Crítica «FutureSex/LoveShow»: Atlanta

Justin Timberlake Rocks Philips Arena

Justin Timberlake rocked a sold-out Philips Arena crowd Tuesday night.

Accompanied by a 14-piece band and plenty of dancers, Timberlake took to the stage, pounding out hits including Sexyback and Rock Your Body. He played for nearly an hour and a half before calling it a night.

The 26-year old from Memphis rose to fame as the front man of boy-band N’Sync, but the group parted ways back in 2002. Several months later, he released his first solo effort entitled Justified and he’s been on his own ever since.

He’s in the midst of a 38-date tour which kicked off back in January and ends next month in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Timberlake recently took home 3 Grammy awards to add to his collection.

Don’t miss the slideshow from the event.

Timberlake in sync with low-key lunch

Normally, performers who gig at Philips Arena and book Pink as their opening act don’t stroll into the Flying Biscuit Cafe in Midtown for lunch. That’s the primary reason we might now discreetly download a Justin Timberlake album.

Before his concert in town Tuesday, the pop star and YouTube «[Junk] in a Box» video sensation shocked noontime patrons when he casually turned up at the, um, intimate eatery.

He ordered the Flying Biscuit Breakfast with eggs over easy, «creamy dreamy» grits, chicken sage sausage, large orange juice, coffee and the restaurant’s trademark baked good.

Timberlake arrived wearing a green tracksuit, bluejeans, white sneakers and black sunglasses, which he promptly removed once inside.

«Yeah, there’s no place to hide when you come here», Biscuit assistant manager Allie Rader told us, referring to the restaurant’s size. «He was just very sweet».

«When you come in, you’re just seated regularly, along with everyone else», Biscuit founder Delia Champion told Buzz on Tuesday. «We like to say that nothing is special and everything is special at the Biscuit».

Still, the eatery’s wait staff is trained not to call attention to the famous, gossip about them with other patrons or request autographs.

Said Champion: «He got in and out without a lot of commotion and not a lot of hoopla».

Taking Timberlake’s lead, we reluctantly trimmed back the Buzz Central entourage Tuesday. (Well, except for the guy who graciously starts our car each morning).

Crítica de AshleyJ22:

Okay, so when do I get to marry him? Hell, just let me @#%$ him a couple of times and I’ll be okay. He seriously took me on a rollercoaster tonight and I’m not sure I’ve gotten off. *snort* Honestly, I had a fabulous time and I couldn’t have asked for a better show. My highlights:

I don’t know how I missed this the first time I saw it, but the opening is the sexiest thing ever. EVER. Not only is that song pure sex, but his swagger was on point when he came through the floor and then grinded against the mic stand for the chorus. I have never wanted to be an inanimate object so much in my life.

My Love. Oh, my love. I swear we had a moment with that song (just as we did back in August during the club tour!). As he went into the Sexy/Slow version, he was walking towards our side of the stage. He was singing to me, I was singing to him, our eyes locked. I was in heaven for that fifth of a second. (And if he wasn’t singing to me, well then hey. A girl can dream.) Then he went and disappeared after touching some other @#%$’s hand. By the way, TI appeared in the middle of the floor for his verse and rocked that @#%$. That’s the way to get the party started.

What Goes Around was like a high for me. It’s not even close to my favorite song on the album, but when that boy gets on that piano, it’s like it’s not even a song anymore. He takes you on this journey from mellow to melodramatic and by the time the song is done, you feel intoxicated and don’t know where the hell you’ve been. Then he gets his Blair Witch on and you really feel like you’ve lost your mind. Seriously, if the concert had been this one performance, my ass would’ve been happy.

Damn Girl. I could state the obvious and talk about the lap dance, but since everybody and their mama has already done so, I’ll skip it. Dude, Justin’s dancing at the end was incredible! They showed his footwork on the screens (which I actually paid attention to this time around) and I was just completely mesmerized. He just moves with so much ease and fluidity and sexy and dammit, I’d like to be him for a day, just so I could dance like that. I also have to say that Michele worked it out on that song. Her ass was literally in my face for the first 30 seconds, but I didn’t mind at all. I waved to her when she bent over, and I was ready to pull out some bills and take her to the strip club with me. Homegirl is hot.

Summer Love! That’s totally my favorite song right now and it helped that the crowd went nuts when it started. It felt like the room was shaking or something. I can’t even pick anything that stood out in the performance. Justin even stepped back when I touched his leg, so I should be mad, but that’s how much I love it. And his part with the background singers is just freakin’ adorable. I remember trying to get Rob to notice me, but I’m not sure if he did because I immediately shifted to trying to get Justin to notice me.

Gone is just pure love. The crowd. The memories. The smiles. Pure love, I tell ya.

I had another one of my «moments» with Losing My Way. Justin was nowhere near me and I wasn’t paying all that much attention to him, but his voice and just the ambiance of the song left me standing there in a daze. He sounded incredible in New York, but he somehow managed to sound even better tonight. I’d start going to church if he’d come and just do the ending with a choir. That’s all I need.

Cry Me A River, like WGA, is such a hugely brilliant song that takes you on this amazing trip. That performance will never get old for me. He can do it until he’s 100 and I’ll still be standing there, hypnotized as he sings, «Cry me, cry me..». It’s kind of haunting, which is what makes it so brilliant, I guess. And him flipping the bird as he turned in circles was pretty damn hot, too.

LoveStoned wasn’t that much of a highlight, which is weird since it’s my favorite song on the album. The best part for me was him saying «Atlanta fucking Georgia!» By the way, I love the way he says «Atlanta, Georgia» anyway ‘cause he always puts on his cute ass country twang. I guess you have to be there. But anywho, he pissed me off because he threw water in the crowd and got my damn hair wet (I’m pretty sure I yelled, «I hate you!» ). So yeah, I was being mad at him during that song.

SexyBack. Dude, he doesn’t even have to perform that song. The crowd (in Atlanta, at least) will gladly do it for him. Pure insanity. It was a perfect insanity, but insanity nonetheless. And after all my hand-raising and suffering in 4-inch-heels for two hours, Justin finally FINALLY touched my damn hand. I kept pointing and waving at Timbaland, so I was happy enough when he shined that stupid flashlight on me and touched my hand. I even thought Justin was gone for the night, so I gave up on him, but he came back one more time to do his little side-to-side move and then there we were, touching each other! I guess he figured he better take my hand before I grabbed his @#%$, because my hand was all up in that region.

And my favorite part of the show was the encore. I think I might’ve even cried like a @#%$. He came out and a few people were leaving and he was like, «Where you goin’? You’re too good to stay here with me until the end?» But anyway, as he was doing his little speech, it was like this really cliché moment where the crowd was relentlessly roaring and he was totally taken aback. I could barely hear what he said, but his faces on that damn screen had me choking up, and him too, from what I could tell. He seemed very humbled and overwhelmed and all around happy, and he talked about Atlanta being so good to him. Sure, he says that to every city, but I felt like he really meant it, dammit. I remember standing pretty still throughout the song (another moment!) and just wishing it would never end. When he was hitting his last few notes, he had to stop and laugh at the uproar he’d caused. It was such a gorgeous thing to watch.

I think I named damn near every song, but that’s just how good the kid is. I’d go to every show if I could. My random highlights were seeing Johnny Wright, hugging Rob (that’s three shows in a row now!), being ignored by Kevin Antunes, high fives to Eddie, Nick and Michele and a wink from Ava (who’s gorgeous, by the way), and a Hello to Marty when he was in VIP during intermission. Also, I cracked the hell up when Pink did «Don’t Let Me Get Me». She ran her hand over her head when she did the Damn Britney Spears line. And Atlanta seemed to really enjoy Pink, so I was stoked about that. But then, Atlanta enjoys everything. I’m never going to a Justin show outside my city again! (That’s a lie, but I’ll be at all Atlanta shows if I have anything to do with it.)

I’ve been up since 6 a.m., so I could use a nap or two, some hot tea, some gelatin inserts, a Valium, and an Excedrin, but I’m not gonna act like Justin wasn’t worth it. He was. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect 2 hours… unless he wants to do all that again in a club version. Nonetheless, his awesomeness knows no bounds. So now, I’m just waiting on that whole marriage deal to go through.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution