KE$HA at 1STBANK CENTER | 09/03/11
The floor at 1STBANK Center was blanketed with glitter and gold confetti on Saturday night. This was the aftermath of the pop-star hurricane known as Ke$ha. As the final blasts of confetti sent the crowd out on the best note possible, images of giant penises, greasy Santas and blow-up zebras danced through our heads.
From start to finish, Ke$ha's set contained more vulgar references than a struggling standup comedian pulling out all the stops in hopes of getting a laugh. Needless to say, any sort of discussion involving better hand jobs in front of such an impressionable young audience may not be the best way to win over the parents that accompanied a sea of scantily clad young ladies to the show, but fans ate it all up, nonetheless.
Opening her set in a fashion similar to her last trip thorugh town with "Sleazy," Ke$ha stood in the middle of a diamond-shaped light board with light-up glasses, then went into "Take It Off," which was followed by "Blow." Somehow, even after exerting themselves during strenuous sets by Spank Rock and LMFAO, everyone was still delightfully enthused to dance their asses off in a sweaty mass.
"Party at a Rich Dude's House" saw Ke$ha opening the song by beating the glitter-shit out of a glowing drum. Yes, glitter and sparkles covered everything. Everything. No matter how far back you stood, inhaling the stuff was virtually unavoidable. After some explanations as to why she loves creepy old men, Ke$ha offered up some elementary-caliber choreography on "Dinosaur," after which she went straight into "Grow a Pair," a tune featuring an eager, booty-cut jean-short-wearing guy tied to a chair getting smacked in the face with a pair of testicles courtesy of the dick-suit man.
Without question, "Tik Tok" was the anthem of the night. Even if you hate Ke$ha -- or pop music in general, for that matter -- it's hard to not jump around to the song. Though the encore heard "We R Who We R," the preceding track was the highlight, with every single person singing along to every lyric, and with Ke$ha lending vocals to the crowd on the chorus and various parts...where it was apparent that the altitude had gotten the better of her and the backtrack was completely covering the vocals.
Earlier in the evening, Spank Rock kicked off the show and gave parents a peek at what they were in for with lines like "Shake it til' my dick turns racist," a tune supposedly dedicated to white girls. Or black girls. Either way, parents stood in awe as their kids fist-pumped and bass slapped the air. (Makes you wonder: Do parents even listen to what they're exposing their kids to anymore? The majority of the crowd was far under the drinking age-- even the smoking age, for that matter.)
LMFAO followed and found a way to incorporate "Party Rockers" into the music either in word or deed, pelvic thrusting in Speedos and taking shots while the backup dancers spotlighted at center stage. (Please tell me this is a sick joke being played on us by record executives.)
Personal Bias:I can sing most of Ke$ha's songs. For real. I love this shit. It's lame admitting this at my age. Just the same, I can't recommend porn to kids, and that's sort of what this feels like. Random Detail: I took the bus back from Broomfield with a load of Ke$ha fans and frat guys. They were singing Journey. I almost threw myself off the bus. By the Way: I rarely question age in terms of smoking, but I was taken aback when a few little girls tried to bum cigarettes off me.
