Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Liberation Tour‘ kicked off Tuesday night (September 25th) in Hollywood, Florida marking the start of her first tour in about a decade, since her 2008 Back to Basics Tour. Returning to the stage and bringing night two of the highly-anticipated sold out trek to Atlantic City, New Jersey’s beautiful Hard Rock Casino’s Etess Arena. Touring in support of her sixth studio record, Liberation, released on June 15th via RCA Records. Liberation marks Christina Aguilera’s first album since 2012’s Lotus.
Launching the story-telling filled evening with the a very cinematic video of Aguilera whilst girls through roses throughout the stage and venue, before Aguilera appeared on-stage wearing a beautiful red ruffled Spanish-inspired dress as she performed “Maria,” after she arose onto the stage from broken glass windows telling the crowd “I’m Here,” as the venue was filled with the screams of “Searching For Maria.” Throughout the entire 2-hour long performance Aguilera impressed the crowd with her vocal prowess with each and every song in her setlist, Aguilera performed nearly every song off her latest album, Liberation, but also making up for the time lost by heavily adding in her hits which is nearly every song she dropped filling her 20-song setlist. Including “Searching For Maria,” “Maria,” Sick Of Sittin,” “Right Moves” and “Fall In Line” from Liberation and of course she had to include the classic Aguilera hits like “Genie In A Bottle,” “Dirrty,” “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Fighter,” and “Lady Marmalade.”
Highlights of Aguilera’s set would definitely include her performance of “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Deserve,” her Demi Lovato assisted “Fall In Line” as her vocals really can be showcased within these songs. Other highlights include Aguilera’s roaring sing-a-longs with the crowd during “What a Girl Wants,” and “Come On Over Baby (All I Want is You).” Aguilera even paid homage to the album she said they didn’t really get to tour by putting on a melody of hits from 2010’s Bionic including songs like “Elastic Love,” “Woohoo,” and the album’s title track “Bionic,” it also include excerpts from “Not Myself Tonight.” Her set also includes two covers that are flawlessly performed which are A Great Big World’s “Say Something” and James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” which were performed so perfectly it was almost as if the songs were Aguilera’s own. Gold glitter went flying as Aguilera performed her debut single from Liberation, “Accelerate,” which ended with an introduction to her very talented dancers.
The rather intimate venue (7,000 cap) made for an evening of connecting with her fans who were lucky enough to gain access to the sold out performance. Aguilera even bringing the production she is known for in her live shows including a massive staircase, colorful lights, Co2, huge video screens giving visuals for each song, curtains that covered the front of the stage showcasing videos to tell her story between songs, and of course her flawless costumes through the performance. Aguilera had several impeccable costume changes and flawless attire including Japanese inspired ensembles, a high-shouldered sequin gown, a red ruffle Spanish-inspired dress, oversized jackets, a beautiful white gown with thigh-high white boots, and even her black and red leather ensemble with chaps straight from her “Dirrty” music video.
Aguilera may have been gone from the touring circuit for some time, but Aguilera’s fans known as the fighters are still here for her and are not going anywhere anytime soon as Aguilera is back and is here to stay as she said herself the stage is where she belongs. Aguilera’s sincere appreciation to her fans vibrantly shined throughout her set as she thanked them for coming out and as her pearly white smile did not leave her face the entire evening except during the more emotion-filled songs where she put her all into the song allowing the emotion to flood into her performance.
“It feels so good to be back here on stage where I belong. *laughs* I know its been too long, its been too long for me too.” – Xtina
Make sure you get out and check out Aguilera’s breath-taking Liberation Tour as these venues are more intimate then Aguilera fans are used to, as she normally performs to tens of thousands in arenas but for her first tour back she wanted to bring a more intimate show for the fans who welcomed her back with a sold out tour. Dates for the Liberation tour can be seen below.
Upcoming ‘Liberation Tour’ Dates:
| SUN | 9/30 | The Theater at MGM National Harbor | Washington, DC ^ |
| WED | 10/3 | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY ^ |
| THU | 10/4 | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY ^ |
| SAT | 10/6 | Mohegan Sun Arena | Uncasville, CT |
| MON | 10/8 | Boch Center Wang Theatre | Boston, MA ^ |
| THU | 10/11 | Casino Rama Resort | Oirllia, ON |
| SAT | 10/13 | Fox Theatre Detroit | Detroit, MI ^ |
| TUE | 10/16 | The Chicago Theatre | Chicago, IL ^ |
| WED | 10/17 | The Chicago Theatre | Chicago, IL ^ |
| FRI | 10/19 | Pepsi Center | Denver, CO |
| MON | 10/22 | Paramount-Theatre Oakland | Oakland, CA ^ |
| WED | 10/24 | Fantasy Springs Resort Casino | Indio, CA * |
| FRI | 10/26 | Greek Theatre | Los Angeles, CA ^ |
| SAT | 10/27 | The Colosseum | Las Vegas, NV ^ |
| MON | 10/29 | Comerica Theatre | Phoenix, AZ ^ |
| THU | 11/1 | Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land | Sugar Land, TX ^ |
| SAT | 11/3 | WinStar World Casino and Resort | Thackerville, OK * |
| SUN | 11/4 | Paradise Cove at River Spirit Casino Resort | Tulsa, OK * |
| TUE | 11/6 | Peabody Opera House | St. Louis, MO ^ |
| FRI | 11/9 | Saenger Theatre | New Orleans, LA ^ |
| SUN | 11/11 | Fox Theatre Atlanta | Atlanta, GA ^ |
| TUE | 11/13 | The Mahaffey Theatre | St. Petersburg, FL ^ |
^ With Big Boi
To Buy or Stream Liberation:
Multi-retailer – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx
iTunes – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx/itunes
Apple Music – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx/applemusic
Spotify – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx/spotify
Spotify Pre-Save – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx/spotifypresave
Google Play – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx/googleplay
Amazon – http://smarturl.it/CxAxLx/az
