EVERETT – Sunday was a night of surprises for the hundreds of women, most of them teens, and the few males who turned out for KISS 106.1-FM Girls’ Night Out with girl power performers Lily Allen, Hilary Duff, Katharine McPhee and Fergie.
Arriving at the Everett Events Center, the audience was given the bad news: Duff would not be performing due to illness.
Once inside the arena, many audience members were showing their disappointment via text messages that rolled around the bottom of two huge screens.
KISS 106.1 disc jockeys introduced Allen, a 21-year-old English girl who gets a bum rap for not showing up to the occasional show.
Musically, Allen is a rare talent. Her reggae-ska-pop sound is mature and full.
Allen’s fans sang and danced along with her on “Smile” and helped her out when she forgot the lyrics to “Shame for You.” She wrapped up her short set with “Alfie,” a German beer fest-sounding song that was nothing short of brilliant, if not a little like Gwen Stefani.
Allen’s strengths lie in her smooth and strong voice and clever lyrics such as in “Littlest Things.” Where her weakness came through Sunday is that she didn’t appear to be all that interested in the show. She was performing, but there was no sense of her working the crowd to pump it up for the night.
It’s too bad. Allen has the makings of a great artist who just needs to try to enjoy herself as much as her audience does.
During the break, the crowd was told that Duff will return in early August to sing at a free show in Everett for those who have their ticket stubs from Sunday.
But the next surprise of the evening came in the glitzy, spangly form of Jubal and The Ball-Flags, a drag queen group who entertained the audience with a rousing rendition of the Weather Girl’s hit “It’s Raining Men.” Jubal, part of the KISS 106.1 family, had another, hidden surprise up his corset. Audience members went wild when the group huddled and fanned apart to reveal none other than American Idol’s popular outcast Sanjaya.
The young performer didn’t sing a note, perhaps a contract rule, but he flashed his pearly whites and flipped his fabulous hair to only a few boos from the audience.
Another American Idol alum was up next. McPhee took the stage at 8:10 p.m. with a couple of bars of “Feeling Good,” an old, full song that she did such a good job on that she might have sung the whole thing.
McPhee looked sexy in her short, clingy dress. Her voice is powerful and outstanding. Songs “Dangerous” and “Over It” were crowd favorites, as was “Open Toes,” which took her right back, sadly, to a tweeny performer.
McPhee has the potential to be a great performer if she would decide her niche. She seems to be singing between two generations. With no band and only two backup singers, the stage looked empty.
The highlight for this reviewer was McPhee’s heartfelt rendition of the Alanis Morissette hit “Mary Jane.” McPhee did the song a great service and proved that her voice leans more toward an older audience.
McPhee was done by 8:40 p.m. and the audience provided deafening screams for the headliner of the night, Fergie, who arrived on stage wearing a tiara, waving a wand with an orb and wrapped in a royal cloak.
Looking a whole lot like a big girl’s Goldilocks, this powerhouse of an artist rocked the Events Center and fans with a great band, fantastic dancers and a rockin’ voice.
Fergie has nothing to learn when working a crowd and giving them what they pay for: a fun and cool concert. “London Bridge,” “Glamorous,” and the 1970s Heart classic “Barracuda” had the audience up dancing and singing, enjoying a great night out.
Fergie, of The Black Eyed Peas, appeared to be having as much fun as the audience during “Fergielicious.” The crowd sang every word and jumped in the air to the hit song while Fergie’s powerful presence and outstanding performance brought the night to a close.
Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com.
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