Concert Review: Cher

Cher at the Colosseum

Location: The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas, NV)

There is no one quite like Cher. Madonna...Britney...Gaga...Kylie...there will only ever be one Cher. She is a legend in every sense of the word and, when she takes the stage at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace, the audience can't help but erupt into thunderous applause, especially since she descends onto the stage like a gold-crusted angel preparing to bless us with her flamboyant presence. Her show, a glamorous and extravagant showcase that is more of a "Cher tribute" than a full-blown Cher concert, is a delightful experience...the kind of experience one can only find in Las Vegas. It is ninety or so minutes of unabashed tackiness and bedazzled glitz...I mean that in the best way possible, of course. The Colosseum is really the perfect place for an entertainer like Cher. It is massive in size, but every seat, I imagine, is a good seat. Therefore, it can bring a large-scale spectacle to a huge number of people for a relatively reasonable price. For the record, I sat in the third row on the first mezzanine and still felt consumed by the sheer spectacle of the show. So, fear not, people who can't (or won't) shell out two-hundred bucks a ticket, you can still enjoy Cher in all of her glory with tickets starting at the still-expensive, but not totally unreasonable eighty-six dollars (not including those pesky fees that Ticketmaster enjoys so darn much).

After singing an opening number ("I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"), Cher segues into a stand-up act that, I suspect, was meant to endear the audience to her and win over those sceptical guys in the audience. Cher calls them out early on, saying that she knows exactly what conversation occurred earlier between them and their wives..."Yeah, I'll take you to see the old naked bitch and then I'll gamble." This joke elicits a huge response, thanks in part to the truth of it (most of the men seemed quite pleased) and Cher's razor-sharp delivery. The same cannot be said for another joke, in which Cher wonders what would happen if the contraption that carried her into the Colosseum over the heads of the fans in the orchestra broke and sent her plummeting to her death. She thinks about how CNN would have a breaking news segment on their ticker tape, mourning her untimely passing...and then expresses joy about the fact that the fans who would doubtlessly perish in her tumble would only be referred to as "nameless, faceless people." The joke was rather mean-spirited and left the impression that Cher thought she was better than the people who paid to see her. It's especially ironic since, had she actually fallen, she would have crushed the people in the front orchestra and they, unlike me, actually did pay about two-hundred dollars for their seats. It was a disrespectful joke and didn't set the stage well for a good show. Fortunately, that joke is quickly forgotten when a video interlude featuring Laverne, a character from Cher's past, starts playing and injects a carefree sense of entertainment into the show.

From then on out, Cher at the Colosseum hits its stride and becomes a widely-effective ode to a pop legend. Harking back to the days of Sonny and Cher, the show treats us with a variety of beloved clips from their old show, segments of them singing harmoniously together, and more. I must admit, once or twice, moments like these caused me to tear up just a bit. Another video segment recalls Cher's unexpectedly successful foray into movies. Her Oscar-winning performance in Moonstruck drew the biggest applause of the bunch, though I warmly-appreciated the nod to Mermaids, the movie that first led to my discovery of Cher. However, while these videos played, Cher is precariously missing in action. In fact, she is out of the picture for about half of the show's decidedly slim runtime, with most of it being occupied by her dancers dancing while she hurries through an abnormally large number of costume changes. My mom reminded me that Cher was always famous for her outlandish costumes...but, I still got sick of seeing her hurry offstage after every song to change (yes, every song). After all, I paid to see Cher, the performer...not Cher, the coat rack. During the aforementioned opening comedy segment, Cher says that she would say that the show is so good, it didn't need her, before saying, "How much bullshit can I dig?" Actually, Cher, you're right, Cher at the Colosseum could have worked fine without you, if it were officially retooled as a tribute (ala The Beatles LOVE or Viva Elvis).

Still, this is Cher...and seeing Cher doing what she does best is worth the price of admission. She is a live performer, first and foremost, and though her music is great on its own, there is nothing that can compare to seeing her take the stage, confident and full of life, belting out her hits, like the crowd favorite, "Believe." The whole point of the show is to celebrate Cher...the singer, the actress, the woman, the icon. It is hard to believe that she is sixty-four years old and still putting on shows that would shame the much younger members of the new generation. I was dismayed primarily by Cher's decision to sing songs that were not her own...one or two would have been fine, but she covered other people's songs quite often, a decision that is very perplexing considering her forty-plus years of hits to choose from. This is a weird and unnecessary mistake, but it doesn't hinder the show too much, considering she still does rousing renditions of songs like "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves," "If I Could Turn Back Time," and "Believe." There are enough fan favorites to keep even the most casual of Cher fans entertained throughout. If you're planning a trip to Vegas soon (Cher's time at Caesar's Palace is quickly running out) and like Cher or the over-the-top spectacles that only Sin City can provide, Cher at the Colosseum is an excellent show that you will want to check out. And with great seats (even, as I said, the ones waaaaaaay in the back are good) at relatively reasonable prices, there is really no reason why you should miss this delightfully flamboyant production.