Selena Gomez Kicks Off ‘Revival’ Tour With A Big Bang

Selena Gomez, like a force of nature, cannot be stopped even by an auto-immune disease. She kicked off her Revival tour on Friday night with a big bang without any assistance from her on-again and off-again boyfriend Justin Bieber. Also, Selena’s BFF Taylor Swift was not around. Apparently, opening a concert tour that consists of 75 different play dates and without any sort of safety net was all part of Selena’s grand plan, as the Daily Mail quoted her as follows.

“It’s the music that I created. It’s the music that I wrote. That is my story to a T. Everybody’s seen my journey so it’s been exciting to actually celebrate it now and tour it and connect with people.”

Surely, no one in the audience at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Center is thinking that Selena Gomez still considers herself a victim. Flashback to 2013, Selena had to abruptly cancel her Stars Dance Tour after she was diagnosed with lupus, a mysterious disease that causes the body’s own immune system to attack itself. The exact cause of the disease is not known, as lupus is not contagious.

It is, however, a dangerous disease in the sense that it can destroy any organ in the human body. The actress, singer, songwriter, and producer has disclosed this news herself, aftet she underwent chemotherapy for lupus. But, since lupus is an incurable disease, it throws in an element of uncertainty to the singer’s performance, especially as Selena is the kind of person who tends to throw herself totally into whatever she is doing.

All the anticipation and preparation that she has done to bring the Revival tour to fruition is nothing short of extraordinary. When other performers would have balked at having a concert in the light of an unpredictable ailment, Selena Gomez trudges on, as if to say in no uncertain terms, “I don’t need anyone’s pity.”

In fact, a portion of all concert tickets of the Revival tour goes to Selena’s favorite charity, the Alliance for Lupus Research. Without a doubt, Gomez gave all of herself to the tour’s opening night. Beyoncé’s opening night for her Lemonade concert tour, and for that matter, Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour pale in comparison.

In terms of concert outfits alone, Selena Gomez easily trounces Beyoncé’s concert wardrobe as tired and all too common. As Billboard can attest, the Selena Gomez tour gown and body suit are beyond compare, and they suited the quintessential performer. But, it is only to be expected, considering that Selena has for the record, shut down the red carpet fifteen times. From now on, it is highly recommended by some that Beyoncé take some fashion pointers from Selena.

Such collaboration can certainly add zest and vitality to Beyoncé future stage performances. Selena certainly knows how to keep her wardrobe fresh, in such a way that there is a virginal and simultaneously very sexy resonance to it all.

Now, it can be told the reason why Selena Gomez wore simple, prim and proper attire for the recently concluded Met Gala event was so as not to upstage her own concert opening night. Beyond the concert’s fashion shock value, Selena’s concert repertoire for the opening night consisted of 20 songs, each of which she would totally slay. It was definitely Selena Gomez’ night and the greatest performance of her life.

Surely, Gomez’ fans could not ask for more. Secretly, some of them might have wished that at least Justin Bieber would show up or maybe BFF Taylor Swift would come up to the stage at one point. But, as Selena had intended, it was a night reserved for herself and her audience alone. Taking such a risk was definitely worth it because the singer’s deep sense of intimacy evidently rubbed off on the concert crowd.

Of the 20 songs that Selena Gomez belted out on Friday night, “Feel Me,” writes Elle, is “a new song that may or may not be about the Biebs with its ‘I’m still on your mind/We were one in a million/Our love is hard to find’ lyrics.”

Oh well, there are 74 more concerts for Selena Gomez to cover as part of her Revival tour, the next one being in Fresno, California, on Sunday. The last leg will be on December 18. Judging from the reaction of the audience on premiere night, Selena’s tour based on her Revival album just might be as big if not bigger than BFF Taylor Swift’s 1989.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]