Possibly the most anticipated show of 2014 in the WNY area was Justin Timberlake’s rescheduled show from February 22nd that took place this past Wednesday night at the First Niagara Center. Taking the stage at approximately 8:40pm to a thunderous shriek of women admirers, Timberlake already seemed he had the forgiveness of his fans just by walking on to the stage. To him and the Tennessee Kids (his band), that wasn’t enough as he busted his ass all night to make sure that he earned the respect of Buffalo and would be successful in making up for the postponed gig. In fact after the 2nd track “Gimme What I Don’t Know (I Want),” he made this remark and a few other quips of the like throughout, saying “Buffalo, if you’re not satisfied, Jimmy Fallon will give you your money back!” Referring to the night he swapped the scheduled Buffalo show to appear on Fallon’s late night talk show. He obviously made plenty of Buffalo references, and we will get back to that, but let’s try to focus on the show.
Timberlake, or better known as JT, and his band (Tennessee Kids) consists of over 20 people. Besides the drummer and percussionist, the rest all served as support staff, participating in the attire and dance moves set forth by Timberlake. The song, “TKO” seemed to really get the crowd riled up as they were singing the words and making the corresponding hand motions. JT wished his guitar player, Elliott Ives, a Happy Birthday and then others from the crowd proclaimed it was theirs too.
The backdrop was a unique and interesting one that consisted of multiple closed shutters where images were displayed from. At various times throughout the show the band would disappear beneath the stage and then reappear. JT showcased his many talents, handling the piano for the song “Senorita” and strumming the acoustic on a handful of songs including the Elvis classic “Heartbreak Hotel.” Just before this took place, an enormous hydraulic lift went through the crowd carrying JT and a few of the Tennessee Kids. This stretched from one side of the rink to the other. It stopped over the VIP box seats for a moment, and stairs were lowered where a small platform was waiting for JT to do a few acoustic numbers there.
The first time I witnessed JT as a solo act was during his infancy at one of the biggest shows of all time. That was “SARSstock” held outside of Toronto in 2003. At that point, he was just a kid coming out of a boy band (NSYNC) and even though you could tell he had talent, he was very wet behind the ears on how to come across and win a crowd over. He has come a long way since that point. What you see on stage is what you see on the movie screen and on TV. What exactly is that? Likability. How can you not like him? He appeals to not just women but men as well; a guy you’d like to have a beer with, or in this case, have a shot with. That’s indeed what everyone who showed up got to witness as JT took a break to have a shot and offered a fitting toast to long time owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, who recently passed away. We toast to you, JT, for not only being a tremendous performer, but a class act!
Set 1:
Pusher Love Girl
Gimme What I don’t Know (I Want)
Rock Your Body
Future Sex/Love Sound
Like I Love You
My Love
TKO
Summer Love
Lovestoned
Until the End of Time
Holy Grail (Jay Z cover – snippet)
Cry Me a River
Set 2:
Only When I Walk Away
Drink You Away
Tunnel Vision
Senorita
Let the Groove Get In
Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley cover)
Not a Bad Thing
Human Nature (Michael Jackson cover)
What Goes Around… Comes Around
Take Back the Night
Jungle Boogie (Kool & the Gang cover – snippet)
Murder
Poison (Bell Biv Devoe cover)
Suit & Tie
SexyBack
Mirrors
We would like to thank Tracey Mancini from the Buffalo Sabres Marketing Dept. for her assistance in helping BackstageAxxess review the show.
