Hundreds lined up in the cold last Saturday, waiting for the doors of Oracle Arena to open to get them one step closer to seeing boy band hottie, Justin Timberlake.
Timberlake has come a long way from his N’sync days, with three top-selling albums, Justified, FutureSex/LoveSounds, and The 20/20 Experience. He made a stop in Oakland’s Oracle Arena for his 20/20 World Wide Tour. To say Timberlake blew the place away would be an understatement.
Timberlake performed with his band, The Tennessee Kids, and played a mixture of songs from his latest album to his all-time favorite hits from his older albums, like Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body.
It seemed like the crowd was not feeling the first half the concert. Many in the audience sat down, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but at concerts people usually get up and dance. Throughout the concert Timberlake asked if Oakland was ready to party, to which the crowd responded with screams of “YES!” After a short ten minute intermission, Timberlake and the Tennessee Kids came back, more ready than ever show Oakland that they were on the best in the business.
Timberlake and a few of his dancers got onto a moving stage. Yes, you read that correctly. There was a stage that moved throughout the crowd to bring Timberlake closer to his fans who may not have had the funds for front row seats. He ran from side to side of the stage, to hundreds of screaming fans while singing “Señorita.”
At this point all of Oracle were on their feet, dancing and singing along with Timberlake as he preformed covers from Elvis, Michael Jackson, Kool and the Gang, and Bell Biv DeVoe. He asked fans to put two fingers in the air in remembrance of music legends like Jackson and Elvis.
When Timberlake busted out a favorite Jackson song, “Human Nature,” the crowd went wild. At one point, Timberlake and The Tennessee Kids broke out “Jungle Boogie.” After singing “Murder” he transitioned into “That Girl is Poison.” Mixing his favorites with classic old songs was the perfect way to get the crowd, which was a mixture of teenagers and adults, into a great mood to party.
At one point Timberlake, sang “the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire, we don’t need no water, let the motherfucker burn!” which made the crowd cheer and scream even louder.(He is probably one of the only people who can get away with saying this.)
For an encore, Timberlake sang, “SexyBack,” which had the crowd jumping and singing along with him, knowing their time was coming to a close. But just when the concert seemed to end, he transitioned into “Mirrors,” another fan favorite and one that I believed, (but relieved it was) was not going to be played that night.
With a mixture of great music and amazing dance moves, Timberlake surely brought the party and more to Oakland. If you ever have the chance of seeing him in concert, I highly recommend it, you will not regret it.
