Review | The Lifetimes Tour with Katy Perry

As a kid who grew up on radio, Katy Perry was part of the soundtrack of my life. And, as the first female artist (second to only Michael Jackson) to achieve the record of having five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, I know I’m not the only one who can say this about her. I remember “The One That Got Away” playing after one of my teenage heartbreaks, perfectly timed as I was being driven home from school. The girls on my softball team played the music video to “California Gurls” at the end-of-season party, and talked about how they wanted to be her. My middle school best friend took our friend group to the Katy Perry: Part of Me movie for her birthday, and gave me a fear of getting divorced via text that still haunts me to this day. But, it also gave me a respect for Perry’s ability to stay strong through tough moments and make music that inspires others. It’s a trait in her that I have not seen slow down, including on her most recent tour, The Lifetimes Tour.

A singer, songwriter, television personality (who gained a new wave of fame as a judge on American Idol), the California native (and Santa Barbara resident’s) records over the course of her career have made her a mainstay in the pop sphere. They include Katy Hudson (2001), One of the Boys (2008), Teenage Dream (2010), PRISM (2013), Witness (2017), Smile (2020), and 143 (2024). All were included onscreen when Perry introduced her show in Anaheim at The Honda Center, with her saying, “this is a celebration of all of my albums…the last time I was on tour was eight years ago. I am Katy Perry and you are on The Lifetimes Tour!”

The show had a large backdrop with multiple screens showing animated videos of Perry’s “mission,” which was to free butterflies to restore what was lost on her planet as a half human, half machine. The stage was in the shape of an infinity sign, and Perry rose from the middle through a chandelier shaped hanger. Perry started off the night with “ARTIFICIAL,” “Chained to the Rhythm,” “Teary Eyes,” and “Dark Horse.” “Dark Horse” being one of her biggest hits, complete with a slew of backup dancers, had the entire crowd screaming in excitement.

Perry then celebrated some of her biggest hits from her Teenage Dream and One of The Boys eras, performing “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” and “Hot N Cold / Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).”“How many of you are here with your teenage dream?” Perry playfully asked the crowd. All were highlights of the night, but “Hot N Cold” was a standout, with the pop rock style of the song suiting itself perfectly to be played live with a band. “You change your mind like a girl changes clothes,” she sang, guitar in hand.

At each of her shows, Perry has been having the audience vote on a fan favorite song to play. The screens showed each of her album covers, asking “which will you land on?” The album of the evening was Teenage Dream, and the audience voted for “Not Like the Movies” and “The One That Got Away.” Perry came up through the middle of the stage in a Teenage Dream themed outfit, complete with hard candies on her hips and cotton candy boots.

“Thanks for choosing my saddest songs, guys,” Perry laughed. She then invited some fans from the audience onstage with her to play shakers as part of her band to sing with the songs. Her vocals were emotional and strong, and I felt myself getting emotional when she sang the lines “with every penny spent he’ll be the one that finishes your sentences…just like the movies, that’s how it will be. Cinematic and dramatic with the perfect ending.”

(I definitely have cried to “Not Like the Movies” before.)

Near the end of the show, the screens showed an animated Perry fighting on her planet, finding where the butterflies were trapped. It asked for her identity to unlock them, as the machine stated, “it doesn’t want Katy 143. It wants the real you.” She then said, “this is what makes me real.” The butterflies were then freed, as Katy came back out to perform four more songs, “Roar,” “Daisies,” “LIFETIMES,” “Firework.”

Perry announced to the crowd how despite being now 40 and a mother she has no plans to stop anytime soon, as she demonstrated earlier in the night, doing acrobatics suspended in the air during “I Kissed a Girl,” and now, she flew through the air on a butterfly during “Roar.”

“This is what’s real, isn’t it?” she beamed.