When R&B songstress and songwriter Victoria Monét announced her first headlining tour, tickets sold out within minutes. And rightfully so, because Miss Monét is indeed putting on a show. The JAGUAR Tour landed at New Orleans' Joy Theater on a hot, humid Thursday night, but the heat didn't stop fans from donning their best brown and animal print fashions.
Opening for Victoria, is New Orleans native Ambré, whose first show of the tour was that night. She was previously joined by Alex Vaughn. Ambré entered the stage with a calm, casual appeal wearing a white tee and loose fitted green cargo pants with chunky black boots and dark locs swinging at a length passed her shoulders. She showed her musicality while accompanying herself on guitar as she hit high notes and played some songs from her new album. She closed with her most popular single, "I'm Baby" which she mashed up with Janet Jackson's 1993 hit "Any Time, Any Place." Ambré will be accompanying Victoria on remaining dates through September.
After her departure, curtains closed and production set the stage for the headliner. During set up, the house playlist featured songs from Beyoncé's Renaissance album, no doubt setting the mood for her New Orleans show the following week. Faux plants and greenery decorated the area to resemble a jungle which matched the tour's Jaguar moniker. As the curtains re-opened and the lights dimmed, camera phones raised and screams filled the theater to welcome the main event.
Victoria Monét sauntered on stage fully covered in a brown cloak and a hood embellished with a crystal jaguar covering her face. She slowly raised the hood revealing a flawlessly beat face and bright blonde lace front wig as she sang "Moment". She quickly discarded the cloak to expose a custom midriff bearing brown Crystal set by L.O.C.A which complimented her extremely fit physique while performing the very fitting "Ass Like That" - an ode to bodies made in the gym.
She and her two background dancers broke into her viral "Some Cut" dance routine before transition to a medley of songs from both her most recent album and older cuts. One of which was "Stop (Askin Me 4 Shyt)" which she blends with The Supremes' "Stop In The Name Of Love." She has been switching the song's outro nightly as a PSA of things she wants people to stop doing.
"Stop ignoring your mama's phone calls," she smiled. "You know she misses you!"
And as a direct response to the recent insanity surrounding outrageous concert ticket resale prices she exclaimed "And - STOP reselling my MF tour tickets!"
The show began to get a bit more sensual with performances of "F.U.C.K." and "Touch Me" while she sat on a stool and sang, her dancers gave seductive choreography. She then transitioned to a throwback medley of her older songs, asking who's been with her since
She took the time to introduce her band and dancers. After, they exited stage and returned to a fog misted stage wearing a long, black pinstripe jacket, fedora and cane to perform the pimp anthem "Cadillac." The incredibly smooth choreography and her execution of this number puts you in the mind of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." She then performed "Alright" which seems to have emerged as a popular favorite from the album. She closed the show with the album and tour's namesake - Jaguar before exiting the stage.
The theater went dark, and the crowd erupted into chants of "On my mama, on my hood, I look fly, I look good!" until she returned in a black fitted cap that read "Jaguar II" for her encore performance of her hit "On My Mama" - a remake of Chalie Boy's 2009 "I Look Good." She flawlessly executed the same Sean Bankhead choreography from the music video as the audience hyped her up. She said her final farewells and leaving behind a show that surely could not be what the VMA's recently referred to as "too early in her story" to have have been given a VMA performance. Victoria Monét proved why she deserved to be on that stage, her own stage and other stage she wants to be on.
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