Like many a pop star, Cyndi Lauper has declared this tour her farewell. Whether she lives up to that or not, it’s too soon to say. But, for sure, she delivered on her music legacy and showmanship in abundance Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.
If she’s stepping away from touring, she went out on a high note.
The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour made its way to Dallas, and it was a fun-filled night of Lauper’s popular hits mixed with tender ballads and poignant stories.
She kicked off the show with a quad of her signature bangers, starting with the appropriate “She Bop.” Lauper literally bopped her way through the night with a charming looniness and a powerhouse voice.
Instead of simply moving on immediately to the next tune, she stopped the vibe to tell the first of many stories throughout the night before launching into “Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” in which she name checked former WWF wrestlers Captain Lou Albano, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Nikolai Volkoff and her mom who all appeared in the video that played behind her. After “When You Were Mine,” she proved that her voice has remained strong with the demanding vocal runs of “I Drove All Night.”
As this tour was taking shape, Lauper has often told media (including us) that this was her first arena in decades. She’s been a bit more low-key with smaller tours and certainly far less production. But her colorful antics and outfits felt right at home against the massive screens and stage. She owned every part of that square footage and shared it with her impressive band and backing singers. With the display of video screens, exploding confetti and even a floating art installation, Lauper and her band gave a solid and satisfying show that could have been just as fine without all that.
That’s not to say the visuals weren’t astounding. The display of screens was spread across like an accordion photo album displaying both pictures from her career and live streams played all in colorful vibrancy. The ever changing backgrounds suited the songs and moods in gorgeous color but her grayscale background with her bright red jacket was a beautiful site and even reminded of Pegasus Theatre’s annual Black and White Shows.
Often she would stop the groove with one of her numerous anecdotes that were as much a pleasure to listen to. She felt earnest and sincere in her storytelling where she recalled her own history, stories about people she knew or encouraging messages hinting to today’s current event.
The love for her felt palpable as well. That this was her farewell show in Dallas, the air of the night felt different — or a little more special perhaps. She was serving us a show and the audience was eating it up while sending love right back with roaring applause and shout-outs and even a standing ovation for “I’m Gonna Be Strong.” If this was the last time we were seeing this pop icon, the audience was sending her off with big Dallas energy.
The encore was the couplet of “True Colors” which found her on a central platform amid the artist install as she held a grand rainbow fabric that fluttered above her. This was hinted at before during “Sally’s Pigeons” when a white fabric floated above the platform in poetic fashion as she sang from the mainstage.
She walked through the audience to finish with “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” which was also her appropriate goodbye. A feisty performance where she threw in the lyrics “Girls just wanna have fundamental rights” (a nod to her nonprofit) that got an extra oomph of roars.
And with her final bows, she left Dallas. Forever? Who knows? But she definitely wasn’t going to let us forget her after Tuesday night.
— Rich Lopez
Cyndi Lauper is in deed retiring at the end of the 33 final locations. I happened to go to the Atlanta one Sunday night. They will also be going to Nashville!
If you can, if you grew up in the 80s and 90s this is an amazing show. Shaka Khan was a surprise guest! All sales from the wigs goes to the “girls just wanna have fund.