- November 15, 2000 - Chronicle Pavilion - Concord, CA
- The spunky ex-Mouseketeer who would share the public spotlight with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera made her way around the world on her recent tour. Here is a girl with beauty, spunk, childish innocence, and a voice that could stop a train. For such a petite stature, this pixie packs a punch from her vocal chords. Granted her presence is primarily fought over by primarily pre-teens, here is a young lady to be reckoned with. This is a voice that compares to any comtemporary peer of hers. Lush and full with a deep resonating tone, when need be, she has a style and control years past her age.
 Opening the show was Destiny's Child, featuring the every-more-alluring singer Beyoncé. The group was joined onstage with their newest addition, a younger sister, who didn't sing on this show, but danced along with them. Their vocals were strong and presence was defined. This is another group that should not be missed in concert.
- When Christina made it to the Concord, CA performance, the audience was ready at this mostly sold-out show. "Is she that popular?", one might ask. As big as Britney is getting? To look around the crowd, such celebrity notables as [Star Wars creator] George Lucas and [actress] Sandra Bullock were front and center ready to be entertained. The answer would be yes.
- Christina opened the show with "Genie In A Bottle," coming out in a white tuxedo jacket type of outfit. She may be tiny, but what a body! The opening number went right into "You Make Me So Emotional." She did a couple of tunes from her Spanish album, after explaining to the audience that she is in part Latin herself, being half-Argentinian. Keeping with her roots is cool as she sings equally well in Spanish. The show was a big specatacle with dancers along with a live band. "I Turn To You" was sung in a very sultry, low voice that makes Christina such a noticable vocalist. She has the chops of a seasoned jazz-blues singer. Around the middle of the set, they launched into a funkified version of Free's "All Right Now," which rocked with the best of them while catching a groove. During "Come On Over," the dancers went into a more acrobatic routine before a drum/turntablist solo took its jam time during a break.
- Christina Aguilera is a name that is sure to be around for a long time to come. Yes, Britney Spears may well develop into the next Madonna (and with talent and marketability to boot), and there are the other "girl groups," but here is a voice that captivates and moves. As her stage presence matures (she had a cold, I believe, and wasn't so active), Christina's concert are going to become bigger and bigger. Although the show only lasted one hour and fifteen minutes, it was more than enough to get a chance to watch her in action.
- Written by and Photo © 2000 Philip Anderson
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Philip Anderson is a musician, in addition to being a writer/photographer. He has performed as a guitarist/vocalist, as well as songwriter, in several bands over the past 20 years. As a writer and photographer, he has been published by several magazines and in several books, and had his works appear on television. |
