Katy Perry is trying to make lemonade out of lemons.
In response to the cool reaction to her album 143 – from complaints about tepid songwriting to wider doubts about the direction of this phase of her career – she has not stepped back.
Instead, she has launched a full-scale world tour that reminds fans of her pedigree and places the new songs from 143 in a sharper live setting.
Judging by the early reception, the approach is working. The Lifetimes Tour has already sold more than half a million tickets and generated more than $60 million at the box office, with more dates to come next year.
Her race-day concert at Etihad Park on Sunday in Abu Dhabi offered a clear view of that intent. The set design was intriguing as it was built around more than 30 separate LED screens of different heights and angles. They created a fragmentary view that suits the show’s dystopian theme, with Perry descending onto the stage as a humanoid figure.
Across the night, she shifts between those impulses, moving from the armour-like look of Wonder Woman and Robocop to simple summer clothing that made the character feel more human again.
She began with Chained to the Rhythm, moving with clipped, mechanical gestures that fit the character. Her voice stayed direct and forceful, which worked in the open air. She followed with Teary Eyes, a deep cut from her 2020 album Smile, before lifting the mood with Dark Horse in a fresh, rock-leaning take that played better outdoors than the original trap hip-hop production.
By the time the second phase of the show began, Perry was confident enough to revisit the maligned single Woman’s World from 143. Within this staging, it felt looser, and it passed quickly before she moved into two of her biggest hits, California Gurls and Teenage Dream, two songs that remain as bright as ever.
Following that sugar rush of hits, the show moved into what Perry labels Level 3 and Level 3.5, tying into the game-like storyline that follows her on a quest to find herself. It also became the place where she brought out several overlooked tracks from 143.
Nirvana had more electro-pop drive than it ever managed on the album, as the staging gave it a pulse the recording never quite found. Crush, a song that can feel flat on the record with its repetitive hook, worked better simply because it sat inside a bigger routine.
I’m His, He’s Mine also earned its spot, an underrated moment from 143 built on spacey production with a more restrained vocal from Perry. Does this stretch make it worth revisiting the album? Not entirely. But it shows that the dance-pop template that weighed 143 down can sit differently on a large stage, especially with the show’s wider production behind it.
The hits returned for a strong finish with Roar – perhaps the best expression of her maximalist pop aesthetic and a song that, if artists admit it or not, helped set the tone for acts such as Charli XCX and Ava Max.
She closed with the all-conquering Firework, its skycraping chorus fitting her booming voice, rounding off a night that showed a bruised Perry still moving forward with fans who stay with her whether she is “hot or cold”.
Perry closed this year’s after-race concert series at Etihad Park, which began on Thursday with Benson Boone, continued on Friday with Post Malone and Elyanna, and reached a high point with Metallica’s roaring set on Saturday, before Sunday’s sci-fi pop show closed the weekend.
