The atmosphere at Comerica Theatre on Friday, July 13, felt a lot like a high-school pep rally. The audience -- mostly tween girls, a few boys and their parents/chaperones -- spent the time before pop singer Demi Lovato took the stage chanting her name and performing the wave. It's a level of enthusiasm you rarely see at most concerts, but given the age of the crowd, it seemed fitting.
Given the fact that Demi Lovato got her start as the star of the Disney film "Camp Rock" and then starred in her Disney show "Sonny with a Chance," the demographics of the audience make sense. Disney is known for producing sure things when it comes to singers and musicians who can connect with tween audience such as Miley Cirus and the Jonas Brothers, and Lovato is no different.
Lovato took to the stage, not surprisingly, to a chorus of screams from the audience, which only got louder when the singer launched into her first song of the night, "All Night Long." For the most part, Lovato focused on songs from her album "Unbroken" but included a few tracks from previous records within the set.
Songs like "Got Dynamite" and "Hold Up" set the tone for the early part of her set -- energetic, fast-paced pop songs that were crowd pleasers and got the audience on their feet and singing along.
Lovato slowed things down a bit with the song "Catch Me," which she performed mostly acoustic for the first part of the song. The song helped display that Lovato's range not only as a singer but as a musician as well.
The singer keep things mellow for a bit with the songs "Fix A Heart," "My Love Is Like A Star," and a cover of Lil Wayne's "How to Love."
A piano was rolled on stage for the song "Skyscraper" but Lovato addressed the audience before playing. "I think a lot of people know I've had a rough couple of years," she said. She was, of course, referring to her time spent in a rehab facility for an eating disorder and self-harming. To her credit, though, Lovato has made a strong comeback from her difficulties and has turned the song "Skyscraper" into her signature song.
Before things could become too much of a bummer, Lovato picked the pace with some lighter songs like a cover of Chris Brown's "Turn Up the Music" and the song "Together." Lovato closed out her set with a two-song encore featuring the songs "Unbroken" and "Give Your Heart A Break."
Opening up the show were Nashville pop-rockers Hot Chelle Rae, who fit in nicely with Lovato and received a good reaction from the crowd.
They played some of their bigger hits during a 40-minute set, including "Beautiful Freaks." The song that the crowd was most excited to hear, however, was their biggest hit so far, "Tonight Tonight." They spiced things up a bit during the performance of that song by including the theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." The audience even sang along and seemed to know all the words, a fact that is surprising considering that most in the audience weren't even born yet when the show was on.
Demi Lovato Setlist
All Night Long
Got Dynamite
Hold Up
Get Back
Catch Me
Don't Forget
My Love Is Like A Star
Fix A Heart
How To Love (Lil Wayne cover)
Who's That Boy
You're My Only Shorty
Here We Go Again
La La Land
Lightweight
Skyscraper
Turn Up The Music (Chris Brown cover)
Together
Remember
Encore
Unbroken
Give Your Heart A Break
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