HARRINGTON -- If anyone at the Delaware State Fair was curious why the hard-partying Ke$ha was kicking off her North American summer tour in Harrington, the pop star cleared things up at the top of her show Tuesday night.
"Delaware!" the heavily-mascaraed 24-year-old shouted, wearing a black one-piece paired with ripped fishnets. "Are you ready to party?"
The high-pitched screams of the crowd, dominated by school-age girls and teens, gave Ke$ha
the answer she was looking for before breaking open a 90-minute, 15-song set of her biggest hits.
Given the sometimes raunchy nature of Ke$ha's act -- after all, this is called the "Get $leazy Tour" -- fair officials had promised a PG show from the trash pop queen, whose regular shows normally veer closer to an R rating. The originally scheduled opening act, dirty rap duo Spank Rock, had already been bounced in favor of the Seattle pop act Champagne Champagne.
Still, at the time of the show's announcement, some fairgoers were not happy with the booking, especially considering the fair's family-friendly atmosphere. And leading up to the show, it was hard to imagine what a PG-rated Ke$ha show would look like.
Just this week, Ke$ha promoted her tour in Rolling Stone magazine by saying it would feature a sexually suggestive confetti cannon that she would ride. And earlier this month, Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who was co-hosting "The O'Reilly Factor," condemned Ke$ha, calling her "cultural rot."
On this clear summer night, Ke$ha never got to ride her cannon, seemingly abiding by the fair's rules. And while her performance was somewhat tame, her language was anything but. Ke$ha did not censor her lyrics, leading to a show peppered with four-letter words. She also let an f-bomb or two fly during song introductions.
While the show didn't quite live up to the PG promise, it did rev up thousands of Ke$ha's fans who crowded the track to see the pop world's latest bad girl in person. (The show did not sell out, however, and there were plenty of seats available in the Grandstand.)
Her songs about parties, boys and backstabbing wrapped in a message of independence were perfectly tailored for the crowd.
They loved it when Ke$ha flashed her wicked sense of humor with "Dinosaur," which details getting hit on by a much older man. As back-up dancers hunched behind her using walkers as if they were in a nursing home, she rhymed, "Not long till you're a senior citizen/And you can strut around with that sexy tank of oxygen."
Her fist-pumping dance grooves, most of which are lathered in a thick '80s synth and earth-shaking bass, are undeniably catchy when you're driving with the sunroof open on a summer night. And when Ke$ha is center stage in her glitter-covered garbage chic glory with thousands of fans celebrating with her, you have a massive dance party.
As her instantly recognizable chorus to "TiK ToK" dug in -- "Don't stop, make it pop/DJ, blow my speakers up" -- and gold glitter was shot into the crowd from both the front of the stage and back by the Grandstand, Harrington was the only place in the world to be for diehard Ke$ha fans.
To close out the party-themed show, Ke$ha resurrected the Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" -- a song that came out the year she was born.
Even though Ke$ha doesn't get many industry accolades -- she has been nominated for more than 25 music awards but only won Best New Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards -- she co-writes all her songs and has cranked out plenty of hits with her 2010 debut, "Animal," and follow-up EP, "Cannibal." ("Animal" was the 10th best-selling album in the U.S. last year with 1.14 million albums sold.)
For fair officials, the Ke$ha booking injected more musical diversity into a concert series where country superstars like Toby Keith and Brad Paisley are usually the biggest acts. And in the end, the Delaware State Fair landed the opening night of one of the most watched and anticipated pop tours of the summer.
Fans came. They danced in glitter. And all that mattered was the beat.
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