Walking into the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Friday, October 9th, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Everybody knows Ariana Grande is talented, but I really had no idea what “The Honeymoon Tour” had in store for us.
First off, we were all given pairs of tiny light-up cat ears. How cute! The cat ears came equipped with a QR code that you could scan to connect to Ariana’s fan community on the Fahlo app. During the show, the ears would light up in synchronized flashes that went along to the songs.
Once we found our seats, it didn’t take long for the first opening act, a solo singer who goes by “I Am Fancy”, to come out. We didn’t even know Ariana had two opening acts, so Fancy caught us by surprise! Dressed in a sparky kimono, Fancy commanded the stage and interacted well with the audience. Even though we weren’t expecting him, Fancy got the crowd pumped up with his Beyonce covers and his silly dance moves.
The second surprise of the night was Prince Royce. His whole performance was a huge production, and it looked fantastic. Royce brought the Justin Bieber vibes with his dance moves and flashy outfits. Or lack there of—he was shirtless at one point. But nobody was complaining! Royce was a huge hit with the crowd. He even brought a girl up on stage and serenaded her. Everyone else in the audience was jealous. Royce was personable and fun and his music was awesome too. He also sang covers of popular songs like “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap and “Earned It” by the Weekend. Royce was on the stage for a little less than an hour, but he was high energy the whole time.
Finally, it came time for Ariana. Her set was beautiful and so was she. She emerged after a nail-biting one minute countdown. Her first song was her huge hit “Bang Bang” with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. She even rapped all of Nicki’s parts! Ariana hit the stage with her crew of over ten backup dancers — and their moves were incredible.
Ariana’s vocals truly shined when she took the stage alone to sing her slower songs like “Why Try”. Her range was phenomenal. Everyone in the audience could tell how much she was putting into her performance. I found myself simply staring in awe as she sang.
But she didn't just sing— she danced too! And in knee high stiletto boots at that! She ran around the stage in those stilettos with more poise than most people can in tennis shoes. She flawlessly delivered each song throughout the almost two hour performance.
The level of production that went into her show was truly of Walt Disney caliber. Each number was not only expertly choreographed, but each number brought a new and different vibe to the show. It was incredibly high energy. The set for the show was nothing short of beautiful — especially when Ariana flew on to the stage inside of a huge chandelier!
Ariana also took her time to thank the audience and talk about how much she loves New Orleans. She said that after spending some time there filming Scream Queens, she couldn’t wait to be back. She made sure to tell the audience how much she appreciated their love and support.
The sets, the choreography and her immense talent made for such a winning combination. Ariana Grande’s “Honeymoon Tour” was definitely a huge party, and one worth RSVP’ing to.
