Lizzo’s The Special Tour Concert Review: Feel the Love and Rejoice at the Church of Lizzo

Lizzo last came to Australia at the beginning of 2020. A lot has happened since then. The world shut down and people feared live music may take years to return, but on a positive note Lizzo released her monster ode to joy Special in 2022. Lizzo came to Australia before finishing her Special tour in New Zealand and Japan later in July. All of Lizzo’s shows sold out and she moved to larger venues this year in both Melbourne and Sydney. So, will these shows capture the same energy as her Sydney Opera House show in 2020?

First, let’s talk opening act. As you are well aware, I am a big proponent of going early and supporting the opening act. In this case, the crowd was worked into a frenzy by Zambian born and Australian Tkay Maidza. She came out in a black and white racing motorcycle leathers inspired outfit with knee high boots, in which she said the skirt was more like a “belt.” Her long hair radiated pink and fire red in the lights as she owned the crowd. With a new record coming she played some past singles like Shook and super cool Pixie’s cover Where is my Mind. She ended her set with her new track Silent Assassin, which includes a backing track by dance producers Flume and sounds like a mix of Missy Elliott and a ton of acid. This was a great lead into Lizzo and be sure to look out for Tkay’s new record, which drops in a few days.

Even though this is part of the Special Tour, Lizzo treated this as more of a celebration of her last two records and played just as much off of Cuz I Love You as she did off of Special. In fact the concert started with her backing band, who Lizzo refers to as “a group of beautiful black women” jumping into a long intro to Cuz I Love You as pink neon “Lizzo” signs blast on video screens throughout the stage. Suddenly…two doors open to show Lizzo in a back and neon green leather dress with blonde hair and dinner plate size wrap around sunglasses. As she belts out the first few verses the crowd explodes and you know you are in for something special…pardon the pun.

She seamlessly flows from Juice to 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) and into Soulmate before coming up for air. By now people are crying, screaming and transcending time and space. She then tells the crowd that she loves them and how we are all special. She then directs everyone to tell the person next to them that they are special and then turn and tell the other person the same. Joy fills the air as Lizzo changes into a pink and clear jumpsuit, which she wears for the rest of the show.

The happiness, joy and love fills the arena and this has to be one of the most love filled and joyous concerts I have ever been to. Lizzo guides a breathing mediation where you give yourself positive affirmations and frequently affirms that you are enough and you are beautiful no matter what society says. Her ability to be so positive for marginalised people and people overcoming challenges in life shows her strong connection with her fans. At points the sellout crowd of 20,000 feels like she is singing just to you, while other times it feels like 100,000 people losing their minds. Lizzo’s non – stop joy and energy is palpable, intoxicating and contagious. With about 30 minutes left she stops the show to autograph people’s signs, drink alcohol out of her shoe (it’s an Australian thing), sings people happy birthday, calls a man in rainbow sequins a “bad bitch,” and gives a shout out to three Lizzo drag queens in the audience. Her generosity to her fans is amazing.

Never one of move away from political topics, the show itself is an overall feminist and pro LGBTQIA+ show. This may be more touchy in America, but is welcomed by both me and the fans. She dedicates Everybody’s Gay to everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community and as Lizzo says “all women and my trans women.” Ending with an emphatic “Happy Pride bitch!” the crowd soars. Other big stand out tracks were Grrrls, Boys, Like a Girl, Tempo and a version of Rumors with Cardi B featuring on a video.

Sasha Flute, Lizzo’s bling encrusted flute, makes an appearance as she plays into a cover of Coldplay’s Yellow and an instrumental where she moves from classical flute to a jazz flute complete with twerking and yelling “bitch!” to the crowd. This moves into an extended flute session that morphs into Truth Hurts. In a unique move she comes out with a plastic recorder someone gave her in Sydney and begins to play us into a cover of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On…which was amazing.

Everything great has to come to an end and Lizzo finishes the set with an explosive version of Good as Hell and an encore of her biggest single About Damn Time. Lizzo is one of the most loving, joyous and generous artists I have ever seen. Everything is for the fans and what she can do to help everyone feel special and loved for that night. Most importantly, it is all genuine. Lizzo is the rare person that can call you a “bad bitch” and you feel loved and seen. She is hilarious in concert and is often laughing and having fun with everyone on stage from her backing band to the dancers…who each get a solo dance by the way. Twice during the show Lizzo looked at the audience dumbstruck as all 20,000 cheered for her for 3 – 5 minutes straight. It is hard to put into words how inspirational this concert experience was, but it is easily in my top 5 concerts of all time.