Cyndi Lauper knows how to say goodbye — let's hope she's a dirty liar and does not stick to the categorization of her latest tour as a farewell.
My friend Danny Echi, a superfan of many artists with broad musical taste, peeped her big MSG show, saying she decided to perform her hits (and some beloved misses) with lots of stories and banter in-between. From photos and video, it's clear this was right up the crowd's alley.
Danny referred to it as more of a Broadway-style show due to the pacing.
She showed her true colors via something like 7 changes! (Images by Danny Echi)
After opener Elle King, Cyndi was played on by Blondie's “One Way or Another” (she once welcomed Debbie Harry on one of her LGBTQ+ tours) at 9:15 p.m., Cyndi kicked things off with “She Bop” before offering the dream song “The Goonies 'R' Good Enough,” a tune that once would have been unimaginable. She knows what the people want!
Another banger from her debut album, “When You Were Mine,” was followed by her final Top 40 hit, from 1989. The song was also a hit for Roy Orbison and Céline Dion.
The first obscure track — not to mega-fans, of course — was “Who Let in the Rain,” followed by “Iko Iko,” which she played on a washboard.
Her cover of “Funnel of Love,” from 2016's Detour, represented her later career, but illustrating how complete the show was, the next song was her beautiful “Sally's Pigeons” from 1993 and then her most indelible vocal with her former band “Blue Angel,” “I'm Gonna Be Strong” from 1980. Past 70, she was still able to belt the number impressively.
From Chicago:
“Sisters of Avalon” was her nod to the 1996 record of the same name.
Fans were getting a bit antsy for her bigger hits, which was remedied by back-to-back performances of “Change of Heart,” “Time After Time” (a surprise duet with Sam Smith) and the song that I personally think is her best — “Money Changes Everything.”
Yes, she rolled around on the stage.
She returned for a meaty encore — her absolutely transcendent “Shine,” followed by her two most iconic tracks: “True Colors,” rendered with a flowing piece of rainbow fabric blowing artfully from her grasp, and, of course, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” the perfect finale.
Cyndi is on tour through the spring — tickets here!
As a bonus — you're welcome if you never heard this 1983 live version of the FANTASTIC B-side song “Right Track, Wrong Train,” which absolutely deserved to be on her first album:
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