Lizzo brings the joy, Sam Smith brings the heat to KISS-FM Jingle Ball at Dickies Arena
Lizzo strutted, danced and made her powerful voice bounce off the back walls to a sold-out and legitimately packed house Tuesday night at Dickies Arena.
The 31-year-old songstress was one of six acts taking part in the KHKS/106.1 FM “KISS-FM” Jingle Ball. The crowd of all ages, including a lot of teen-age girls, sang, danced and waved their arms during the quick-paced, three-hour show.
Others on the bill included singer Lauv, Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, Charlie Puth, British singer-songwriter Sam Smith and the boy band Why Don’t We.
Lizzo, dressed in a white bodysuit with a Santa-inspired robe, packed a punch into a 25-minute set that opened with “Good As Hell” and “Water Me.”
She really let her voice soar on “Cuz I Love You” as her DJ Sophia Eris worked the sound behind her and four female dancers seamlessly worked behind and around her. Lizzo would intermittently slide into their choreographed steps mid-song. Her songs of empowerment and self-confidence were underlined during her opening comments to the crowd after introducing Eris.
“Say, ‘I love you, Sophia,” she asked the crowd, who gladly responded in unison. “Now close your eyes and say, ‘I love you, me.’ Now, look at me and say, ‘I love you, Lizzo.’
The crowd’s response exploded back to her. “There’s a lot of love in this building tonight!” she concluded.
She had the entire arena singing backup as the “Official Fort Worth Choir of Lizzo” before busting into “Juice.”
For her finale, “Truth Hurts,“ she donned a wedding-day veil and led a massive sing-along with clever couplets such as:
“I put the sing in single,
Ain’t worried ‘bout a ring on my finger,
So you can tell your friend, ‘shoot your shot’ when you see ‘em,
It’s OK, he already in my DMs.”
Smith, 27, who gained fame with his 2014 smash song “Stay With Me,” looked suave in matching pink-tinged shirt and slacks. He was backed by a four-piece band, three backup singers and four dancers, who grooved and swayed around him during the opener “Dancing with A Stranger.” His smooth voice, while sometimes overpowered by overbearing bass (which was an issue for most of the acts and most likely a sound system problem), was in fine form and especially effective on “Latch” and the finale “Too Good At Goodbyes.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 3:38 AM.
