JANET, still Miss Jackson if you’re nasty! blew the crowd away at London’s Royal Albert Hall just over a week ago; touring in the UK for the first time in 13 years JANET performed on three-dates, two of which sold out so rapidly a third was added to meet demands. In support of her latest greatest hits cd Number Ones, this tour dubbed “Number Ones: Up Close and Personal” this arena was a perfectly fitting venue for the show, JANET who stated this tour was about being closer to the fans, using the Royal Albert Hall allowed everyone to see her from wherever they sat.

Opening the set with The Pleasure Principle to-which I sung every word then following up with Control, What Have You For Me Lately, Feedback and 1993′s You Want This off the simply stated janet. album, the songs which followed only reminded the crowd why she’s an icon and still a pop legend. Going through her back-catalogue of hits ranging from the Control album all the way up to 2008′s Discipline, the set featured a notable ballad-segment showcasing JANET’s sweet, sensual and soulful vocals,  plus several medleys, one of which flowed through If, Scream and Rhythm Nation moments before she ended the show with heartfelt but joyful rendition of Together Again, now a tribute to her late brother Michael. Armed with her troop of dancers she effortlessly replicated nearly all the choreography from many of the iconic videos she made during her prime; using her sassy, suave and sexy moves, along with fierce interactions with the audience  she had us all on our feet singing, dancing, and imitating the moves throughout the show, I’ll admit to doing all the Miss You Much routine along with If,  I knew the moves so I wasn’t gonna let that opportunity pass.

Attending both the July 2nd and July 3rd shows, I’ve heard no less from the June 30th attendee’s which included some celebrities in the audience such as JLS, Joe Jonas, Alesha Dixon and more just to name a few. It seems JANET’s really on a good streak right now, one that no doubt’s on a route to increase as time goes on; she revealed during an interview on ITV’s Paul O’Grady show last week (which I also attended) that she’d be touring well into next year with places like Australia, South America and Africa still on her list left to visit, and that’s before she even return’s to the US for a second set of stops next month.

 The only point I note out about the show which could see room for improvement is the length, at 90 Min’s it did feel quite short even though we went through many of the hits. It didn’t affect the vibe of the show, however the atmosphere is so good when it ends it really is a depressing trip back to reality, so it would be nice to see her on stage a bit longer. Perhaps cutting the acting-montage, (this featured clips from Good Times, Different Strokes, Poetic Justice and Why Did I Get Married Too?) now even though it had the audience cheering and clapping their hearts out for joy, I’d much prefer her adding 3 or 4 more songs maybe even another medley, either way it would be a really nice bonus.

Overall I can safely say I had an amazing time at the show and would completely recommend it for anyone, my mum’s a casual fan from the 80s so I brought her along to the last night as a birthday present, she left saying “I LOVE YOU JANET!!”, so even if you’re not a die-hard it’s still definitely an experience, one that’s barely matched by any other artist out at this moment plus it completely gives you that fan-to-artist connection; JANET pointed me out twice during the Encore on both nights I went to see her, the final night I even made her laugh during the dance-break of Rhythm Nation.

Just as she started to do the signature breakdown moves, she spotted me in crowd (4th row, Floor) after screaming at her and jumping up and down with my official Rhythm Nation jacket, she then broke into small giggle; so besides her pointing directly at me later in the show while saying “…Thank you so much”  that point will always be something I’ll remember when I see or hear the song.  Non-rehearsed and not the typical type of wave-n-heart sign’s most fans receive, these points were completely natural and unexpected so in those moment’s my connections with her were really made.

Check out some more images from both of the nights shows below:

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