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Not many artists can claim they have been performing in Las Vegas for 50 years. With the opening of her latest residency at the Resorts World Theatre on Monday, Janet Jackson celebrated her golden anniversary on the Strip — she first took the stage alongside the entire family, including her brothers, The Jackson 5, in 1974 at the MGM. Mother Katherine Jackson and Tyler Perry were in the sold-out crowd for opening night.
“Janet Jackson: Las Vegas” is the follow-up to 2019’s “Metamorphosis” at Park MGM and closely follows the playbook of her 2023-24 “Together Again” tour, with night one carrying some major surprises with both live debuts and songs not performed live in many years. While some artists stack their Vegas residencies with the greatest hits, Jackson’s setlist is more like an encyclopedia of her career — two hours, 43 songs, iconic choreography and a recall of many of the fashion moments that made her a pop culture icon.
A risk-taker since she threw on her first double-breasted blazer for 1986’s Control, Ms. Jackson defies the residency formula. She takes the slow-burn approach into her big hits, starting off the night cycling through snippets from seven lesser-known tracks, ranging from Janet‘s “Throb” to Discipline’s “2Nite” before dropping a widely recognizable song, the The Velvet Rope’s “Go Deep.”
While the audience was undoubtedly waiting for a big hit to kick it all off, Jackson shows us she still does as she pleases, and “JJ: LV” establishes itself as a long haul, evocative of the same ebbs and flows of her career, creating a progression of content that organically matches multiple decades of shifting genres, interests, trends and life moments. While “Metamorphosis” carried less production and more storytelling from the star, “Janet Jackson: Las Vegas” lets the lyrics, moves, creative direction, costumes and pyro create the narrative.
The Biggest Surprises Jackson threw some wow into the set list for this Las Vegas turn. With 11 studio albums, she has a lot of material from which to choose, and with no new music in almost a decade, Jackson dug into the crates for some gems that the die-hard fans swooned over.
After Janet’s “Love Will Never Do Without You” — which showcased clips from the black-and-white desert video with Antonio Sabato Jr. — she wowed with 1995’s “Twenty Foreplay,” from her greatest-hits album Design of a Decade, not performed since 2017; she then quickly transitioned into 2004’s “I Want You”— co-written by Kanye West and John Legend and co-produced by West — from Damita Jo. Several songs later, she threw in the title track from perhaps her most critically acclaimed and introspective album, The Velvet Rope, not performed since 1999. The audience heard the live debut of “Broken Hearts Heal” from 2015’s Discipline and the most historic track of the night, 1982’s “Young Love,” which she hasn’t done live since 2010.
Janet Jackson accompanied by her backup dancers during her “Janet Jackson: Las Vegas” show. Solaiman Fazel The Best Moments Jackson has always been about iconic looks, from her Control blazers to her Rhythm Nation 1814 military regalia, to her low-slung jeans and nothing else in Janet. American fashion designer Thom Browne produced four epic costumes for this show, with Christian Louboutin creating custom footwear. The opening appearance featured Jackson cloaked in a long satin black jacket, which later revealed a gold sequin catsuit with necktie and cuffs — an homage to the golden anniversary. During “That’s the Way Love Goes,” she hit all her best moves, including the criss-cross snaps choreography that defined the song for the MTV generation. Time and again, Jackson nails the dances from the music videos that defined her career.
In the second look, the blazer goes sheer along with pants and a corset, showing off the 58-year-old’s peak physical condition as “All for You,” “Alright,” “Escapade” and “Miss You Much” had the majority of the audience on their feet and re-creating all the unforgettable moves. This uptempo act closed with the trilogy of “Come Back to Me,” “Let’s Wait Awhile” and “I Get Lonely,” with only a glowing Earth accompanying her onstage instead of the usual barrage of dancers for which she is famous.
A latex corset, sequin plaid pants and shoulder shrug makes up look three, with a parade of early hits from “Nasty” to “When I Think of You.” The last chapter extends through the anthemic work and the rock edge of “Scream,” “Black Cat” and “Rhythm Nation,” paired with a black latex catsuit, of course. And when the audience thinks “Janet Jackson: Las Vegas” ends there, she takes a camera backstage for an intimate look at her makeup touch-up before returning for “Together Again” and “Better Days.”
What’s missing from the show is direct commentary from Jackson, who only briefly addressed the audience. However, with this artist, the five decades of work speaks for itself more than any canned dialogue; perhaps that has been her plan all along.
“Janet Jackson: Las Vegas” continues Dec. 31, Jan. 3-4 and Feb. 5, 7–8, 12, 14–15.
