It wasn’t your typical worship service.
The dozen players in the band were dressed to the nines. The altar was a speakeasy bar. And Christina Aguilera was wearing white patent stilettos and a red sequined minidress while belting out the sermon – “Makes Me Wanna Pray” from her latest double-LP – from atop the piano.
The singer’s concert at the Pepsi Center on Monday night was a pop extravaganza, a visual feast and an aesthetic triumph. While the arena was far from full, those who did show up to the singer’s Back to Basics Tour got their fill of big-band numbers and introspective ballads.
Which is to say, there was plenty of lip-syncing.
It’s a given anymore with these big arena tours, and Aguilera’s dance-heavy show – especially the show-opening “Ain’t No Other Man” and the stripperesque “Dirrty” – doesn’t lend itself to be simultaneously choreographed and sung, especially at Denver’s altitude.
Because the numbers were inventive, we’ll forgive Aguilera for her poor lip-syncing.
This show, like the 2006 release “Back to Basics,” was themed to the swing music and carnival/circus atmosphere of the ’40s and ’50s. It galloped along stylistically, including three costume changes in the first four songs. Aguilera’s team creatively patched together the “Moulin Rouge” throwback cover of “Lady Marmalade” – originally a group effort with Aguilera, Pink, Lil’ Kim, Eve and others – as a potent solo offering.
The ballads were especially impressive, regardless of their cloying nature. “Oh Mother,” Aguilera’s love letter to her mother and statement against domestic violence,” is a solid pop ballad.
“Beautiful” has been played into the ground, and while it’s potentially Aguilera’s biggest-ever single, it’s also the kind of evil, inane and manipulative song that should qualify for early retirement.
Still, these were the vehicles that allowed Aguilera the most room to really sing for her fans. And as the only member of the Pop Class of 1999 with actual vocal talents, an Aguilera concert would be incomplete without those showy moments.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
