I attended Katy Perry's sold-out New York City show. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Kelsey Weekman/Yahoo News)MANHATTAN - The little girls twirling in glittery skirts outside of Katy Perry's Madison Square Garden concert don't know her latest album flopped. They don't know how poorly her spaceflight stunt was received, how her quirky persona has been panned as dated or how her split from fiancé Orlando Bloom is being dissected online."I like 'Firework,'" says Ivy, an 8-year-old who's in attendance with her mom and little sister. She's shy talking with a stranger, but bursting with energy after I walk away. She tells me she loves listening to "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream" in the car, though she wasn't born when those songs came out.2025 has been, statistically and anecdotally, a tough year for Perry. Once a main pop girl who was the first female artist to land five No. 1 hits from a single album, her 2024 release 143 was gleefully panned as dull and uninspired, peaking at a career-low No. 6.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementStill, on Aug. 11, she's in the middle of her "Lifetimes Tour," performing in front of a sold-out crowd. There are a lot of children here, flanked by nostalgic millennials and Gen Z-ers donning alien costumes and colorful bob wigs to pay tribute to her famous looks.
Surrounded by the futuristic, metallic visuals of her latest, least popular era, Perry takes the stage. "Turn your notifications off," she instructs the audience after performing high-energy choreography in futuristic robot garb, surrounded by several male backup dancers. She opens her set with three songs from later albums - not her most beloved work, but she puts on an entertaining show.
Katy Perry's stage was shaped like an infinity symbol with a butterfly suspended above it. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Kelsey Weekman/Yahoo News)When the crowd hears the opening notes of "Dark Horse," the energy shifts. Everyone comes back to life, singing instead of just swaying. This wasn't some concert; it was the Katy Perry, queen of late 2000s pop music. She has already cemented her legacy with 14 songs that hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 - from "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008 to "Chained to the Rhythm" in 2017. Her music is woven into the cultural tapestry of the aughts, and her playful imagery is unmistakable. We're lucky we get to behold her at all.
Hot N Cold"I'm 40 years old," Perry says to the crowd, taking it slow after running around the infinity symbol-shaped stage. She then pauses, smiling and flipping her hair from side to side. "40 and f***ing fabulous."AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOver and over, Perry demonstrates incredible feats of athleticism and cardio, impressive for a human being of any age. She sprints, slides and aces TikTok-friendly moves with her backup dancers. But every time she breaks character by grabbing the mic to ad lib or punctuating choreography with a silly face or a robotic dance break, I cringe.
Now, Perry has always been quirky. It worked in the late 2000s, when reaction GIFs ran the internet and millennial-coded outbursts were king. It feels unkind to demand that the person who gave us "Hot N Cold" and "Last Friday Night" update her personality for the 2020s. At some points, she seemed aware of her perception to a fault, like she didn't want to be onstage.
She repeatedly referenced that it was past her bedtime, and when fans voted for her to play "Not Like the Movies" and "The One That Got Away" during an interactive part of the nearly two-hour set, she announced that she would simply "dissociate" to be her "hot mess self and play a song from my very first marriage."Regardless of what mood Perry was in, her fans were thrilled to see her.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementI talked to several of them standing outside the venue before the show started about what brought them out on a Monday night. Restaurant owner Krista was there with her 20-something bartenders, Howie and Zee, who were dressed in bright blue costumes to channel Perry's song "E.T."The duo couldn't even pinpoint when their fandom began - it's been part of their lives since childhood. As their "momager," Krista said she bought them all tickets as a birthday present, fulfilling a longtime dream to see Perry. All three refused to critique the pop star, focusing instead on how happy they were to be there."We're rooting for her. I just can't wait to see all the theatrics because I know it's going to be hot," Krista said.
Fans of all ages were united by the delightful nostalgia of Perry's biggest hits. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Kelsey Weekman/Yahoo News)I thought that Maria, a 28-year-old wearing an astronaut jumpsuit as a tribute to Perry's Blue Origin trip to space, might have been playfully making fun of the singer, but she didn't have any hot takes to share. She came all the way from Ecuador to see Perry, who's she's loved for more than h