Las Vegas Sexy Back Show Review

From Variety.com

Justin Timberlake

(House of Blues; 1,200 capacity; $60)

Presented by Samsung and Best Buy. Reviewed Aug. 11, 2006.

Band: Timberlake, Lloyd "Skip" Dorsey, Charles Willson III, Kevin Walker, Terry Santel, John Blackwel, Mike Scott, Rob Stevenson, Darrell Adams, Denosh Bennett, Diedra Artis. Musical director: Kevin Antunes.
Guests: Timbaland, Three 6 Mafia, will.i.am.

By JEFF MILLER



Though Justin Timberlake's gone from being a punchline as a member of 'NSync to one of the most successful solo artists on the planet, he's never really been taken seriously as a musician. If this show -- one of a series of club dates to promote his forthcoming new album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (Jive) -- is any indication, that's about to change. Instead of offering a dancing, light-filled spectacle, Timberlake adeptly leads a huge band through complex music, rewriting his songs -- and his still-young legacy -- along the way.
Timberlake jumps from keys to guitar to beatboxing to falsetto vocals, none feeling forced or amateurish and all imbued with a passion and professionalism that make his musicianship seem like far more than a token pull for credibility. As the show starts -- with the theme from "Peter and the Wolf," which segues into his huge smash "Cry Me a River" -- it's immediately obvious that this huge band is not just listening to each other, as most pop bands do, but following Timberlake's cues, flipping it from straight-ahead pop to a stutter-step beat that seems near-random and works perfectly.

On "Senorita," the band takes the Latin soul of the song and adds huge, stop-on-a-dime hits and funk-laced Rhodes fills, all executed effortlessly.

The revisionism doesn't stop there. Timberlake straps on a guitar for "Like I Love You," eventually creating a live mash-up as he and the band play the lick of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" while he sings "I just wanna love you, babe." Some would argue that might have Kurt Cobain spinning in his grave, but Timberlake's obvious respect for the material might have persuaded even Cobain of Timberlake's transformation.

An ample portion of the new record was previewed, and though there was one too many slow ballads, some of the songs -- like the Commodores beat of "Damn, Girl" (performed with producer and frequent collaborator will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, shamelessly singing the hook) and the Maroon 5-ish blue-eyed soul of "What Goes Around" fit seamlessly into his club-ready arsenal.

Pacing was a bit of a problem -- three slow songs in the middle of the show, including a virtual "Cry Me a River" rewrite, were a bit much -- but Timberlake made up for it at the close, with an enthusiastic cameo from the hip-hop crew Three 6 Mafia and, especially, Timbaland, who teased his Nelly Furtado collab "Promiscuous" (with Timberlake on bass-smashing beat-box) before he and Timberlake raved through their current bootie-bop hit "SexyBack."

For Timberlake, this show was a revelation; though on his forthcoming arena tour he'll likely go back to choreography and show-stopping set pieces, at the House of Blues no one was reminded of his boy-band past. Instead, at this show he had more in common with long-term artists (and obvious heroes) James Brown and Michael Jackson, both of whom at their peak maintained their charisma while showing off their chops. Now that Timberlake's proven he's got a spot at that very exclusive superstar table, he's hindered only by his own creativity, which at this point seems expansive -- and near limitless.