This pop sensation rolls into Rupp going toe-to-toe with Queen Swift
Ariana Grande/Social House
7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine. $44-$199. 859-233-3535, 800-745-3000. rupparena.com, arianagrande.com.
One of the more intriguing aspects to the career of a pop priestess like Ariana Grande is the continual outpouring of online commentary and promotion.
Much of it is overtly fan generated with the intention of allowing the artist in question to seem both monolithic in terms of celebrity status and approachable in terms of audience appeal.
Such a marketing formula for youth-oriented pop stars has been updated in terms of technology, but not in intent. In other words, the promotion is flexible enough to fit Grande’s massive celebrity profile.
Among the more recent internet postings was a query – a literal pop quiz, if you like – from buzzfeed.com that surfaced last weekend. It sought to solve a dilemma that has no doubt triggered an identity crisis among fans by posing one simple question:
Are you more like Ariana Grande or Taylor Swift?
The answer is devised through a series of multiple-choice questions fashioned for GIF-friendly followers as the quiz relies more on pictures than words. It asks purely for preferences on such burning topics as pets (cats vs alligators), meals (pancakes vs fruit) and pastimes (going to the zoo vs, hello, shopping).
No, I didn’t take the bait, mostly because the outcome of the quiz, either way, seemed too frightening. But such junk food-level interrogation actually (and, in all likelihood, unintentionally) posed a more practical premise: that the 26-year-old Grande’s international stardom can be viewed on a somewhat similar battleground as that of the 29-year-old Swift, who remains the most unkillable presence in commercial pop today.
Is it because of the music? The image? The visibility? The marketability? The answers are simple: Yes, yes, yes and yes, because those categories form the whole of the modern pop star. Swift may still reign supreme, but Grande is so close to the throne at this point that comparisons to Queen Swift have become not only commonplace, but expected.
At present, Swift is riding higher on the charts simply because her “Lover” album is newer. Grande’s fifth album, “Thank U, Next,” was released back in February, a mere six months after its predecessor, “Sweetener.” It became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard 200 chart with Rolling Stone magazine wasting no time in declaring it “one of the year’s best pop albums so far.” It also topped charts in a dozen other countries.
Similarly, Grande’s state-of-the art grooves (“Thank U, Next” boast 12 different producers) and orchestral pop sheen can go toe-to-toe, rump-to-rump with Swift’s confident blend of balladry and dance-savvy lyricism. And for those thinking the mighty Swift has the last word in songs of radio-ready kiss-off detachment, get a load of the titles Grande soaks in kerosene and sets afire on “Thank U, Next.” Among them: “Fake Smile,” “Bad Idea,” “Ghostin’,” “Needy” and last winter’s megahit, “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.”
It’s a record fashioned for a cyber-fueled, social media-reared audience full of love/breakup songs and everyday joy/angst sagas that come across like memos. In Grande’s pop universe, these are aural post-it notes from a provocateur too much in motion to dwell on emotions of any extreme too long or too deeply. Here, life is anything but a still-life.
“No current pop star is more adept at stoking and channeling swells of online fan curiosity than Ariana Grande,” wrote Jon Caramanica in the New York Times upon the release of “Thank U, Next.” “(This) is savvy gamesmanship, and an appropriately modern approach to pop superstardom in the age of social media and streaming.”
Alice Cooper
7:30 p.m. Nov.18 at the EKU Center for the Arts, 822 Hall Dr at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. $49.50-$99.50. 859-622-7469. ekucenter.com, alicecooper.com.
What constitutes a logical next-night concert follow-up to Ariana Grande? How about Alice Cooper?
Okay, maybe the parallels between Grande and Swift don’t exactly repeat themselves here. When you leap from Ariana to Alice, you’re crossing genres, genders and generations.
At 71, Cooper remains a cornerstone artist of a fervent Detroit rock ‘n’ roll community. Sure, his commercial heyday is now over four decades behind him, but the tireless Cooper has never stopped. He still records, he still tours and, frankly, he is still a pretty commanding performance presence.
Lexington audiences got to witness the validity of Cooper’s live show, theatrics and all, when he opened for Motley Crue at Rupp Arena in October 2015. With a band of expert players backing him that were, in all likelihood, half his age, Cooper roared through early ‘70s hits (“No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Under My Wheels,” “Billion Dollar Babies”) along with a parade of comparatively recent showpieces (“Poison,” “Dirty Diamonds,” “Feed My Frankenstein”) in a carnival-like performance that, for all of its visual appeal, never overshadowed a still vital sense of rock ingenuity and vigor.
Cooper’s newest recording is “Breadcrumbs.” Released in September, the seven-song EP sports two Cooper originals along with five covers of classics by like minded Motor City rock ambassadors that include Bob Seger (“East Side Story”), the MC5 (“Sister Anne”) and Suzi Quatro (“Your Mama Won’t Like Me”).
Elvis Costello
8 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Louisville Palace, 625 S. 4th in Louisville. $39.50-$89.50. 502-883-5782. louisvillepalace.com, elviscostello.com.
Finally, for those that simply don’t fancy a Sunday date with Ariana, how about a road trip with Elvis?
The same night Grande pours on the pageantry at Rupp, the mighty Elvis Costello heads up the interstate for a Sunday show with his long-running Imposters band at the Louisville Palace.
The performance is part of a tour being billed as Just Trust. One might interpret that as a nod to one of Costello’s greatest recordings, 1981’s “Trust.” But the repertoire he and the Imposters (keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas, holdovers from Costello’s ‘70s/’80s band the Attractions, with bassist Davey Faragher and vocalists Kitten Kuroi and Briana Lee) have been digging into so far this fall covers four decades. Setlists have included late ‘70s staples (“Pump It Up,” “Alison”) and works from the underappreciated 2018 album “Look Now” (“Under Lime,” “Burnt Sugar is So Bitter”) along with a few obscurities and cover tunes. That should earn Elvis and his audience earn some serious trust.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 12:03 PM.