Black Eyed Peas
Seeing the Black Eyed Peas in concert Friday night at the TD Garden was a chance to savor one of the world’s biggest music acts at the peak of their career. Riding on the crest of their enormous hits, "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling," only Beyonce and Lady Gaga can currently rival them in sales and media omnipresence.
The Peas’ show at the Garden was one of the first dozen concerts of a worldwide tour and the band held nothing back in their effort to wow the crowd.
Fittingly, they opened with their enormous 2003 hit, "Let’s Get It Started." Each band member rose up from the base of the stage bathed in cones of green laser light before milking the song for all the energy they could.
They followed it with the new song "Rock That Body," which was most notable for Fergie singing in a high-pitched, almost Chipmunk-like voice. Fortunately she toned down that warble for the remainder of the evening.
"Meet Me Halfway" was a thumping dance song that had the four Peas strutting down a long catwalk into the audience amidst an enormous yellow backdrop that looked like a star exploding.
To their credit, the band really played as a team, taking turns on vocals, sharing the spotlight and looking like they were having fun doing so. During songs like "Don’t Phunk with My Heart," they handed off lines like relay runners passing the baton to each other.
A short freestyle rap by Will.i.am earned him new respect for his rhyming skill by stringing together numerous texts sent before the show by random audience members.
Apl.de.ap got his turn in the spotlight for the band’s current #1 hit, "Imma Be," and later during a solo stint on the song, "MARE" that allowed him to demonstrate some cool flips and dance moves.
Fergie got her chance to shine during "My Humps" and a later mash-up of "Fergalicious" and "Glamorous," which proved very popular with the numerous high school and junior high fans - and their ogling dads.
Not to be outdone, Taboo got to ride a cool, floating Tron-like motorcycle above the crowd while singing "Rockin’ to the Beat."
For most of the show, the bandmates wore a variety of silver metallic costumes, which tied in with the hi-tech, futuristic look of their enormous set. They also made a special effort to mention Boston every two or three minutes, which was appreciated but a bit of a case of overkill.
The only part of the night that really didn’t work well was an overly long DJ set two-thirds of the way into the show that inexplicably had Will.i.am playing snippets of songs by Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Guns & Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Grandmaster Flash. This set would have been better as an opening act for the full band.
By the time the Peas called it a night with a few of their biggest hits, "Where is the Love?" "Boom Boom Pow," and "I Gotta Feeling," Boston had been treated to one of the highest energy shows to grace the Garden since last summer’s Green Day concert.
Opening for the Peas were rapper Ludicris who’s promoting a new album, and a four-man DJ hip-hop outfit called LMFAO from L.A., who were OK but nothing special.
by The Black Eyed Peas
