Hilary Duff's Winnipeg Concert Review by David Schmeichel
The first review of the first Dignity Tour Concert by David Schmeichel
”OMG times infinity, guys!!Also vote of thanks to Hilarynews.com
Former tween-queen Hilary Duff rolled through town yesterday, delighting a somewhat sparse crowd of MTS Centre attendees with an evening’s worth of polished, kid-friendly pop music.
And while we’re not usually big fans of polished, kid-friendly pop, we’ve gotta admit we have a pretty big crush on Duff, thanks largely to the fact she hasn’t been arrested, shipped off to rehab, or caught flashing her nether regions to the paparazzi in recent weeks.
Seems we’re not alone — a pretty deafening round of screams greeted the 19-year-old singer (and sometime actress) when she took to the stage last night, flanked by a seven-piece band and four extremely agile back-up dancers.
"All we can see is glow-sticks everywhere," gushed Duff, who came dressed for the occasion in silver short-shorts and sparkly stilettos.
"It’s fantastic!"
Operating almost exclusively out of her upper register, the helium-voiced cutie opened her show with the surprisingly chunky pop-rocker Play With Fire, copping a gutsy attitude that would’ve made Pat Benatar proud.
Flirting playfully with her dancers as she strutted across the stage, Duff segued into Danger, another electro-clashish number from her latest album Dignity (which, to be fair, owes a pretty hefty debt of gratitude to the likes of Gwen Stefani, Kylie Minogue and ’80s-era Madonna).
Anyone with cable could recognize the opening refrain of Come Clean, the wistful ballad that doubles as the theme song to MTV’s Laguna Beach. But those clueless enough to confuse Duff with the air-headed celebu-tards populating that program would’ve been set straight by Dignity’s title track.
"You’d show up to the opening of an envelope," dissed Duff, taking a thinly-veiled swipe at the likes of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan. "Why does everybody care about where you go?"
After ducking backstage to change into a classy-looking cocktail dress, Duff returned with the Kelly Clarkson-esque track The Getaway, then riffed on Frankie Goes to Hollywood before launching into Gypsy Woman.
She planted herself on a stool at centre-stage for the acoustic ballad Someone’s Watching Over Me, but quickly shifted things back into high gear with a medley of hits like Beat of My Heart, the reggae-infused So Yesterday, and a solid cover of the Go-Go’s Our Lips Are Sealed.
Her music might not be that sophisticated, but Duff has clearly done her homework, as evidenced when she beefed up one of her fluffier hits with elements from Dream Academy’s Life In a Northern Town, or delivered a fist-pumping version of Benatar’s Love Is A Battlefield.
Barring any unfortunate DUI arrests (or booze-fuelled head-shaving incidents), she’ll likely outlast the rest of her pop-tart contemporaries.
And while Duff has probably outgrown her fan clubs by this point, last night’s performance had us ready to sign up.
Via winnipeg sun
