It didn’t matter that the loudest cheers came for a man. The Verizon Ladies First show Friday at the Hartford Civic Center was all about the top females in R&B and hip-hop proving they can put on one dynamic evening.
Rapper Jay-Z was simply a guest for the night. He appeared a few minutes on stage with Beyonce to rap his part in her hit “Crazy In Love.” It was a thunderous end to a concert where Beyonce and Alicia Keys shined while Tamia and Missy Elliott offered supporting help.
The tour has been called an urban Lilith Fair and it definitely gave notice that the new generation of female music stars are here to stay.
Beyonce and Keys both performed for a little more than an hour with Beyonce’s set finishing the night.
The Destiny’s Child lead singer turned solo artist entered the Civic Center like Cleopatra. Dressed in a glittering gold bikini, she sat on a bed that was carried by a few men. Beyonce tossed rose petals to the audience as she was taken from the back of the arena to the stage. She then went into her single, “Baby Boy.”
The five-time winner at this year’s Grammy Awards changed outfits about six times and looked better with every change.
What stood out about Beyonce’s performance was that she demonstrated one can do amazing dance moves, as she did, and still sing live without the help of any pre-recordings.
Beyonce stuck mostly to material from her solo debut, but she did take time to perform a few Destiny’s Child hits including “Say My Name” and “Survivor.”
A group of dancers joined Beyonce, and every other performer, on stage. They became just as important a part of the concert as the four stars. They moved and contorted their body in amazing, and sometimes lewd, fashions making it a theatrical event as well as musical.
Keys, of course, is known for her piano playing, and she spent half of her time behind the grand piano. Her set differed from the rest because it relied more on a live band and less on deejays scratching records and playing programmed music.
Her singing was also the most diverse. Keys flawlessly went from R&B songs to ballads and she sounded stronger live than on her albums. She even played the part of conductor in leading her backup band in a musical interlude.
More percussions accompanied her during her performance of “Fallen,” giving it a more rock version without losing its soulfulness. She ended her set with “You Don’t Even Know My Name,” her first single off her second album, “The Diary of Alicia Keys.”
Missy Elliott’s 30-minute set was more about the dancers and music than her rapping. She did take time to run through the audience during one of her numbers, but her performance basically served as a warm-up for the two co-headliners.
The same can be said for Tamia, who showcased her smooth voice in a 15-minute set.
If the Ladies First Tour is going to become an annual event like the Lilith Fair, it couldn’t have asked for a better initial campaign than the one Keys and Beyonce helped deliver.
Whether this creates a wave of female hip-hop and R&B artists, like Lilith Fair did for women with acoustic guitars, remains to be seen.

By DAVID PENCEK,
Norwich Bulletin