Live Review: Justin Timberlake

Live Review: Justin Timberlake

With a show like this you don't need a movie-star girlfriend: Aidin Vaziri | He left nothing to chance. There was an enormous in-the-round stage with lasers shooting out of it, half-naked dancers hanging off all corners, dueling live bands on either side, burly back-up singers hovering over the crowd, even a virtual orchestra and gospel choir beamed onto the massive curtains suspended above his head. All that was missing was a unicorn pulling a golden chariot full of rose petals. Just in case that didn't cover it, Timberlake proved the law of physics that a superstar in motion stays in motion. Sprinting from one end of the floor to the other, he was a tireless showman, pausing only for impressive stints behind the piano, guitar and, yes, the wildly maligned keytar. He even sang a snippet of the Commodores' "Easy" to make all the parents checking their watches in the back jump up and down for a little bit. Dressed in a gray three-piece suit, Timberlake knocked out an extraordinary procession of hits early in the evening ("Like I Love You," "My Love," "Senorita") and seemed to have plenty more to dish out after he slipped into something a little more comfortable ("Rock Your Body," "Damn Girl," 'N Sync's "Gone"). It was kind of hard to believe he covered so much ground with just two solo albums. Then again, anyone smart enough to take what Prince, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder were doing back in the day and put a modern twist on it is bound to surprise. And sell billions.