Demi Lovato Brings Out All Her ‘Lovatics’ in Hershey, PA

Demi Lovato & Christina Perri
October 24, 2014
Giant Center, Hershey PA

Arriving the Giant Center in Hershey PA this past Friday was a sight to see. 100’s of fans were packed tight against the entrance doors with lines flowing out and around the building, with cars still spilling into the parking lot full of decked out ‘We Love Demi’ windows. This tour is well into it’s prime and only has limited dates remaining. After thousands of star struck fans finally took their seats, the concert began.

MKTO opened up bursting with energy and their off the wall stage presence. The male duo had female fans going nuts as they screamed and reached towards the stage. For a majority of their set they stayed out on the T of the stage for a close and more intimate experience with their fans. Mentored and happily welcomed on the tour by Demi, prior X-Factor contestant and Disney music sensation, Bea Miller took the stage shortly after. With just a short 15 minute set the 15 year old owned the stage, with an immense amount of crowd support resounding throughout the venue. At one point in her performance she had fans put up their cellphones etc; lighting up the arena. With such a remarkable amount of participating fans it was quite possibly one of the most beautiful moments to ever be witnessed at a concert. The up and coming artist carried out a strong performance leaving the audience with a great lead into the next act.

Fans went wild as Christina Perri took the stage. The singer started out her performance behind the piano with hit song, Jar of Hearts. During her second song, Shot Me in the Heart, she comes out from behind the keys for some crowd interaction as she makes her way down the T of the stage. By this point, fans could barely keep their composure. Perri makes her way back to the piano continuing her legendary performance with Arms. The remainder of her setlist consisted of Be My Forever, fan favorite and featured on the “Twilight” movie soundtrack; A Thousand Years, Coldplay cover, A Sky Full of Stars, One Night, Burning Gold, finishing up with, Human. The singer is incredibly passionate and animated on stage. She interacts with the crowd and every member of her band. Perri was proud to be performing not only in front of her fans but her family also in her home state, Pennsylvania. The artist gets the crowd going, testing their limits by stating that Ms. Lovato is just right behind the curtain. She continues the crowd participation with having the crowd snap along to one of her more upbeat numbers, Backwards. All around, Christina is a super smiley, energetic and all around happy and entertaining performer. Her setlist was flawless, playing fan favorites across the board as well as a variety of other great material. Perri slows it down for a dramatic performance of Human putting on a flawless show in which the packed arena gladly participated.

After a brief set changeover, Demi Lovato came out as beautiful as ever and stole the stage–backed by dancers and singers all over the place. She looked incredible! Her attire and hair were on point and she rocked the stage! The performance was explosive with energy, colorful lights, Co2 cannons-you name it! Lovato claims that Hershey is one of her favorite places to be as she proceeds to thank the crowd whilst reminiscing on her very first show ever; in Hershey, 7 years ago. She continues with comparing the size of the crowd from then until now. Lovato shares her refreshing progress since starting out with just about 100 members in the crowd at most. The crowd goes absolutely nuts, screaming at the top of their lungs until their voices began to break. Lovato slows it down to have the fans light up the audience as she FaceTime’s with them while they sang a long. Shortly after, she plays an acoustic jam for long time fans Did You Forget followed by Catch Me/Don’t Forget. Later, she explains the contest she does with Shazaam where a fan gets to pick a song to play that’s not already on her set list, followed by announcing the winner. Lovato performs a cover of Disney Frozen’s Let it Go. After, she sits down behind the piano for a song. The singer explains to the audience that it was her first time playing it in front of a crowd. She admits to messing up a few notes and says in a cute quirky tone, “But I don’t care.” And that sometimes you just have to say “Fuck it”. Later, Demi references her previous Neon Lights tour. Lovato expresses that she wants to tell fans more about herself. She explains that despite her intention, if she keeps talking about the past she’ll never be able to move forward. For her, this tour is about growing and she wants fans to be inspired to grow too. Lovato follows with sharing a few basic facts about herself; she likes Halloween, and the piano, and she’s self conscious about showing her arms. The singer also makes a point in her set to express her appreciation to her fans whom she also calls her friends, and the other talented musicians on the tour. The singer exclaims her appreciation for all of the support she has received throughout her career. Lovato talks about the ‘Rafiki’ bracelets handmade by women in Kenya that she sells, in which 100% of the proceeds goes back to the Women Empowerment Centre. Lovato gets back to the music, dedicating the next song not to the past, but to the strength her fans give her; Warrior. The song is accompanied by beautiful piano music by the artist herself, whilst a projection of video footage taken during Lovato’s time in Kenya, plays in the background. A performance of Two Pieces follows with a guitar solo finishing out the song strong. The artist performs a cover of the legendary Michael Jackson’s Thriller, ending the song with a twist–adding her own remix to the second half of the performance. Not long after, the singer comes out, with her bare arms, swingin’ to Got Dynamite, surrounded by provocative male dancing. Smoke begins to flood the stage and the spot light hits for another intimate performance, Nightingale. During Nightingale the singer rises up from the stage, finishing out the song, leading directly into fan favorite Skyscrapper. You could hear just about every fan singing a long–it was amazing. The last two songs of the set were Give Your Heart A Break, followed by a killer encore performance of Neon Lights to finish out the night. Demi Lovato is adorable, strong, sassy, independent, down to earth and just all around, an awesome human being. She makes it her mission to inspire and give back, which she undoubtedly delivers. Demi Lovato is a great role model, as well as an inspiration, to young females all over the world. And if given the chance, I suggest that you see for yourself.