Review: Lizzo proves it was about damn time for her Minnesota arena debut

Maybe it was leaving Minnesota for sunny Los Angeles. Maybe it was re-emerging from COVID lockdown with a zest for life. Or maybe it was her destiny all along.

Whatever it was, Lizzo proved at her sold-out Xcel Energy Center concert on Tuesday night that she isn't just a clever blender of hip-hop, pop and Prince-esque funk — a talent she honed during her seven-year stint living in the Twin Cities.

The singer and rapper born Melissa Jefferson, age 34, is also now a bona-fide self-help guru and motivational speaker. She might even be the most important voice in music today for fending off everything ugly in the world. That's how beautiful Tuesday's sold-out concert in St. Paul felt.

The fact that she called the sold-out show "a true homecoming" only added to the warm vibes.

"I lived in Minneapolis for a very long time," Lizzo said following the high-energy opening songs "The Sign" and "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)," both from her new album "Special."

"Tonight is a very special night. I have a lot of homies here in the audience."

Breezing through infectiously upbeat songs that beat back body-shamers, gossipers, bigots and, yes, sometimes men — there's a reason her biggest hit was titled "Truth Hurts" — Lizzo went a long way to raise the spirits and confidence levels of the nearly 16,000 fans. That she also threw in snippets of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" and Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" tells you the kind of power-boosting energy at play Tuesday.

Adding greatly to her power was her new all-female backing band, which she debuted last fall at Treasure Island Casino's amphitheater (one of her very few 2021 dates).

Newly named the Lizzbians by their frontwoman — perfect! — the musicians funked up "Rumors" early in the set, with Cardi B's guest verses quite literally phoned in. Later on, they brought old-school-soul flavor to "Jerome" and "Naked." The latter also earned extra cheers when Lizzo unveiled a "My body, my choice" T-shirt at song's end.

Minneapolis DJ/singer/hypster Sophia Eris remained the star's MVP sidekick. She even came out from behind her massive podium mid-show to join her longtime friend for a snippet of her first local radio hit, 2013's "Batches & Cookies."

After a mostly hard-grinding, light-hearted first half, the concert got a little more emotional and, well, special in the second half — starting with the title track of "Special," which she introduced by having the crowd repeat a mantra: "I love you. You are beautiful. And you can do anything."

She proceeded to preach those messages of self-love and inclusivity to the hilt in "Like a Girl," "Cuz I Love You," "I Love You Bitch" and the pre-encore finale "Good as Hell."

Before the disco-y new song "Everybody Is Gay," she yelled to the crowd, "I make music for every-[bleeping]-body." She showed off her love for the flute, too, in "Coldplay," before the crowd erupted into a big singalong of "Truth Hurts" — a volume level matched at show's end in this year's No. 1 megahit "About Damn Time."

Throughout the concert, Lizzo veered between little-sister jokester and big-sister supporter with the crowd. When a young woman wearing a bridal veil in the audience told her she got dumped, Lizzo shot back, "You didn't get dumped. You gained freedom."

At show's end, she also tearfully thanked many of the Twin Cities music stars who treated her well after she arrived in 2010 and had nowhere to sleep but couches, including hip-hop makers Sean Anonymous and Lazerbeak and her former bandmates in the Chalice and Grrrl Prty.

"Best decision I made in my life [was] moving here," she said. "Best city in the universe."

Working with the new band and her biggest stage production to date — nothing special, but it's hard to compete with the star's own shininess — Lizzo lost some of the raw, punky energy she used to exude at First Avenue and 7th St. Entry.

This wasn't her most electrifying Twin Cities show; that's a high bar. But it was one of the year's most energetic and memorable arena concerts, where it looks like Lizzo is going to be performing for a long time.

Here's Lizzo's setlist from Tuesday night: