It may just be me… BUT Katy Perry, longstanding pop royalty that she is, is playing to a sold-out audience at Cardiff Castle, one predominantly full of children with their parents. So when she takes a moment to shout out the C-word – and display it on a massive screen behind her, just to make sure – well, it all seems a little inappropriate and tacky, given the audience demographic.
This came about as part of a sort of question-and-answer game between Perry and the audience, with the American singer reading out answers onstage. Still, if I’d been in attendance with young kids in tow, I would be furious, but it was evidently a part of the show signed off by Perry, presumably in cahoots with her team. A bizarre episode, really, which rather took the shine off what should primarily have been (and still was) a pop extravaganza filled with singalongs and sequins. An early review of the evening seemed rather blasé about it all, save for asides along the lines of “there’ll be some poor parents having to explain that one to their kids…” Well, yes.
More fervent Katy Perry fans in attendance will doubtless have enjoyed this carry-on more, or have paid it less mind. I was left flummoxed and disappointed by her performance, interspersed as it was by her advice on matters of AI and ramblings about outer space. She is – in an environment such as this one, certainly – someone familiar to millions and in a position to influence young people; the Perry moral compass perhaps needs a reset.
The set in general was neon, pink, fluffy and loud as expected, and festooned with pop culture references. A giant iPhone, water bottle and laptop stood out alongside an array of dancers in cartoonishly buff bodybuilder costumes.
No question that Katy Perry has done some great pop tunes in her time, and equally little debate that she performed them with gusto to an appreciative Cardiff crowd: California Gurls, Roar and the massive Firework, with which she closed the show. But she – and her set this evening – should have been better, from someone around long enough to know better.
Katy Perry, Cardiff Castle, Tue 30 June
words ANTONIA LEVAY photos TIM ALBAN
