Toward the end of her Sweetener tour stop atChase Centerin San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec. 17,Ariana Grandewas overcome with emotion.
“I don’t want this show to end,” she said, drawing a heavy breath.
Not one to veer off script, the 26-year-old pop sensation appeared briefly at a loss for words: “After this one … I won’t say it. F— it. We don’t have to talk about it.”
She turned to members of her band and sighed, fighting back a few tears, “We’re just going to be present and enjoy the moment.”
On Sunday, Dec. 22, Grande plans tobe in her current hometown of Los Angeles to play the final set of the 100-plus-dateglobal tourthat began in March in Albany, N.Y. The reality of the situation seemed to strike her as the opening show of her two-night run in San Francisco came to a close (she is also scheduled to play Chase Center on Wednesday, Dec. 18).
“I don’t want it to end,” she repeated.
For the previous 90 minutes, Grande had put on a spectacular if somewhat antiseptic show, focusing primarily on material from her two most recent albums, this year’s “Thank U, Next” and 2018’s “Sweetener.”
Performing against a set that felt like a backdrop from “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” complete with two moons — one hanging from the ceiling, the other hovering center stage — and an angular catwalk that ran through the audience, Grande and her nine backing dancers proficiently swanned through the routines they have executedagain and again this year.
From the opening tableau based on Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” that introduced “God Is a Woman” to the ultra-pink suburban scene that accompanied her song “7 Rings,” the show has inevitably given away all its surprises through pop culture memes. The set is famously understated and underlit, with the focus falling entirely on Grande’s voice.
Ariana Grande is taking us on a tour of her home planet. – at@ChaseCenterpic.twitter.com/dmhDKmc5F7
— Aidin Vaziri (@MusicSF)12月18, 2019
On Tuesday, she filled out her vocals with the assistance ofbacking tracks, which made songs like “R.E.M.” and “Be Alright” seamlessly blend into one another. The progression of the evening was mystifying too; it was divided into five acts and an encore. But the only discernible change of atmosphere came when she deployed her biggest hits at the end of the evening.
Even a medley of holiday-themed songs from her 2015 EP “Christmas and Chill,” which she dropped into the middle of the set, felt oddly austere.
Oh well. Grande, a former child star, is a tireless entertainer, and if anyone deserves a victory lap, it’s her. She is having her biggest yearsince launching her recording career in 2013.
In November, she picked up five nominations for the2020 Grammy Awards,包括年度最佳专辑和最佳点了点头p vocal album for “Thank U, Next”; record of the year and best pop solo performance for “7 Rings”; and best pop duo/group performance for “Boyfriend,” a collaboration with her tour’s opening act, Social House.
Despite a few mishaps along the way — she fell off the stage in Florida, and was forced to cancel a show in Kentucky after a bout with an undisclosed illness — Grande is in a much better place.
This time last year, she was dealing with the aftermath ofcalling off her engagement with comedianPete Davidson; the death of her ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller; and the lingering anxiety that followed the bombing of her show in英国的曼彻斯特,in 2017.
But on Tuesday, she seemed truly grateful to have pulled through it all and to be standing on that stage.
“I love you all,” she said.
Ariana Grande Sweetener Tour set list:
Act 1
Raindrops (An Angel Cried)
God Is a Woman
Bad Idea
Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored
Act 2
R.E.M.
Be Alright
Sweetener
Side to Side
7 Rings
Act 3
Breathin’
Needy
Fake Smile
Make Up
12月/ True Love / Wit It This Christmas / Santa Tell Me
NASA
Honeymoon Avenue
Act 4
In My Head
Everytime
The Light Is Coming
Into You
Act 5
Dangerous Woman
No Tears Left to Cry
Encore
Thank U, Next