{"id":16611,"date":"2025-07-23T01:22:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T01:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/?p=16611"},"modified":"2025-07-24T08:00:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T08:00:16","slug":"review-setlist-cyndi-laupers-true-colors-were-bright-as-ever-in-mansfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/?p=16611","title":{"rendered":"Review &#038; setlist: Cyndi Lauper\u2019s true colors were bright as ever in Mansfield"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"m-article-header m-article-header--standard\">\n<h1 class=\"m-article-header__headline\"><\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"m-article-header__sub-headline\">Thursday&#8217;s concert at Xfinity Center marked the start of the final leg of Lauper&#8217;s farewell tour.<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"a-photo m-article-header__photo \"><a href=\"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=16572&amp;action=edit\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-16:9 wp-post-image alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=200 200w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=400 400w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=500 500w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=600 600w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=700 700w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=800 800w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2182038344-687a788eb0875-768x432.jpg?width=900 900w\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"a-photo__caption\">Cyndi Lauper, here at Madison Square Garden, brought the final leg of her farewell tour to Xfinity Center on Thursday.<em>\u00a0Taylor Hill\/Getty Images for Live Nation<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"m-article-header__meta\">\n<div class=\"m-article-header__byline\">\n<p class=\"m-article-header__author\">By\u00a0<a class=\"a-link a-link--inline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/author\/march-hirsh\/\">Marc Hirsh<\/a><\/p>\n<p><time class=\"m-article-header__date\">July 18, 2025<\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"m-article-header__word-estimate\">3 minutes to read<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"m-article-header__social\">\n<div class=\"m-article-header__social--non-mobile\">\n<div class=\"top-icons\">\n<ul class=\"m-social-bar__icon-list\">\n<li id=\"share-arrow\" class=\"a-list--no-style\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Share<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"list-item\"><a class=\"comments-link-item\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/culture\/concert-reviews\/2025\/07\/18\/review-setlist-cyndi-lauper-at-xfinity-center-july-17-2025\/?utm_campaign=bdc_Facebook&amp;s_campaign=bcom%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawLtGCxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE0aFJncW1pbmZMTHlsNFZZAR4yKDnx_vP0TxGdUB4rga7BDOOLQ6fBigjkuGXI6I0Aq4ZvUAdNXqtUPzFiKQ_aem_eNm2_QQltgzQwXQfrfFuog#comments\">&#8230;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p><strong><em>Cyndi Lauper, with Jake Wesley Rogers, at Xfinity Center, Mansfield, Thursday, July 17.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The look back began early, before Cyndi Lauper even took the stage. Above the Xfinity Center stage ran a video montage showcasing Lauper as a singer, an MTV icon, a wrestling curiosity, a Tony winner, an activist at the White House.<\/p>\n<p>If this was to be goodbye \u2014 Thursday\u2019s concert marking the start of the final leg of her farewell tour \u2014 the singer was setting the stakes early. \u201cI wanted to go out kinda big,\u201d she said later, after reminding us that she had always come with bigness baked in.<\/p>\n<p>Lauper kicked things off with a bang, literally and figuratively, as a blast of confetti fired into the air just as her band dug into the winking synth lurch of \u201cShe Bop.\u201d Her voice retained nearly all of its power after all these years (decades, really). \u201cI\u2019m Gonna Be Strong,\u201d a New Wave diva anthem dating back to her\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OldSchoolCool\/comments\/17z10v3\/very_early_cyndi_lauper_with_her_band_blue_angel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pre-fame band Blue Angel<\/a>, offered an extraordinary vocal that built and built before landing on a few powerful notes that she held for impact. Even on a song as sleek and whooshing as Prince\u2019s \u201cWhen You Were Mine,\u201d she was piercing even as she was warm, petulant, and distraught.<\/p>\n<p>That was the crux of Lauper, in a way: She has a cartoon voice that\u2019s also full to bursting with empathy. \u201cTrue Colors\u201d was a mass of contradictions, an anthem that was small and intimate that could sustain a mass singalong. The twinkling \u201cWho Let In The Rain\u201d was like the Drifters singing Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m On Fire,\u201d and she imbued \u201cI Drove All Night\u201d with enough throaty yearning to make it clear exactly why\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sQ62uaGU1Ys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roy Orbison wanted it<\/a>, delivering a smeary blur of headlights and longing.<\/p>\n<p>Even on the songs that didn\u2019t need to tug on the heartstrings, like her N\u2019awlins-by-way-of-Noo-Yawk \u201cIko Iko,\u201d Lauper\u2019s personality was sharp and endearing enough to spackle over what might have been misaligned seams for anyone else.<\/p>\n<div class=\"m-block t-amp__list-container m-article-list-container m-article-list-container--frame-border a-border-frame a-list-header__headline--red m-article-list--alternative--default m-article-list--floated\">\n<header class=\"t-amp__list-header a-list-header \">\n<h5 class=\"a-list-header__headline a-list-header__headline--no-border \">MORE REVIEWS:<\/h5>\n<\/header>\n<ul class=\"t-amp__list a-list--no-style m-article-list m-article-list--recirculation m-article-list--has-images \">\n<li class=\"m-article-list__item m-article-list__item--featured\"><a class=\"m-article-list__link-wrapper\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/culture\/concert-reviews\/2025\/06\/27\/review-setlist-counting-crows-mgm-boston-june-26\/?p1=article_recirc_inline_feature\" data-p1=\"article_recirc_inline_feature\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"t-amp__list-image m-article-list__image m-article-list__image--full wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=200 200w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=400 400w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=500 500w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=600 600w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=700 700w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=800 800w, https:\/\/bdc2020.o0bc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/crows-685ec34fc4197-768x432.jpeg?width=900 900w\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" aria-hidden=\"true\" \/><\/a>\n<div class=\"m-article-list__content\">\n<h4 class=\"m-article-list__headline t-amp__list-headline \"><span class=\"m-article-list__link a-link a-link--inline a-link--text-link a-link--text-link-dark\">Review &amp; setlist: Counting Crows are older, tighter, and as engaging as ever at MGM<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-article-list__item\">\n<div class=\"m-article-list__content\">\n<h4 class=\"m-article-list__headline\"><span class=\"m-article-list__link a-link a-link--inline a-link--text-link a-link--text-link-dark\">Review &amp; setlist: ELO is awesome and I will die on that hill<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-article-list__item\">\n<div class=\"m-article-list__content\">\n<h4 class=\"m-article-list__headline\"><span class=\"m-article-list__link a-link a-link--inline a-link--text-link a-link--text-link-dark\">Review and setlist: Elvis Costello was King of America at Beverly\u2019s Cabot on Saturday<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>It also carried her through the biggest indicator that she was on a farewell tour, which was how much Lauper talked. She didn\u2019t simply walk the crowd through a recounting of her career and share stories behind her hits, though those elements were there. Instead, she was philosophical about life being a series of chapters and unpacked what the ending of this chapter might mean, and she tugged on threads from her past \u2014 like her family\u2019s immigrant story, and how listening as a child to the women as they hung clothes on the line informed her growing understanding of her place in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Extended ruminations such as those \u2014 as well as two costume changes in full view, one directly on stage that led to two songs being performed in a long black robe and wig cap, and one on screen from backstage \u2014 might have come across as rambling and killed the momentum for any other performer. (She also got distracted by a dragonfly catching the spotlight in front of her, causing her to say \u201cOh, snap! That\u2019s special. That\u2019s nice. That\u2019s magical.\u201d) But Lauper was such a disarmingly engaging presence and storyteller that her casualness simply folded into what made her great in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGirls Just Want To Have Fun\u201d was a perfect example, all squelches and jitters and a seemingly bubbleheaded message that she elevated into an unlikely but undeniable statement of purpose through personality and willpower.<\/p>\n<p>There was only one time all night that Lauper\u2019s voice seemed to fail her. Something was off right from the start of \u201cTime After Time\u201d and she never recovered, spending the entirety of the song just under pitch. (The consistency of her mismatched key combined with it being the lone such instance suggested some sort of technical problem.) But the audience knew every word by heart in more ways than one, and sang along with her, supporting her the whole while. She fell, and they caught her. They were waiting.<\/p>\n<p>Openhearted and with a theatrical vocal extravagance, Jake Wesley Rogers opened with sparkly glam-pop performed with the fervor of someone being himself without the need to hold anything back. The running thread in his songs was love, and in particular envisioning a world where people are loved, and they practically vibrated with joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thursday&#8217;s concert at Xfinity Center marked the start of the final leg of Lauper&#8217;s farewell tour. Cyndi Lauper, here at Madison Square Garden, brought the final leg of her farewell &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[474],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","hentry","category-entertainment","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16611"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17030,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16611\/revisions\/17030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}