“If I’m going out, I’m going out big!” pop singer Cyndi Lauper gleefully stated from the stage at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night. The accomplished singer, writer, activist, and actress is saying farewell to the road after a professional singing career spanning over 40 years. And, in true celebratory and colorful style, Lauper delivered one hell of a final show in the Tampa area for just under 10,000 fans who filled nearly every seat in the arena for this gala.
First appearing on the elaborately decorated and designed stage via a quick-cut video montage that tracked many of her looks and career highlights dating back to her bursting on the pop music scene in the early-‘80s, it was obvious why Lauper is so loved and admired to her many fans. Her charisma, magnetism, individuality, and charm are infectious and have set her apart from her peers. When she appeared on the stage following the montage, the 71-year-old proved, in real-time, that she hasn’t lost an ounce of that oomph that’s made her stand out for over four decades.
Clad in a space-age silver and black outfit and donning a mint green mop of curly hair, Lauper dove head first into her trove of hits with “She Bop,” her bouncy, new wave ode to masturbation. In fine form both physically and musically, the petite New Yorker with the towering voice commanded the stage and held the audience captive, with the help of her fine seven-piece band. Never one to mince words and to speak her mind, Lauper added an ad-libbed line within the song: following the lyric “…ain’t no law against it yet…,” Lauper then muttered “But give it time,” as a nod to the current political climate. She’d punctuate her spoken passages with more blatant messages throughout the night but was extremely caring and positive when doing so. More on that later.
Lauper alone is visually stunning to watch and observe, but the spectacular and cutting-edge light displays and projection screens that adorned the stage made the evening even more spectacular. Her take on the theme song from the 1985 kid flick The Goonies, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” included clips from the film that were beamed on the screens and made to look like long strips of film. In a clever nod, Lauper included her cover of Prince’s “When You Were Mine” into the mix, as purple neon shone brightly around the entire stage and the borders of all the video screens. Admittedly, those added touches would have been easy to miss, as Lauper was delivering her first true avalanche of vocal prowess for the night on the number, and poured every drop of passion she possesses into her delivery. Anyone in attendance who might have had any doubt about the power and sheer magnitude of Lauper’s vocal capabilities had to have taken notice during this, one of the night’s many showstoppers.
Lauper herself added to the feast of visual magic happening on the stage. For her rendering of “I Drove All Night,” and following one of her many costume and wig changes, she appeared wearing a long, white, flowy gown and held the skirt portion up in front of her to allow for crystal clear images of automobiles to be projected on her garment, all the while delivering another one of her exquisite vocal performances, which switched between cooing and sensual to commanding forcefulness in an instant. Few can sing with the freeness and the variety of tones Lauper bakes into her performances, but that’s an essential quotient in what makes her such a rare and irresistible talent.
Lauper’s between-song anecdotes and stories are nearly as enjoyable and intriguing as her vocal displays. Speaking about her own personal life, her journey, and turning those observations into messages of hope and inspiration for those in the house, Lauper stressed the importance of realizing that the experiences we encounter are merely chapters of our lives and that they don’t define our whole lives before launching into a gut-wrenching take on 1993’s “Who Let in the Rain” from her grossly overlooked album Hat Full of Stars. Again, the marvelous visuals helped in making this memorable, as jumbo screens appeared to create the illusion of rain coming down on the performer as she sang the song.
Plenty of fun and playfulness was injected into the performance, including a New Orleans-style take on “Iko Iko,” which featured Lauper playing the washboard, and a nod to Rockabilly Queen Wanda Jackson (who Lauper credits as one of the first female rock singers) with a fiery version of “Funnel of Love,” a song first popularized by Ms. Jackson.
Lauper became a little more impassioned and forthright in her messaging as the night wore on. Describing women in modern society as “second class citizens” and lamenting that “Only men can do what they want with their bodies; women can’t” in an obvious nod to the current state of womens’ reproductive rights at this time in society, Lauper was staunch in her conviction and then delivered an incredible performance of another one of her overlooked tunes, “Sally’s Pigeons,” another standout from Hat Full of Stars.
The latter portion of the show highlighted many of Lauper’s biggest hits and crowdpleasers and served as an excellent way to bring this farewell performance to a triumphant close. A fun sing-along take on “Sisters of Avalon” was followed by the tender tear-jerker “Time After Time” for which Lauper asked everyone to hold up their cellphones to light up the room for the song. Switching from balladry to all-out rock and roll is another one of Lauper’s mighty gifts, and she seamlessly did so in transitioning to the next selection, a supercharged version of the new wave song “Money Changes Everything” which featured prominently on her 1983 breakout album, She’s So Unusual.
An encore included the anthemic “Shine,” which found the petite powerhouse singer walking through the floor portion of the arena, and through the audience, to make her way to a small stage that stood in the center of the venue. There, she delivered the absolute tour de force of the night, an emotional, heartfelt rendition of “True Colors,” her 1986 hit that has long been equated with the LGBTQIA+ community, a section of her audience that Lauper has always been very protective and representative of. As she sang, she held a rainbow-colored long, sheer scarf that flowed and blew through the air, thanks to the air that was being pumped from the floor of the stage. Knowing that Lauper has always been a fierce supporter of this often-oppressed and ostracized community provided a genuine air of hope and respect that rang true from her impassioned delivery.
“I wanted all of you to have a good time…especially tonight,” Lauper said, no doubt alluding to election results which didn’t end the way many in the audience might have liked. And, with that, she closed this joyous night with her feminist party dance anthem, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and gave the entire audience an upbeat note to close on, and a chance to sing along and feel the positivity and the hope in the air that she so marvelously conjured throughout her superb performance.
