review1

Alicia Keys was the major name missing from the Dallas stop of the Ladies First Tour at American Airlines Center on Monday night, but with rapper Missy Elliott and R&B diva Beyonce on the bill, the concert was still a memorable, high-energy display of girl power.
The show opened with up-and-coming R&B singer Tamia, a Canadian who fits in with the best of American soul singers. With a killer range and a crystal-clear voice, she offered songs from her latest album, Still, backed up by two singers and two dancers.
Next up was an all-over-the-place jam from Elliott, much deserving of her reputation as the best female rapper in the biz. Heck, one of the best rappers, period.
Her set was a mega-mix of songs such as Pass That Dutch, Get Ur Freak On, Hot Boyz, Minute Man, The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) and Work It.
Speaking of working it, her backup dancers get a vote for the hardest-working entertainers in the industry. Just watching their nonstop costume changes and fast-shaking, sweaty moves wore out the audience. They kept going as Elliott took breaks to change costumes and freshen up.
Elliott's lightning-fast rap style is unique because of the onomatopoeic vocalizations she interjects into songs, the uh-uh-uh-uhs and screeching-car-wheel sounds. Her brief time on stage was -- like her videos -- very theatrical, with video projections and her dancers in skull masks for Get Ur Freak On.
After a break and set change, it was time for the main course.
The curtain opened for Beyonce's set, but she was not behind it. Instead, she was lounging Cleopatra-like on a white bed carried by shirtless men from the back of the audience to the stage. Once there, she launched into Baby Boy with, yes, the infamous belly dance in the middle.
She followed with Naughty Girl and Me, Myself and I. For her first costume change, cameras followed her into her makeup and changing room, but she was quickly back for some Destiny's Child tunes, Say My Name and Survivor (in which she was off beat for the first verse).
For Hip-Hop Star, a dancers' barre was set up so that she and back-up dancers could do a Hey, Big Spender-like routine that became the show's highlight.
Dangerously in Love seemed in danger of never ending.
After an hour and 15 minutes and five costume changes, Beyonce closed with her first big solo hit, Crazy in Love, with boyfriend Jay-Z represented on video.