Christina Aguilera: Back to basics concert tomorrow

Anticipation is running high as Christina Aguilera performs in Manila tomorrow at the Bonifacio Global City.

One of the most accomplished performers of the last decade, Aguilera has sold well over 25 million albums worldwide and cultivated a fan base that crosses generational, racial, and gender lines.

Last year, she released her third studio album Back To Basics, a modern take on vintage jazz, soul and blues from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.

In the following interview, Christina discusses details about her upcoming tour.

What can we expect on this tour?

Ok, you’re getting right into it. This tour actually is my most inspired tour. I’m so excited about it. I actually just finished the American leg of the tour and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had with a show of my own on stage, ever. I’m just so excited every night to get out there in front of my audience and give them—just to bring my album to life.

As my fans know, I’m so into my visuals and making sure that the image that goes along with my music you know, definitely tells the story and kind of let’s my audience’s imagination run wild. It takes them out of their elements, whatever their day may consisted of, this is definitely a moment to just relax and enjoy a real show with all elements involved such as using your imagination. My dancers went into training to bring it, my album—it is a double album—and on disc two I’ve flirted and used different elements of the circus—an old vintage circus in my work and the dancers went into training. I’m so proud of them—learned how to stilt walk, swing over—what is it called now, kind of acrobatics swing, fire throw—there’s so many different circus elements that are involved in this show and it’s just super fun and the audience’s face whenever they see all of it, is just really, really fun. So, it’s a fun show. It’s really great. It’s one that you don’t want to miss.

Yes, going off what you just said and in addition to the circus elements you mentioned earlier… I see the tour involves no fewer than 10 costume changes, 600 moving lights, etc., etc. Sounds like a lot of razzle dazzle, so I just—I want to play devil’s advocate and ask, does all this really qualify as getting back to basics?

Yes. Well, that’s also the thing. Nowadays, I don’t think it would be fair to my audience to just kind of sit on the stage with a mike if I play an arena and a venue like that I want my audience to be able to look around and enjoy a show from all aspects. I do more low key kind of style and set up with simply my band and trying to bring it back to an old, almost modern-day juke joint feel.

Whenever I do play smaller venues, say kind of at certain kind of clubs, more on like a House of Blues kind of size, but at an arena, I think it’s only fair to my audience to fill up the space and to give them a real show. You know, for me, whenever I go to see a concert, whenever I go to see a show, I really enjoy being taken out of my element for a moment and really being able to use my imagination and enter this whole different world. And from me, we do bring sort of a larger-than-life feel to this you know, old concept. So for me, it wasn’t about literally going back to the old and doing it that way. As I said before, it is important for me to do my own interpretation of that and kind of bring a modern-day feel to that. And nowadays there are so many different things going on at concerts and so many visuals to be involved and for me, as you can see through my video making, it’s really important for me to use those visuals and really go there creatively, to think outside the box and do something really superstar for my audience. And for me, that’s just an important and fun element of what I do as an artist—to use those visuals and everything. And we don’t start with kind of a—sort of a jazz kind of big band era, kind of feel, but all sort of trying to make it as big as possible… my band gets involved in some of the choreography. It’s amazing that everybody sort of gets involved. We’re all such teammates with each other when we’re on that stage and we just all have such fun together. And then we go into sort of a juke joint feel where we kind of you know, slash that with going to church, there’s a whole with the song “Makes Me Want to Pray,” kind of opens the doors to kind of go to that real soulful, let’s go to church kind of place, where we just have the best time. And then we open it up to a circus element [scene], so there’s a—so there’s quite a journey that goes on, on stage for my audience and as a performer. But it all does have a tie together, so it all kind of makes sense. You really just got to come see the show, all right. It’s so much fun to put on and we have a blast with it.

You’ve referred to a lot of the older music as fun music and given what you’ve known, said about some of your past, what did you get out of this music as a kid and how have you tried to translate that into what you do now?

You know, yes, as much as it is—I do talk about it being feel good music. Yes, there are songs that totally fit that to a tee, but then of course, there’s a lot of sadness in old music and in blues. It originates from pain and I mean, I think that’s really beautiful.

To me, there’s beauty in that. I really don’t shy away from anything that a lot of people would consider dark music because I find comfort in that. And as you said, I do talk openly about my past and what I’ve gone through—abuse being something that was very real in my household, a lot of chaos growing up as a child. I think that I naturally just gravitated toward music that I could really feel on a—on a deep level—and that meant sadness. I think that I was really able to really connect with that as a—at a really young age just because there was a lot of sadness in that.

You know, I mean, when there’s domestic violence in the house there’s a lot of pain there and I think that’s what made me connect at a really early age. I’d say that it’s quite normal for six- or seven-year-old to really gravitate toward that style of music or that sound, but I did on the level that you know, these singers sing with such passion and such realness and to me that felt good. And it still feels good to this day.

Tell me a little bit about your approach to the repertoire of the tour and weaving in the you know, your older material with all—with a lot of new material from this album.

Yes, sure, it’s great that every time I go out on tour, I do come with a kind of a different feel and look and vibe and a different place than I was before musically. And it’s just really fun for me to get together with my band and to reinvent some of the old material in a new and inventive way. I think my audience really enjoys it. I really enjoy it. And for this one, we are doing a “What A Girl Wants” is one of the songs that we bring back and it’s—and it’s really fun just because we sort of have an old school reggae twist on it. So, we have a lot of fun with that one and the audience gets to enjoy these songs in a new light. There are other songs as well, but it is important for me to just you know, reinvent them, give them a whole fresh sound and something new for everybody to enjoy.

What did you—from the American leg—did you learn anything? Did you make any adjustments just from things that you observed and learned and got feedback from?

The first few shows, yes, probably I, you know, I’m an extreme perfectionist, so if something doesn’t quite feel right for me on stage, sure we’ll make adjustments I have to be honest, with this particular show I really didn’t—I didn’t really have to change anything. Maybe a few tweaks and maybe a few moves on my part to let my background singers help me out a little bit on certain things so that I can fully give my audience my all in vocal capabilities. But you know, it is—it is tricky trying to work those costume changes and trying to work those dance moves along with the vocals involved, but we always make the proper adjustments to make it to the audience’s liking. So, we have the best time with this show. But, you know, yes, there’s always certain tweaks to be made.

Before you mentioned Rosie the Riveter and you know, sort of empowering women and different messages you’ve had in your songs and I’m curious if you purposefully chose two female groups to open the tour as part of that sort of continuation of your message about empowering women or if that just happened organically?

It did just happen, but I’m so glad that it did because it is—it’s nice to have an all-female, girl-empowered kind of show. I’m happy that we all are able to do it together and you know, be in support of other women. I think with so much out there and so much press that tries to pit people against people, especially females and trying to instigate, “cat-fights” and things like that. I mean trust me I’m not a stranger to being the victim of that—in the press. So, the more opportunities that I have to really get the message out there that women should be more in support of other women and especially now in my life where you know, when you’re younger you kind of don’t know how to respond to the press and the games that they play sometimes in trying to pit people against people. And at this point, it’s like you know, why any drama at all? Let’s play the game with them. You know, let’s team together and you know, really give them something to talk about. So, it’s just fun and I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun and I hear that these girls have really positive things to say.
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