I wouldn't call myself a huge Demi Lovato fan. I remember buying her album "Don't Forget" from Limited Too in 2012, but after that, I didn't pay her much attention. I would hear her songs on Top 40 radio stations and think they were pretty good, albeit overplayed.
When I heard that her Tell Me You Love Me Tour was going to be making its very first stop at my university, I thought that it could be an interesting show to attend. And boy, was I correct.
The Tell Me You Love Me Tour, featuring songs off of Lovato's 2017 album of the same name, kicked off in San Diego on February 26. It features Demi Lovato as the headliner, along with Kehlani and DJ Khaled as her openers.
The concert start time was listed as 7:30 p.m., and we arrived and took our seats around 7:15 p.m. Kehlani took the stage at about 7:28 p.m. as people were still trickling into the arena and getting settled in their seats. She performed an interesting and vocally fantastic set, but she started so early that the arena hadn't yet reached its full capacity for the night. I wasn't too familiar with Kehlani's discography going in, but I still enjoyed her set and was impressed by the vocal acrobatics she was able to do live.
After Kehlani's set and a short intermission to change the stage set-up, DJ Khaled took the stage for his set. His portion of the performance was honestly unlike any I'd ever seen before. He has a very interesting stage presence and only did about half of the actual DJing included in his performance.
His portion of the concert didn't feature any songs in their entirety, but rather a 30-ish minute mix of a bunch of different songs from different artists. The selection of songs he included was a good balance between older and newer songs, and got the crowd on their feet and singing along.
As you may know, DJ Khaled isn't a vocalist on tracks. He mostly just adds some occasional outbursts of "DJ Khaled!" or "We the best music!" among other similar phrases. And that's exactly what he did for his performance, too.
He did a good job of interacting with the audience, but he would occasionally cut the music in an effort to get the audience to finish the lyrics, but he'd sometimes have the audience sing for an almost uncomfortable amount of time before turning the music back on. He had an assistant on stage that was seemingly live streaming or snapchatting the entire performance. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but DJ Khaled's performance was really fun and easy to sing and dance along to.
Around 9 p.m., Demi Lovato finally took the stage. Dressed in a black bodysuit and thigh high boots, Demi kicked off her performance with a vocally stunning performance of a track from her newest album called "You Don't Do It for Me Anymore." Her concert consisted of 19 songs, along with multiple costume changes and shift from the main stage to a smaller stage on the arena floor, which consisted of a king sized bed on a turntable.
Lovato's performance was stunning in more ways than one. Her vocals were amazing, especially considering the choreography going. For her song "Games," several backup dancers dressed in the same outfit with a hood shrouding their faces were positioned around the arena. The spotlight would move from dancer to dancer in all different areas of the venue, forcing the audience to guess which one was the real Lovato.
At one point, Demi requested a "volunteer from the audience," and selected a seemingly random woman from the crowd. Then, to everyone's surprise, the woman's boyfriend emerged from the trapdoor in the stage and proposed to her. Afterward, a slideshow of their pictures was shown on the jumbotrons as Demi serenaded them with her song "Yes."
Immediately following this, Demi brought out students who survived the deadly school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14th, and encouraged fans to donate to help the school afford mental health counseling for their students and staff. The concert concluded with performances of "Sorry Not Sorry" and the tour's namesake "Tell Me You Love Me" where Demi was joined on stage by the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus.
Overall, the concert was amazing. Lovato put on an absolutely amazing and thoroughly enjoyable performance which I was able to appreciate even though I was completely familiar with all of the songs.
The surprises throughout showed Demi's compassion for her fans and others and her commitment to inclusivity. I would very much recommend seeing this tour if you have the means to do so. Demi Lovato is a true performer and definitely showcases that in this tour.
