer Jam,” the bluesy R&B of “Higher Higher” and the rustic Americana of the title track, all expertly interpreted by a solid lineup of 12 backing musicians, called the Tennessee Kids. The crew includes a new inductee from Chicago who recently joined the tour and was celebrated on this night with a round of shots from the bar conveniently abutting the thrust stage.
The unique stage setup — a long winding pathway that spanned the width of the arena’s floorspace — clearly had fan interaction in mind, with multiple opportunities for high-fives and selfie-stealing moments, which have become Timberlake’s signature crowd-pleaser. Dotted with fake trees and prop grass, it was a fantastical interpretation of “The Woods” that
achieved the singer’s mission of bringing the outdoors inside.
The evening’s midpoint was a definite high point, complete with a staged campfire and acoustic sing-a-long that included covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” The Beatles’ “Come Together” and John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” before culminating in a hauntingly beautiful serenade of “What Goes Around… Comes Around” that bled into “Say Something,” Timberlake’s recent collaboration with country star Chris Stapleton.
If this is what being lost in the woods sounds and looks like, we can only hope Timberlake stays there a while.
Selena Fragassi is a Chicago-based freelance writer.
Set List:
Filthy
Midnight Summer Jam
LoveStoned
SexyBack
Man of the Woods
Higher Higher
Señorita
Suit & Tie
My Love
Cry Me a River
Mirrors
Drink You Away
Flannel
Until the End of Time
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Ex-Factor (Lauryn Hill cover)
Come Together (The Beatles cover)
Thank God I’m a Country Boy (John Denver cover)
Morning Light
What Goes Around… Comes Around
Say Something
Montana
Summer Love
Rock Your Body
Supplies
Can’t Stop the Feeling!
