Screw the Haters: Katy Perry Exceeded Expectations on the Lifetimes Tour

Katy Perry is known for her elaborate shows, from dancing sharks and candy lands to anthropomorphic turds in oversized toilets.  But we weren't sure what to expect from her Lifetimes Tour.

It's her first tour in seven years, and sees her following Taylor Swift's Eras Tour blueprint, showcasing songs from across her albums. But before the tour even started, the singer was lampooned with negative press, mostly surrounding that ostentatious Blue Origin flight. Then there were the reviews castigating her latest album, 143 — a flop. And after the tour began in April, internet trolls were quick to mock viral videos of cringey choreography, show mishaps or just Katy herself. Later, those clips focused on her crying at shows, implying it must have to do with her recent split from Orlando Bloom, her longtime fiancé with whom she shares a five-year-old daughter.

But as the singer proved on July 10 at Ball Arena, you can't believe everything you read on Reddit.
The show originally was meant to take place in May, but was rescheduled because of the NBA Playoffs, and Perry effusively thanked the audience for showing up (although we should honestly be thanking her for following through with it). "Denver, we finally made it!" she told a cheering crowd. "Thank you for being so flexible!"

She also poked some fun at her haters: "Oh my god, there's thousands of people here! I thought no one went to my shows?"
The arena was packed, and for once, I actually saw a majority of concert-goers dressed up for a show (this is a rarity in Denver). There were fans decked out in elaborate costumes representing different albums, gaggles of tweens and teens in matching, sparkly ensembles. As they filled out the venue, which was transformed for the show with an infinity-symbol-shaped stage that covered much of the floor, the excitement was strong, setting the tone for the star of the night.

But first, you had to suffer through the opener. Well, suffer might be a little harsh. But for most of the Cheat Codes set, I was just trying to figure out why you'd need a trio to man a DJ booth. Once their hype music stopped, the lights went down and the crowd went wild — it was time for Katy Perry.
The Lifetimes Tour is set around a narrative that serves to cut the show into sections, with the backdrop screen showing almost a mini-movie between sets to combine the plot with the show. And in Katy Perry fashion, it was kind of campy: In some dystopian future, all the butterflies have been shut away, and it's up to Katy Perry and a little robot cat to save them — and humanity. But first, they must collect "hearts" to retain the power to do so: Each "heart" represented a different portion of the show, and by the end, when all had been collected, the butterflies were freed. 

And the show definitely had heart. You could tell it was going to be wild from the start as she kicked it off with "ARTIFICIAL," rising from the middle of the infinity stage, floating in the middle of a series of glowing hoops. As she disappeared below the stage, astronauts bounded around before the singer lept back out to sing "Chained to the Rhythm." One of the most popular sections of the night centered on her seminal pop album, Teenage Dream, with such songs as "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Hot n Cold," "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" and "I Kissed a Girl," which she dedicated to "the community who raised me: the gays." Although it was odd watching her pretend to play the guitar for "Hot n Cold."
The entire show, from the complicated, eye-popping sets to the acrobatic choreography, was a cinematic spectacle, and Perry spent much of it in the air, soaring over the arena like a Cirque du Soleil artist, flipping around or landing atop giant flowers like a fairy. One of the greatest moments saw her astride a butterfly that drifted around the arena while she sang fan-favorite "Roar."
The choreography, which involved an array of background dancers, was refreshing in its idiosyncracy, whether Perry was fighting off her dancers with a double-sided lightsaber (okay, this moment was still a little cringey, but camp nonetheless) during the song "E.T." or simply sprinting around the infinity loop while the others breakdanced. And Perry really did sing over the backtracks for much of the show, and she really belted it out. In fact, she seems to only be able to put her all into her vocals, which would leave her a little breathless for a bit — that's where the backtrack helped out.

But the best part of the night was, without a doubt, the section in which fans vote on two songs for her to perform. "I wanted to make this section for the fans," she explained. She then noticed an audience member holding up a sign requesting her to sing "Peacock."

"Uhhh. No," she said.
But she did invite several audience members on stage, asking for the arena lights to turn on as she surveyed the crowd for eye-catching outfits. It was nice to see her select kids from higher up in the arena; ultimately, five girls ranging from ages seven to twelve joined the singer on stage. Perry asked each one what they wanted to be when they grew up.

"I want to be a police!!!" the first girl squealed. Awkward. The arena was silent. Perry turned to the next, who said, "I want to be a singer!" Cheers. One said she wanted to be a lawyer, another said a fighter-jet pilot. The final one had a simple answer: "I don't know."
Perry told the girls they could be anything they wanted, and then invited them to join her "band" for the fan-selected songs. She gave each of them a shaker, which they dutifully used throughout her following songs, "Not Like the Movies" and "The One That Got Away."

When she sent them off stage with a hug, she ensured the fighter-pilot hopeful, "Just so you know, you are going to be a pilot. You can do whatever you want!"
It was a heartwarming moment, and if anyone in the audience had a doubt about Katy Perry, that must have won them over. She's funny, a good singer and an excellent performer, and she knows how to deliver what her fans want. There was no cringe (well, barely), no cloying — just pure live-music joy. "We're all unified in this moment together," Perry told the audience, beaming, before dedicating her next song, "ALL THE LOVE," to the moms in the audience.

The lyrics include "All the love that I ever lost came back to me," and you could feel the exchange of love between the audience and singer. The encore of "Firework" had the entire crowd singing along, a crescendo to an evening of extravagance.

See more photos from the show below: Find more concerts on our concert calendar.