On concert tour, Janet invites fans inside her velvet rope

Jet, Sept 7, 1998

Janet Jackson has said her hit album, The Velvet Rope, is her "most personal" and revealing recording ever. The same can be said about her current the "Velvet Rope Tour." It is by far, her most personal, revealing and exciting tour.

Janet opens up and invites fans inside her "velvet rope" on the sizzling tour, which is selling out in every city. It is the superstar's first U.S. tour since the sold-out "janet" tour in 1993, which ran through 1994.

She performs with complete freedom as she takes her fans on a revealing, musical journey of her long career. With wit, sass, dance and a whole lot of sex appeal, Janet turns her song and dance fest into one of the major musical events of the year. In fact, it has become the must-see concert of the year.

"I'm inviting you inside my velvet rope," she explains. "I have a need to feel special and so do you. We share a burning need to belong."

From the moment she opens her musical extravaganza with the tune The Velvet Rope, her fans are swept away and feel they are indeed special.

She explains the meaning of her "velvet rope": "We've all driven by premieres or nightclubs and have seen the rope separating those who can enter and those who can't. Well, there's also a velvet rope we have inside us, keeping others from knowing our feelings. In The Velvet Rope, I'm trying to expose and explore those feelings."

She reveals, "During my life, I've been on both sides of the rope. At times, especially during my childhood, I felt left out and alone. At times I felt misunderstood."

With huge on-stage videos, hightech lighting and elaborate sets, she invites her fans into her show, which is part down-home R&B dance/fun and part Broadway musical.

"There are different sides to the show," Janet recently told USA Today. "Parts of it are more fun, with songs like Escapade, and then there's the dance stuff and the serious stuff with a message. But you have to watch the show very carefully because it tells a story--the story of my life."

Backed by a six-piece band, two singers and nine dancers, she performs every Janet Jackson hit you can think of. She sings everything from Control to Pleasure Principle, That's The Way Love Goes, Rhythm Nation and of course her hits from The Velvet Rope album, including Got Til It's Gone, I Get Lonely, Go Deep and the uplifting, Together Again.

Janet seems to move and dance constantly throughout the more than two-hour, high-energy show. She recently revealed to the Los Angeles Times how she stays in shape during the tour.

"I work out six days a week, about 2 or 2 1/2 hours. You need to take one day off just to let your body rest. I'll do cardio for an hour or whatever it takes to get your heart up. I used to run four miles a day or cycle 25 miles a day on a machine, but now I love boxing," she explained.

One of the evening's highlights is when she turns the stage into a spectacular Alice in Wonderland-inspired carnival set and invites her fans to escape and join the fun during her "Escapade" segment, which includes When I Think Of You, Miss You Much and Escapade.

Another highlight is her performance of the ballad Special, which she sings as childhood and family photos are shown on the video screens. The song brings fans back to the tour's theme--a need to feel special.

"Getting back to that child," Janet explains, "and giving the child what the child may have missed--the reassurance of a nourishing and accepting love, a love that says you are special--is hard work. It can be scary, but like the song says, we have to deal with the past to live completely--and freely--in the present."

Special soars with the optimism that gives Janet's odyssey its spiritual energy. The message is clear: Pain is not permanent. By looking at it, by working through it, pain is transformed, Janet believes. Love causes the transformation. It is the love that lives within us all.

The tour is winning rave reviews from critics and fans. The Los Angeles Times noted, "Jackson has put a personal stamp on this show that humanizes not only the music but also the performer too."

Adding to the tour's success is teen sensation Usher, who opens the show and performs a 45-minute set of hits from his multiplatinum album My Way, including You Make Me Wanna and Nice & Slow. With a slick, well-choreographed show and great showmanship, Usher proves that he has a long career in show business.

Janet also has opened her "velvet rope" to America's children and is donating a portion of the tour to "America's Promise--The Alliance For Youth," which is headed by Ret. General Colin Powell, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The nationwide nonprofit organization is dedicated to improving the lives of more than 15 million at-risk youths. Funds raised from the tour will be earmarked for direct use in children's mentoring programs throughout the U.S.

The Velvet Rope album and tour celebrates the growth Janet has made as a performer and woman.

"Life is a journey, and I'm still walking it," she recently told The Washington Post. "And, like everyone, I'm going to have some days that are better than others, some days that are tougher than others."