The Black Eyed Peas brought "The E.N.D. World Tour" to Dallas on Friday night (March 19) and played to a totally sold out crowd at the American Airlines Center. The show featured an interesting set up, with no floor seats, but rather the entire floor was general admission with standing room only, which lead to everyone vying for a spot as close to the stage as possible, and of course plenty or rude people trying to sneak ahead of others. We heard every excuse from "but it's my birthday" to "but my 12 year old sister is up there"....nice try. While the setup was a bit a pain being you had to fight to keep your spot on the floor, the stage was awesome, complete with a catwalk that lead out into the middle of the arena, allowing more people to get up close and personal with the Peas throughout the show. Before entering the arena, there were signs posted that LMFAO wasn't going to be there as the opening act tonight, citing scheduling conflicts...no huge loss there unless you are a die hard LMFAO fan. Dallas was left with Ludacris as the sole opening act, which having Ludacis as an opening act alone is a pretty big deal, being Luda is big enough headline on his own. Ludacris performed a few of his big hits, and reminded us to make sure and buy his "Battle of the Sexes" CD on our way out the door. Ludacris got the crowd warmed up, and when he was done the stage crew hit and got the big stage ready for the B.E.P. Quite the setup indeed, as the Peas futuristic stage and affects are far from your standard concert stage.
The intro began a little before 9 o'clock, and the Peas kicked off their show with members Apple.de.Ap, Taboo, Fergie, and Will.I.Am coming up from the stage with laser lights, and got things going with their classic "Let's Get it Started," The show progressed with multiple light affects, dancers in crazy costumes like speakers, robots, etc. After a few songs, each member was spotlighted doing solo songs and special extras. Apple.de.Ap did a tribal act with breakdancing, Taboo rode a flew over the crowd on a motorcycle, Fergie blew the roof off with songs from her solo album - Fergalicous, Glamours (complete with Ludacris joining in for his part in the song,) and Big Girls Don't Cry. Will.I.Am then finished things coming out in a Robocop type metalic outfit, and doing a DJ set that was probably one of the best I've ever heard...mixing everything from Michael Jackson, and Journey, to even Nirvana. The Peas closed the show with their hugely popular hits from this past year - "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Got a Feeling." Throughout this show, the energy uh....well it never died. From the floor to the top level, people were dancing and going crazy the entire time. They kept it going with about 4 costume changes, a great variety of music, and just all around entertainment. Whether you are a die hard Black Eyed Peas fan, or even a casual fan who enjoys a club/party atmosphere, that you buy Black Eyed Peas tickets as soon as possible. These shows are selling out fast, and now we know why. Even if you can't find any cheap concert tickets, this show is worth the price and is one of the most unique out there by far. The Black Eyed Peas have a few more U.S. dates before taking the tour international, and then doing more U.S. dates this summer.