Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre, 8/2/12 (photos and review)
Lets say Nicki Minajs concert on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver was a four-act play, separated by three Minaj-less intermissions because every diva needs time for her costume changes. And lets also say that we might have learned more about Minaj and her fans from those interludes than we did the rest of the show.
Interlude No. 1: DJ Headache throws on Where My Girls At as a nod to the female-heavy crowd, a hyped-up dance break after only a few songs. Interlude No. 2: Headache makes a simple but surprisingly poignant observation: Make some noise if you like pop music Make some noise if you like hip-hop Make some noise if you like Nicki Minaj! The crowd, of course, made some noise. Interlude No. 3: Headache throws down Minajs popular track Marilyn Monroe, inspiring a theater-wide singalong. It didnt matter that Minaj was backstage changing clothes; the fans still danced, sang along and took video of every second from their iPhones.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyrever! b.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
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Nicki Minaj at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Aug. 2, 2012. Photos by Glenn Ross, heyreverb.com.
These dressed-up fans were out to party, no doubt, and the charismatic and cartoonish Minaj was as colorful and wonderful as youd expect. It was also made clear that Minaj knows exactly what shes doing. Shes more of a pop star than a MC, more of a singer than a hip-hopper. And the crowd had come to worship in the glow of her star if only they got more facetime with Minaj.
She kicked things off with Romans Revenge, Did it On Em and Beez in the Trap, the last of which featured the nights opening act 2 Chainz. She was surrounded by dancers, but Headache was the only musical presence on the stage. Minaj had fun with the crowd, especially the ladies, noting at one point, If youre standing next to a sexy man, make some noise If youre standing next to a man who thinks hes sexy but hes not, make some noise. With that, she lead into the summer jam Starships lighting the room on fire with enough fluorescent colors to rival Forever 21s fashionable mannequins.
The bummer: Minaj rapped and sang her way through the show, but perhaps because it was a somewhat dance-heavy concert, she was singing over the ! louder t racks from her album. Sure, thats pretty standard in this genre that crosses from hip-hop to Top 40, but there were moments where Minajs live vocals shined through the fog of prerecorded mania and it sounded really good and left us wanting to hear more of her live prowess.
But thats also Minaj: Shes not quite artful, not quite artless tacky and fun and bouncy and semi-provocative. The visuals were obvious for a tour called Pink Friday, and the staging was only occasionally clever as evidenced by a set-closing take on her hit Super Bass. (The song is such a big, recognizable it, it didnt need intensive stage work.) But it was kind of ideal for the young audience, which bum-rushed the stage immediately after the lights went down. It helps, too, that Minaj has a certain star quality. Shes no one-hit-wonder. Shell be around for a long while if she continues working with the right people.
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Ricardo Baca is the founder and executive editor of Reverb, the co-founder of The UMS and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post.
Glenn Ross is a Denver-based photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. See more of his work here.
