![]() “Roar” becomes as anthemic as you’d want, Perry, decked out in blue PVC, humming with energy as a large inflatable lion emerges from the pupil of her giant eye backdrop. It feels disingenuous next to the steely pop detachment that Perry exhibited at the beginning of the show, which has now slipped into cartoonish soundbites in a faux-British accent about going down the pub and Heinz baked beans.įor the final three songs, she takes her time. Similarly, “Swish Swish” becomes a moment for crowd interaction as she invites a man on stage to play basketball with her. Perry delivers a stellar vocal performance, sure, but it feels almost redundant thanks to the staging. It makes decisions like having Perry stationary during “Power”, one of Witness’s stronger cuts, bizarre, especially considering the pulsing electricity of that song. And that’s what the Witness world tour is, a spectacle. She then launches into the night’s only ballad, which again breaks the flow of the otherwise high energy spectacle. The staging, too, is unexpected, Perry rotating between a symbolically Sapphic Venus flytrap and a what appears to be a piece of lettuce made out of glass. The French-house flecked production is arena worthy, filling the vast corners of the O2. The divisive “Bon Appétit” is a song that comes alive during a show. It’s a noticeable shift, empty pockets forming all around the O2. ![]() Despite the intricate staging - Perry somehow pole dances on a giant-stemmed rose - the crowd either sit down or empty out, heading for the nearest bar. ![]() At this point, the crowd lose interest, too. Following this, she ventures into Witness territory performing best-forgotten deep cuts like “Déjà Vu” and “Tsunami”. The segment, filled with gaffs and lolz, drags on, spoiling the smooth burst of pop perfection. 1-80, now overly nostalgic, brings out Left Shark, the meme-making star of her 2015 Super Bowl halftime show. That's the most rewarding bit for us, is seeing the fans' reactions. The show set list has a flow and a journey. You're seeing them go on the journey and get excited for the moments that are iconic to Katy. Q: You’ve done a lot of awards shows and reality shows, but I would guess creating a tour is much more fulfilling because it lasts for months.Ī: One of the greatest things is that we write the show and rehearse the show and then we're stuck in this bubble for a very long time and then it's opening night and 15,000 people watch the show and you're hearing people laugh at the right time and dance when you wanted them to dance. There's so many things we could do with her and she's like, "Of course!" That's so wonderful to have when you're creating. Everything (on stage) is giant and that was our vision to make these bold, iconic set pieces and moments that were outrageous. Q: Do you have any favorite tours from other artists that inspired you?Ī: Our biggest goal was to create something fresh, but in line with Katy. She is the most unafraid artist I've worked with. We're more afraid than her! Her fly team, the guys who manage the aerial stuff in the show have been with her since tour one, and they know her so well. Was there ever any nervousness from her about doing anything?Ī: (Laughs) I think she spent most of her career flying through the air. ![]() Q: Katy is airborne a lot during her shows. Nothing in this creative world is easy, but it definitely was a joy to work with her. We were seeing the same things for the show. I think the reason we were brought together for this project, it was kind of timing for both of us. She's the one going up there who has to sell it. She wants to see every design sketch, every fabric choice it's her brand and her opinion. We spent four weeks in a dance studio previewing lighting and another four weeks in a production venue where we had the stage set up and went through the show number by number.Ī: One of the greatest things I love about her is she is 100 percent across every detail and element. Some of the larger scale props and detailed parts of the show take longer to develop and for the set builders to build. We probably had about five months working on the show, and coming up with initial creative ideas took some time. Q: How long did it take to develop all of these concepts?Ī: Once we started, it was nonstop. We were brought on board to work on the Glastonbury festival with her and then for a couple of promo performances we were directing, and the tour came straightaway after that. Q: How and when did you hook up with Katy?Ī: It was all very quickly. ![]()
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