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Perry: She’s Got Personality

Posted Apr 28, 2009 by Clarisa Gerlach

Updated Apr 29, 2009 at 08:07 AM

ST. PETERSBURG – The woman on stage at Jannus Landing Tuesday night seemed to have little in common with the sultry vamp on the cover of Katy Perry’s debut album, “One of the Boys.”

It was the same woman, all right, but in concert Perry seemed less like a leading lady and more like a sidekick given center stage, and making the most of it.

Tall, lean and lanky, Perry didn’t dance so much as run, jump and twirl around the stage. She didn’t sing so much as bellow, at least on the louder material, but that seemed to fit in well with her persona, more old-fashioned ham than diva.

Perry exuded an approachable charm, joking with the audience, telling stories about the songs and even doing the Hokey Pokey.

Her presence was considerable enough that the brisk, brief (70-minute) concert was a success despite her mostly nondescript tunes.

Titles such as “I Kissed a Girl” and “Ur So Gay” may raise an eyebrow or two, but they tell you all need to know about the song, making the rest of the lyrics superfluous.

Musically, Perry is middle-of-the-road pop-rock, bland and inoffensive. “I Kissed a Girl” utilizes a robotic bump ‘n’ grind rhythm that sets it apart from the rest of the material, and tunes such as “Fingerprints” and “One of the Boys” could be passable with a few rough edges, but that’s about as far as she strays from the same old same old.

She fleshed out her set with a par of covers, one inspired (Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”) and one horrid (The Outfield’s “Your Love”). Actually, her version of “Your Love” was better than the original since she didn’t mimic Outfield singer Tony Lewis’ blatant Sting imitation. 

Of course she closed with “I Kissed a Girl,” leaning into the crowd to do just that and wielding a giant, inflatable cherry ChapStick a la the song’s lyrics.

Like Jules said in “Pulp Fiction,” personality goes a long way. If Perry manages to get some of her considerable personality into her music – beyond the song titles – she may have something there.