{"id":19716,"date":"2025-07-24T05:01:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T05:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/19716\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T05:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T05:01:13","slug":"katy-perrys-lifetimes-tour-at-rogers-arena-is-hot-and-cold-then-freezing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/19716\/","title":{"rendered":"Katy Perry’s Lifetimes Tour at Rogers Arena is hot and cold, then freezing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get the best of Vancouver in your inbox, every Tuesday and Thursday.\u00a0Sign up for our free newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s common knowledge that 2025 hasn\u2019t exactly been kind to Katy Perry. The former reigning pop queen has since transitioned to American Idol judge and is currently navigating her third consecutive flop era. From making space travel look like a budget ride at West Edmonton Mall to feeding tabloid speculation about her relationship with Orlando Bloom, Perry\u2019s recent PR orbit is wobbly at best.<\/p>\n

Still, I went into the Lifetimes Tour stop at Vancouver\u2019s Rogers Arena with an open mind\u2014ready for rainbow lasers, killer vocals, and over-the-top visuals. And sure, there were moments that delivered. But somewhere around the halfway mark\u2014specifically during \u201cE.T.\u201d, when Perry wielded a plastic lightsaber against inflatable hoses in a glittery space suit that screamed “existential crisis cosplay”\u2014I found myself thinking: I could be watching Episode 3 of The Amazing Race Canada<\/a>\u00a0right now.<\/p>\n

You know\u2026 Amazing Race Canada! The CTV show in which seemingly unstoppable Vancouver best-friend duo Jesse and Jonathon have already achieved back-to-back first-place finishes? My mind ran giddy with thoughts of the Canadian-produced global franchise spinoff, which airs Tuesday nights and streams the following day on Crave. The thought of catching up on that seemed infinitely more compelling than a lifeless rendition of \u201cDark Horse\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong: The Lifetimes Tour has spectacle and scale. Between dystopian cyberpunk graphics, AI-villain setups, and a mission to rescue butterflies, it has the aesthetics and muddled storytelling of a 2013 Transformers sequel. But way too much of the show was devoted to telling a bloated space saga that left audience members scratching their heads, missing the winking charm of Weezer\u2019s similar gimmick from the Voyage to the Blue Planet tour.<\/p>\n

And while there’s some tasteless irony in telling a story about fighting AI while relying almost entirely on AI-generated visuals, that wasn\u2019t even the most depressing part. That honour goes to the middle-school recital choreography\u2014and seeing Perry look visibly winded as she sprinted around a figure-8 stage.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the best part of the night\u2014not the concert, but the moment I pulled out my phone, slid it under my jacket, and caught up on Episode 3 of Amazing Race Canada: \u201cThose Little Sneaky Susans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because while Katy looked like she was performing under protest, Jesse and Jonathon were absolutely eating up the competition.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s episode had everything Perry\u2019s show didn\u2019t: energy, suspense, teamwork, iced tea. Teams started in Lake Louise and flew to Vancouver, kicking off at Terry Fox Plaza where they unscrambled the name \u201cLangley\u201d from a tricked-out Chevrolet. While Katy sped through her expansive discography, Jesse and Jonathon were making smart power moves at Martini Town Studios, before delivering a serenade with more stage presence than half of Perry\u2019s dancers. Honestly, they made me wish I had an Express Pass to skip \u201cWoman\u2019s World\u201d.<\/p>\n

Then, delivered via my phone screen, came a one-on-one hockey shootout in Abbotsford that had me clutching my concert lanyard like it was a rosary. Jesse and Jonathon skated past the competition while I sat watching Perry slowly fly around the arena on a clanking mechanical butterfly.<\/p>\n

By the time she was belting out \u201cFirework\u201d in a tinfoil bathrobe, I had tears in my eyes (from seeing our local heroes Jesse and Jonathon glide into their third straight first-place finish at Cultus Lake Adventure Park). Iconic. It\u2019s Jesse and Jonathon\u2019s world, and we\u2019re just lucky to be living in it.<\/p>\n

To be fair to Perry and her team, the Lifetimes Tour had a few clear bright spots. \u201cHot N Cold\u201d and \u201cLast Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)\u201d were paired in a wonderful medley that had the entire stadium on its feet. And Perry\u2019s authentic vocals\u2014rare as they were\u2014still managed to impress during a few post-breakup ballads. I (a 40-something male) am obviously not the target audience, and the non-game show highlight of the night for me was seeing parents and kids connect during uplifting anthems like \u201cRoar\u201d. Perry spoke directly to her fans constantly during the evening, and they enthusiastically responded to her generous engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Amazing Race Canada brought the real drama, heart, and momentum of the night. Jesse and Jonathon once again carried the leg with charisma, teamwork, and strategic brilliance. I\u2019d rather rewatch their episode than revisit Perry\u2019s butterfly-rescuing space saga any day.<\/p>\n

And if Perry really wants to stop feeling like a plastic bag? Maybe it\u2019s time she applied for the next season.<\/p>\n

The Georgia Straight does not endorse watching content on your phone during a live concert under any circumstance.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the best of Vancouver in your inbox, every Tuesday and Thursday.\u00a0Sign up for our free newsletter. It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[76,49,48,8497,569,16291,75,1048,1187,1554,2998,890,341,13117,3560,404,348,55],"class_list":["post-19716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-arts","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-city","tag-culture","tag-dining","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-fashion","tag-film","tag-food","tag-lifestyle","tag-music","tag-nightlife","tag-restaurants","tag-shopping","tag-tv","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}