Pop star Justin Timberlake thrilled a nearly hysterical Auckland crowd with a set full of raunchy hits. Reviewer Chris Schulz was there.
 

Red lights, laser beams, dry humping and strippers. You could be forgiven for thinking you’d wandered into an erotic nightclub instead a pop music show by a former boy band member.

But this is Justin Timberlake, and during the first of three concerts at Auckland’s Vector Arena, the chart-topping pop star known as ‘JT’ proved he’s good enough to do whatever he wants – including getting a lap dance in front of 12,000 people.

If that moment – during a raunchy version of Damn Girl as strippers strutted around the giant stage – came as a shock to some of the parents in the audience, the pre-show warm-up music must have been downright disturbing.

By playing Nine Inch Nails’ Closer – a dark tale of misogyny with lyrics that can’t be reprinted here – Timberlake sounded a warning right from the start: He’s here to bring sexy back in any way he sees fit.

And he succeeded, with a thrilling two-hour-plus show that soared as high as the hot air balloon ride over Auckland he was rumoured to have enjoyed with his girlfriend Jessica Biel earlier in the day.

He opened with FutureSex/LoveSounds, sashaying across the stage with his signature dance moves while introducing the crowd to his excellent band and a large team of back-up dancers.

The stage may have been crowded but the spotlight was only ever on Timberlake. At times – during his biggest hits My Love, Rock Your Body and Cry Me A River – the screams from the young, largely female crowd were nearly hysterical.

And they only got louder during a spectacular rendition of What Goes Around… as a giant wheel of lights descended on the stage, hovering over Timberlake in a scene resembling something out of War of the Worlds.

A 20-minute intermission gave the crowd time to catch their breath, and when Timberlake returned – yep, to more screams – he showed why he managed to shed those humble boy band beginnings so successfully.

We all know he can sing and dance, but did anyone know he was a multi-instrumentalist? We do now, as he played acoustic guitar on Like I Love You, piano on Senorita and keyboards on My Love. He even busted out a keytar during Sexy Ladies.

About the only thing Timberlake couldn’t do was rap Three 6 Mafia’s verse on Chop Me Up. But you just know he probably would have pulled it off if he tried.

He’d already steamed up Vector’s windows, but to hit his point home, Timberlake indulged in some dry humping during Summer Love, then ended with his signature tune SexyBack, complete with laser beams scanning the audience.

For the encore, he ventured out on to the stage for a final – probably unnecessary – ballad and to tell the crowd New Zealand was the “most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life” with the “nicest people I’ve ever met”.

And he praised our fruit growing abilities, complimenting our “giant” strawberries.

Sexy, humble and funny? Pull that King of Pop crown down tight over your head, Justin. It’s going to be yours for a very long time.

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