They called it the "Ladies First" tour, but Thursday's garish and clumsy concert by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott at the Target Center would have been better billed as "Filler First."

From the small army of dancers surrounding each artist to the many distracting visual stunts -- and not to mention the unusually long breaks between sets -- the crowd actually saw very little of the leading ladies when all was said and (over)done.

Among the 8,000 or so fans, about 80 percent of whom were female, the wide variety of outfits on display demonstrated the popularity of all three artists: revealing halter tops for Beyoncé, tight jeans or fedoras for Keys and bright track suits for Elliott.

Even though she performed for only 30 hasty minutes, the sharp-tongued Elliott stopped to change a couple of times. Worse than the wait was the cliched hip-hop stage antics and poor sound. Her rap vocals and short figure got lost amid the eight busy backup dancers and booming music samples, for the hits "Get Ur Freak On" and "Pass the Dutch."

Keys' five-song segment on solo piano midway through her hourlong set was the night's highlight. With spotlights on her, the young soul princess proved her worth as a powerhouse vocalist, especially in her Prince-penned hit "How Come U Don't Call Me" and the gorgeous ballad "Butterflyz."

With her eight-member band, though, Keys strayed into a five-minute instrumental in which she did nothing but act as conductor. Other times she over-sang material like an "American Idol" contestant, especially in the dragged-out version of "Fallin.' " Still, her falling was minimal.

Beyoncé came to the stage carried on a plush, Cleopatra-worthy bed. Her set had more gold and glitter than King Tut's tomb, but it ultimately proved more Vegas than Egypt.

Musically, the Houston native had her ups and downs. Her voice was as bright as her spangled bras in songs such as the opener "Baby Boy" and especially the climactic "Dangerously in Love." However, she often let the backup singers overpower her while her band and DJ overpowered the arena's sound system in echoey versions of "Say My Name" and the encore of "Crazy in Love."

While she didn't mind baring navels and thighs (hers and especially her dancers), Beyoncé unfortunately didn't show off much personality. A long backstage video used during one of her six costume changes was as dull as wood. The worst time-killer was a three-minute set by her DJ. Not long after her reappearance, Beyoncé asked the crowd, "Where my ladies at?" Good question.