Adam Young of Owl City performed at the Jingle Ball Sunday in St. Paul / Star Tribune photo by Marlin Levison
By Jon Bream
From top to bottom, this was one of the better Jingle Balls. And that's not what I expected.
Though it was heavy on tween appeal, the 8-act lineup kept the crowd's interest throughout the five-hour-plus program. A large percentage of the crowd even stayed for Pitbull, who was ferocious and fantastic. A colleague told me that her 11-year-old daughter texted from the show (OMG! Justin is HOT!!) but she actually went to see Pitbull. Good taste, young lady.
All the artists on the bill had a command of the stage except for perhaps Colbie Caillat. She's improved, by doing things such as dancing to the music when her guitarist takes a solo. But the blase LA singer-songwriter still plays more to her band than to the audience. For my full review of the show, click here.
There were two disappointments:
*Adam Lambert, a late enlistee as guest host, was hopelessly subdued in dress, demeanor and words. I didn't expect him to make out with KDWB franchise DJ Dave Ryan but Glambert was so Kris Allen tame. It also would have been appropos to hear a little music from Adam even if it was only a video broadcast on the screens.
*The stage production was subpar, especially considering that many tickets cost $75. The sound system was inadequate (if you didn't know the words, they were hard to decipher). The stage backdrop was bargain basement: Four blinking snowflakes and two blinking stars plus three garden-variety video screens. And the stage lighting was basic, at best.
