Concert date:

Review of the show:
I'm not quite sure how to begin the review. My feelings regarding the performance are thoroughly mixed. I'll just go down the line.

1) Whitney's voice was in surprisingly good form; ILFTB was a standout track. In terms of sheer power, Whitney's got it. Her voice, however, did give out often when it was called upon to deliver some high notes. This was especially noticeable in one of the last verses of IWALY. I was expecting much worse, though, after the Divas Live and Arista performances. That said, her voice is still the best; what it may lack in range it makes up for in expression.

2) The setlist: tired! I really just didn't like this because it showed Whitney's disinterest in the concert itself. She didn't want to bring any originality to the set, which is too bad. I'd like to hear what she considers her best songs, or even whatever songs she may feel like performing that evening, not some regurgitated MLIYL tour left-overs.

To that same end, she didn't seem to want to interact with the audience much. Overall, as I said, I wasn't sure she wanted to be there. Her mood may've just reflected the crowd's, though. It was a hard, rather geriatric, crowd; getting a rise out of them was near impossible.

3) What was Whitney wearing? Goddamn. She has a great figure and is exceptionally beautiful -- why was she wearing those nasty, unflattering outfits? With the exception of her encore outfit (which was AWESEOME), Whitney's get-ups only marred her beauty.

4) As far as the songs go, what Whitney did to IWALY should be illegal. She utterly ruins one of the most beautiful songs ever with pauses and unnecessary additions. Anything to delay the chorus, and we saw why -- her voice gave out.

IWDWS was performed in that nasty remixed form. It takes all the original fun out of the song. Taking the instrumentation out of the chorus is a deathwish.

HWIK was a highlight, but the audience didn't issue much enthusiasm, most likely because of the disappointing lead-in of IWDWS.

I also think Whitney should perform all the vocally taxing songs first because her voice clearly weakens by the end of her set. But in the first few songs, as I said, it was exceptional.

5) I really enjoyed Whitney's little elements of self-mockery...like when she entreated the audience to buy her albums, and I adored the husband/wife introduction. She loves him, and it seems like he loves her. Bobby Brown, albeit being completely disposable that evening, was a lot more collected, smart, and coherent (yes, coherent) than I thought he'd be.

When he was humping the floor Whitney came out and scalded him -- this was too cute. It's really evident that they need each other, which was a joy to see.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening. I'm waiting for bootlegs to surface on napster like her Atlantic City show has. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised. =)