NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

A sneak peek at Katy Perry's NZ shows (+photos)

By Des Sampson
NZ Herald·
28 May, 2014 06:25 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Katy Perry's Prismatic Tour is going to wow fans. Photo / Christie Goodwin

Katy Perry's Prismatic Tour is going to wow fans. Photo / Christie Goodwin

Katy Perry has finally confirmed New Zealand dates on her Prismatic world tour for December 19 and 20. London-based Des Sampson and his daughter get a sneak peek at what Kiwis are in for.

Girls just wanna have fun and when that girl is your seven-year-old daughter embarking on a 450km-round trip to her first-ever gig, it doesn't get much more fun than seeing her idol, Katy Perry, near the start of her Prismatic world tour.

Even the mad, straight-after-school dash to catch the train from London to Sheffield - following an obligatory costume change into a suitably Perry-ish polka-dot blouse and cheerleader skirt - were all just another part of the adventure.

Arriving moments before the show's kick-off, the 13,500 capacity Motorpoint Arena Sheffield was already abuzz. A dazzling laser display, towering 3D pyramid prisms and three giant screens fuelled expectations among the waiting throng of teenage dreamers and bemused parents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tribal dancers with tridents and skin-tight, glow-in-the-dark costumes heralded the arrival of Perry, who stormed the stage in a silver crop-top and fluorescent skater skirt and let rip with Roar. It was the start of an explosive, two-hour extravaganza of pomp, pop, fun, frivolity, burlesque and banter.

Part of Me was greeted by a cacophonous cheer, as was a disco-fuelled version of Wide Awake, with Perry racing down a moving runway into the crowd before being catapulted high into the air on a raised platform then disappearing into a smokescreen, to re-emerge as an Amazonian warrior to sing This Moment and Love Me.

The mood changed, and so did Perry again - into an Egyptian queen outfit - as she emerged from beneath the stage, and trotted around on a golden stallion, to deliver a hypnotic rendition of Dark Horse. ET came accompanied by a full trapeze act of Egyptian-clad dancers, as Perry was herself hoisted aloft to perform vocal - and actual - gymnastics, during Legendary Lovers.

It's proof that the Prismatic tour is an audacious - sometimes ludicrous - mega-bucks, Disneyesque production.

It combines both the sublime and the ridiculous, with trapeze artists and acrobatic choreography competing with tap-dancing cats, a giant inflatable Cadillac, pyramids, giant party balloon rides, butterfly hats and dayglo skipping ropes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Perry's role is to play the feisty, mischievous heroine who braves a succession of designer costume and hair changes during a series of spectacular entrances and exits.

Perhaps the most bizarre section of the show came midway through, when Perry recast herself as the animated "Kitty Purry" who lives in "Kittywood" during the "Cat-oure" part of the concert. Dressed head to tail in a catsuit, she meowed her way through I Kissed a Girl, International Smile and a sassy, jazzy version of Hot 'n' Cold.

It had my daughter grinning like a Cheshire cat in wide-eyed wonder.

Swapping the silly for the serious, Perry glided into the audience under a giant sunflower canopy for a toned-down, more confessional segment of the show which included By the Grace of God - which she reveals was her response to the lowest point of her life, notably her split from Russell Brand - and the heartfelt One That Got Away and Unconditionally.

Discover more

Opinion

Chris Schulz: Keeping kids away from musical F-bombs

09 Apr 09:30 PM
Entertainment

Yes, this really is Katy Perry

23 Apr 03:00 AM
Entertainment

Lily Allen's Sheezus: 'Clever, but unengaging'

07 May 07:30 PM
Entertainment

Lorde wins at Billboard Awards

19 May 07:38 AM

Cue multiple mobile phones held aloft, as yet another costume and hair change ensued, this time into a Tinker Bell-inspired fairy dress for the pop anthem Teenage Dream and during Walking on Air, Perry did just that - thanks to a guy-wire that whisked her off into the heavens.

The carefree, bubblegum pop of It Takes Two and California Gurls, with Perry parading around the stage in a giant, pink, inflatable Cadillac changed gears up again, inspiring a good-time, party feel.

"You could have been down the pub this Friday night, but you chose to spend it with me.

"I'm touched by that. Shall we do it all again, next Friday night," cooed Perry, before fittingly launching into a poptastic party version of Last Friday Night.

"Was it anyone's birthday today, or yesterday? Put your hands up if it was," she added, before beckoning a fan on stage, seating him on a throne, pouring him a beer, giving him a peck on the cheek and singing Birthday to him as the throne ascended into the rafters.

As two hours in the company of the world's most expensive children's entertainer came to a close, it was hard not to smile at the sight of Perry floating above the crowd on the end of a birthday cluster of balloons while the birthday boy, plucked from the crowd, became the cherry on top of his own revolving birthday cake. It was sweet, but mercifully not sickly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The carnival atmosphere continued with a shower of confetti, as Perry launched into a fitting, fiery finale with a fizzing Firework before disappearing amid an explosion back into the prism she had emerged from at the start of the show.

In all, a cracker night, or, as my seven-year-old daughter, Sylvie, remarked: "Kitty Purry was purrfect ..."

Who: Katy Perry
Where and when: Vector Arena, Friday December 19 and Saturday December 20 (Both shows will go on sale simultaneously and no further dates will be added).
Tickets: Visa cardholders pre-sale, from 9am, Tuesday, June 3 until 5pm and Wednesday, June 4 or until presale tickets sell out at visaentertainment.co.nz; General sales from 9am on Friday, June 6 from ticketmaster.co.nz

- TimeOut

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Premium
Entertainment

Too Much? Not for White Lotus star Will Sharpe

13 Jul 02:00 AM
Entertainment

'Unbelievable': NZ Youth Choir conquers world stage with second major win

13 Jul 01:50 AM
Premium
Entertainment

Meet the Kiwi teen with all the moves as the killer robot in M3gan 2.0

12 Jul 10:00 PM

Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Premium
Too Much? Not for White Lotus star Will Sharpe

Too Much? Not for White Lotus star Will Sharpe

13 Jul 02:00 AM

New York Times: The actor has tried, and succeeded, at a variety of creative projects.

'Unbelievable': NZ Youth Choir conquers world stage with second major win

'Unbelievable': NZ Youth Choir conquers world stage with second major win

13 Jul 01:50 AM
Premium
Meet the Kiwi teen with all the moves as the killer robot in M3gan 2.0

Meet the Kiwi teen with all the moves as the killer robot in M3gan 2.0

12 Jul 10:00 PM
'Move it or lose it': Adine Wilson and Irene van Dyk on their TV return to the court

'Move it or lose it': Adine Wilson and Irene van Dyk on their TV return to the court

12 Jul 09:00 PM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP