Feb. 24 at Kemper Arena |
A dozen gorgeous female vocalists graced the stage in Kemper Arena Saturday evening.
The five women of Danity Kane delighted the audience of approximately 14,000.

And the six fetching members of the Pussycat Dolls demonstrated remarkable dancing prowess. But their efforts were rendered superfluous after a stunning 90-minute performance by headliner Christina Aguilera.
As with her opening acts, Aguilera s sexually charged show exposed plenty of skin.

Yet Aguilera is more than that. Based on the strength of her performance Saturday, the 26-year-old Aguilera may eventually be one of the iconic voices of her time.
Her set began in dramatic fashion.

A curtain raised to reveal the star dressed in a tight white suit. She tore into her monstrous hit Ain t No Other Man. It was one of a dozen songs from last year s Back to Basics album in the 18-song set.

The release evokes vintage American music, from 40s swing to 60s soul.
The platinum blonde s tiny body belies her enormous voice. While the multi-octave flash she regularly unleashed early in her career may have spawned legions of misguided imitators, Aguilera lustrous voice was always in service of the song.

Such restraint paid dividends on the deeply moving ballads Hurt and Beautiful. These emotional touchstones were the evening s highlights.
Also effective was Oh Mother.

I endured a lot of domestic violence in my household, Aguilera said before singing the autobiographical song as brutal images flashed across three video screens. Such moments make the self-referential Still Dirrty and her provocative interpretation of Lady Marmalade feel all the more tawdry.
A terrific 12-piece band and a troupe of dancers complemented Aguilera.

Her intricate production included numerous costume changes and a circus-themed segment replete with trapezes and torch jugglers. These elements added to the visual feast, but Aguilera s talent doesn t require such props.
The sugary pop confections of the Pussycat Dolls were eagerly lapped up by the predominantly female audience.

The group s Kimberly Wyatt received a huge ovation when she introduced herself as your hometown girl. She was born in Warrensburg, Mo.
Members of Danity Kane, the product of a television reality show, began the night by disrobing the moment the stage lights hit them.

Christina Aguilera s setlist: Ain t No Other Man; Back in the Day; Understand; Come On Over (All I Want Is You); Slow Down Baby; Still Dirrty; Makes Me Wanna Pray; What a Girl Wants; Oh Mother; Enter the Circus; Welcome; Dirrty; Candyman; Nasty Naughty Boy; Hurt; Lady Marmalade; Beautiful; Fighter.
Feb. 22 at the VooDoo Lounge |
Loretta Lynn needs no introduction.

She needs no pomp and pageantry, either. But the matriarch of country music arrived on the VooDoo Lounge stage looking as regal as a queen. Despite her fashion a rhinestoned ball gown the color of a tropical sea; her long hair arranged atop her head like a crown she put on no airs or made no bones about who she still is.

As she sang in her second number: If you re lookin at me, you re lookin at country.
Her one-hour set followed a 30-minute warm-up by her six-man band and her twin singing daughters, Peggy and Patsy (the Lynns).
For about half of her set, Lynn, 72, took a seat in an armchair placed like a throne at center stage.

It was there as a precaution, she said, so she wouldn t have to stand for the entire show and risk another accident.
Lynn is still recovering from a fractured left shoulder sustained in a fall last summer at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. She broke it in four places and needed joint replacement, including the insertion of a titanium rod.

I m bionic, she joked. It s getting better, though. Pretty soon I ll be able to pitch a ball again.

The show was like that all night, a mix of good music and some vaudeville/Branson comedy. She encouraged the sell-out crowd (800 or so) to shout out song requests but warned: I probably won t sing them. She was about half-right
The crowd was a mix of long-time fans, some of them her age, some of them one-third her age.

The younger ones were there for a distant brush with White Stripes: They shouted requests for songs from Van Lear Rose, the album Lynn made with Jack White of the Whaat Straps, as she pronounced it. Jack s a rock n roller, she said, for the benefit of anyone who didn t know.
She indulged those younger fans with a much more rustic version of Portland, Oregon.

But she focused most of the show on her hits and standards: You Ain t Woman Enough, When the Tingle Becomes a Chill, I Wanna Be Free, Fist City. Her setlist comprised 21 songs (including the interlude by her background singers), and she was quick to remind her listeners: I wrote about 99 percent of them.
And many of them pack the same lyrical punch they did when she wrote them.

She preceded Dear Uncle Sam with a brief story and a firm, nonpartisan declaration: I hate war.
She drew things to a close with a string of spiritual, gospel numbers, including Where No One Stands Alone and How Great Thou Art. She ended the night with her signature, Coal Miner s Daughter.

A lot of things have changed since she wrote that song about her hardscrabble youth: She s out of Butcher Holler and she can buy all the shoes and handmade gowns she wants, but Loretta Lynn is still true country, right through her mending bones.
Loretta Lynn s setlist: Let Your Love Flow; You re Lookin at Country; I Wanna Be Free; When the Tingle Becomes a Chill; You Ain t Woman Enough; Here I Am Again; Fist City; Red White and Blue; Portland, Oregon; Blue Kentucky Girl; One s on the Way/The Pill; Dear Uncle Sam; I m a Honky-Tonk Girl; Peaceful, Easy Feeling; I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow; Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven; Who Says God Is Dead!; Where No One Stands Alone; How Great Thou Art; Coal Miner s Daughter.