Concert review: Justin Bieber struts his stuff at Consol
July 14, 2016 11:05 AM- Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Justin Bieber on the Purpose Tour at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday. - Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Justin Bieber at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday. - Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Justin Bieber opens his concert at Consol Energy Center Wednesday in a glass box. - Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Justin Bieber performs for the Pittsburgh crowd at Consol Energy Center Wednesday. - Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Post Malone performs at the Justin Bieber Purpose Tour at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday.
What does it mean to be Justin Bieber? On Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, it meant lifting one's shirt and listening to the screech of thousands of teenage girls who bought tickets hoping to catch glimpses of your chiseled abdomen.
Justin Bieber arrived in the Consol Energy Center ascending from under the stage in a glass box. Behind him, a projected image of Michelangelo's David statue stood — muscular, relaxed, and disinterested like the singer himself.
The stage shifted around the Canada-born musician like the ground in a 2-D videogame. Three-tiered platforms rose up, trampoline pits were dangled above the crowd, and at one point a brightly lit metal cage surrounded Mr. Bieber in a captivating effulgence.
"It's like they want me to be perfect, when they don't even know that I'm hurting," he sang from behind the cage, which suddenly revealed its heavy-handed symbolism.
His luminous blonde locks, which Mr. Bieber previously tied in a man-bun behind his head, were gone Wednesday night. As if in rejection of the shaggy-haired boy on the cover of his first album "My World," Mr. Bieber had cropped his hair short like a soldier.
"The teenage boy of songs like "Baby" and "Boyfriend" has become a man," his new getup seemed to say. At 22, Mr. Bieber is older than many of his fans, who Wednesday night fell predominantly in the 14-to-21 age range.
The "Purpose" tour, which began in March and ends in November, showcases Mr. Bieber's most recent studio album by the same name, hailed by critics as a creative breakthrough. On the album, Mr. Bieber blends R&B with hip-hop and throws in some maddeningly catchy hooks on songs like "Sorry," "What Do You Mean," and "Love Yourself" which have all topped the Billboard chart since the album's release.
But if he is reinventing himself, on Wednesday Mr. Bieber appeared to be grasping in the dark for a new identity.
Mr. Bieber displayed his profound lack of virtuosity playing drums center stage. Despite whacking his way through a drum solo that for most musicians would be a embarrassment of career-ending caliber, Mr. Bieber seemed unfazed.
"That was tight," he said, hopping off the drum set and on to the next song.
As for working the crowd, Mr. Bieber may be a sex symbol adored by girls around the world, but his tactic of repeatedly pointing at women in the audience alongside romantic lyrics like "It could have been you" came off as gimmicky and strange considering much of the audience was still in high school.
"I'm gonna tell you boyfriends," Mr. Bieber said, addressing the male audience members. "Don't bring your girlfriends to a Justin Bieber concert. Just don't do it. Stuff can happen."
Fortunately for Mr. Bieber's press agents, there were no stage accidents or major hiccups as there have been on this tour. Recently in Saskatoon, Canada, Mr. Bieber slipped and fell off the stage. In April, he slipped and fell in Kansas City during a set involving water.
Only Mr. Bieber's in-ear monitor seemed to give him any difficulties. Fortunately for Mr. Bieber, even adjusting an earpiece could become an act of seduction.
Midway through the show, Mr. Bieber reduced the electric ladyland of Consol to a slow buzz. Sitting on a red velvet sofa center stage, Mr. Bieber strummed an acoustic guitar and sang a few dreamy numbers that brought out thousands of cellphone flashlights and briefly turned the arena into the starry sky stuck on the ceiling of a child's bedroom.
Becoming an adult is sometimes hard, and Mr. Bieber was not afraid to admit that he often struggles just to wake up in the morning.
"Do you guys ever feel like sleeping all day? Well I do. I feel like sleeping like 90 percent of my life," he said. "You know, on tour it gets lonely sometimes. I'm away from my family, I'm away from my friends," leading into the song "Company."
For all the Beliebers at Wednesday's show, the beloved Bieber hit the sweet spot between bad boy and good guy. Beneath the shrieks — which were louder than the music most of the time — are young women who see Justin Bieber as something more than a torso in a sleeveless shirt.
They believe, as Mr. Bieber himself no doubt believes, that the world is out to get Justin Bieber. Slandered by the media, the ex-girlfriends, the music industry, Mr. Bieber has only his devoted fans to protect him.
On Wednesday, as Mr. Bieber gazed across a sea of outstretched arms, there was no shortage of support for the young singer.
Finnegan Schick: fschick@post-gazette.com.
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