Jason Derulo’s show is like a time machine to an early-2000s house party

MUSIC
Jason Derulo | The Last Dance Tour ★★★
Rod Laver Arena, September 21

When Jason Derulo named his tour “The Last Dance”, he meant it. From the moment the Floridian singer appears on stage, his body does not stop moving.

Surrounded by perhaps the bendiest backup dancers in history, he gyrates, moonwalks, and pops and locks until sweat pours off his brow, wiped away occasionally by a very lucky hand towel.

For the Millennials in the crowd, of which there are many, the first hour is like being transported back to a 2010s house party – appropriate, given it’s Derulo’s 37th birthday.

Older hits like Whatcha Say and Wiggle have 40-year-olds screaming like teens. Backing tracks do much of the heavy lifting, allowing Derulo to slip and slide across the stage. But when he does sing – through a sassy little Britney mic – it’s smooth as butter, hitting falsetto notes like it’s nothing.

Newer songs like Acapulco and Savage Love, meanwhile, lean into his meme status, getting the crowd to shout the TikTok slang term “sheesh” as loud as they can.

Hearing him sing his own name – the famously corny audio tag – in perfect pitch is both hilarious and magnificent. His energy is best described as cheesy, especially when whipping out the viral Mi Chico TikTok dance. But through sheer enthusiasm, Derulo gets away with it.

Like with most house parties, however, Derulo doesn’t quite know when to pack things up. He throws everything but the kitchen sink onto the stage – pyro, confetti, streamers, a DJ hype man, more animal print than most zoos.

We travel from “Derulo’s lab” to his jungle, velvet room and volcano, all of which are signposted by strangely irrelevant AI videos of cherry blossom robots, vampires crying blood and futuristic merpeople.

By the time he gets to Don’t Wanna Go Home, the AI videos and bass-heavy dance breaks blur together, making it difficult to distinguish each song. This is especially a shame when showcasing Let Me Be, a new track that he has only performed live twice before.

Though the energy noticeably lifts again when Talk Dirty and Want to Want Me strike up – cashing in on the Derulo nostalgia – we’re already as exhausted as the back-up dancer who just did 10 backflips back-to-back.

Derulo is undeniably a gifted and polished performer. Every move is precise, down to the way he flips his microphone and coyly lifts his shirt. But at this last dance, there’s simply too much to feast our eyes upon.
Reviewed by Nell Geraets

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