“What we’re gonna do right here is go back. Way back, back into time.” Throwback Thursday time! In 2006 Christina Aguilera kicked off her fourth concert tour in support of her third studio album Back to Basics. When tour dates were announced I was excited to see that the powerhouse vocalist was bringing her Back to Basics Tour to The Palace of Auburn Hills. When it was announced that The Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane were going to serve as the opening acts for the tour I freaked out. They were my favorite groups at the time. My friend McKenzie and I made sure we got tickets the day they were released on Ticketmaster. Even though we had to wait almost seven months from the time we got tickets to the day of the show we couldn’t contain our excitement.
On April 9, 2007 McKenzie and I, along with our friends Lien and Marhie, made our way from Grand Rapids to Auburn Hills to catch the show. We arrived to The Palace a few hours before the show was set to begin. I didn’t want to miss a minute of the action, especially since Danity Kane was up first. When Aubrey, Aundrea, Shannon, D. Woods and Dawn took the stage I couldn’t believe it. I was beyond excited to finally see these ladies live. I’ve been a fan of them, especially Aubrey O’Day, since Making the Band 3. The girls performed songs off of their self titled debut album and it was amazing. I think my favorite performance was the groups opening number “One Shot.” I love that song. It makes me sad to think that Danity Kane is no longer around but I’ll always have the memory of seeing them open for Christina.
After Danity Kane finished their set The Pussycat Dolls soon took the stage. Even though I’ve seen them in concert before I was still really excited and was ready for doll domination. Ashley, Nicole, Carmit, Jessica, Kimberly and Melody rocked the stage. They brought so much energy. There’s not a single girl group in the world that can dance like they do, and Lead singer Nicole Scherzinger has one the best voices I’ve ever heard. The girls sang songs off of their debut album PCD. My favorite part of their set was when the girls ‘showed us what they got’ and did the “PCD Stomp.” I was sad when the Dolls performed their last song. I didn’t want them to get off stage, but I was excited for the main event.
After Danity Kane and The Pussycat Doll’s performance I was on Cloud 9. Even though she had been in the industry a lot longer than DK and PCD, Christina had some big shoes to fill on that stage. When Christina hit that C Sharp at the beginning of “Ain’t No Other Man” my jaw dropped. We all know she has an amazing voice, but wow is all I could say. She was beyond amazing! Her vocals the entire show were spot on as she sang songs from her latest CD Back to Basics. In true Christina fashion the songstress also performed remixed versions of hits like “What a Girl Wants,” “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You),” and “Dirrty.” One of favorite performances of the night had to have been the song “Hurt.” Christina ditched the dancers and the stage theatrics to sing her heart out on that stage. I also loved the encore performance of “Fighter.” You can never go wrong with that song in the set list.
The entire concert was amazing. The opening acts were on fire and Christina killed it. I enjoyed seeing Christina’s album Back to Basics come to life on stage. To see a pop artist like Christina Aguilera bring back old school style jazz, blues, and soul music was pretty cool. One of my favorite segments in Christina’s set had to have been the Circus. It amazed me that the set was able to evolve form a 1920’s jazz lounge to an actual circus, minus the animals of course. I loved every second of that night. I honestly I could go back to basics… back to the Back to Basics Tour that is!
For all things Christina be sure to check out www.ChristinaAguilera.com
You can also connect with her on Facebook & Twitter.
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