Justin Timberlake toasts his beloved Packers at thrilling Milwaukee show, his first in 15 years

A few times Friday night at Milwaukee’s new Fiserv Forum, Justin Timberlake turned to his audience and raised his arms up and down in a sign of worship.

Based on the deafening screams, joyful dancing and boisterous singalongs — from the floor up to the top rows — the fans worshiped him right back.

The Man Of The Woods Tour, Milwaukee, WI, EE.UU. +36 images

Justin Timberlake performs at the Fiserv Forum.Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

But there is something else the superstar and his Milwaukee fans worship.

“You know how much I love the Packers, man!” Timberlake said to one of his bandmates after a fan gave him Packers jerseys — one for Timberlake, the other for his 3-year-old son Silas.

That led to  a toast in which Timberlake held up his glass to “the greatest football team on planet Earth” and a request for the crowd to “Give it to me one time!”

And with that, the fans unleashed a Lambeau-worthy “Go Pack Go!”

Timberlake’s Green and Gold loyalty — the Memphis native has been a fan since the Favre era — practically makes him family in these parts. But aside from the occasional game at Lambeau, Timberlake isn’t in Wisconsin too often.

That made Friday’s show — his first in the state in 15 years — the most electrifying concert event of the year, in terms of the audience’s energy. Fans in the packed house were already on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs during the opening DJ set — a full 20 minutes before Timberlake set foot on stage.

Even the weak material from this year’s “Man of the Woods” album, Timberlake’s creative low point, couldn’t reduce the energy Friday — thanks in large part to the top-notch, 20-plus dancers and musicians and state-of-the-art staging.

Of the eight “Woods” tracks that made it into Friday’s two-hour, 26-song set, only “Montana” legitimately dragged, but that limp rendition was a blip in the grand scheme of things, segueing without a second’s pause into a warm take of “FutureSex”-era hit “Summer Love”.

Show opener and lead “Woods” single “Filthy” was accompanied by a jaw-dropping, arena-encompassing laser and light display, while a sparse, acoustic take on “Morning Light” practically glowed, coming off a “campfire singalong” portion of the show.

Phony as the setup was for that campfire scene — complete with a moon-eyed “videographer” capturing the scene on a Super 8 camera — even that managed to work, thanks to the sincere and impressive pipes of Timberlake’s four backing singers as they took on Fleetwood Mac, Beatles, Lauryn Hill and John Denver songs.

But it was Timberlake’s titanic singles — most performed in Milwaukee for the first time by Timberlake Friday — that were the real crowd-pleasers (aside from the Packers shoutouts, of course).

“Lovestoned” was preceded by a chest-puffing, horn-blaring, foot-shuffling brass band intro — recalling Bruno Mars channeling James Brown on his current “24K Magic” tour — while “Senorita” finished with a dizzying Latin percussion finale, filmed and projected on transparent screens that provided dramatic video backdrops that draped in front of the stage. (The screens never obstructed the action on the stage or runway, but they only came down when the production dictated it.)

“Senorita” kicked off the high point of Friday’s show, a string of five uninterrupted hits that included “Mirrors”, — with Timberlake’s croon shimmering over a full-hearted mass singalong — and “Cry Me a River”, on which Timberlake sang coolly, and effortlessly slipped into some spins and stage slides, over a fog-covered runway.

He teased “My Love” by drawing out elements of the song with a music production controller; then managed to keep up with his slick backing dancers and hit the falsetto notes, with ease when the band took over.

And the Marvin Gaye-inspired “Suit & Tie” was preceded by a dapper routine in which Timberlake and three dancers dodged a swinging mic stand — upstaged a moment later by Timberlake’s stunning solo routine on a center stage surrounded by a rotating, morphing laser display.

“Drink You Away” soared on gospel organ grooves and soulful horns and for “Rock Your Body”, Timberlake came into the pit to groove on a disco floor — while security nervously held onto a dividing rope to keep the surrounding fans at bay.

Unfortunately, Timberlake threw in the towel a little too early, letting the crowd handle most of the vocals and throwing out cheesy “Saturday Night Fever”-style disco moves for show finale “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”

But by then, Timberlake had made his point.

In terms of showmanship and technical awe, Timberlake’s “Man of the Woods” tour is a triumph. And Fiserv Forum, with just its fourth show, has already hosted a concert whose wow factor is going to be pretty hard to top.

THE TAKEAWAYS

• The Packers weren’t the only Wisconsin team to get some love from Timberlake Friday. He also did a shoutout to the Bucks, and the players he said were watching the show.
• No appearance from Timberlake’s good buddy Aaron Rodgers Friday. Probably better that he take extra care of that knee anyway.
• No luck getting a “September” cover either. Timberlake sang the tune for the “Trolls” movie, and Friday happened to be the 40th anniversary of the release of Earth, Wind & Fire’s timeless tune, but alas it didn’t make the set list Friday.
• Aside from getting some of the best seats in the house, there was another perk for the super fans who paid top dollar to see Timberlake’s show in the pits surrounding the runway and secondary stages — an operating bar.
• Fiserv Forum hosts up to 18,000 people for a concert, and the arena had about that many people there Friday, with every section opened and filled with people.
• If the rumors are true, the new $524 million Milwaukee arena will have hosted two consecutive Super Bowl halftime show performers in a six-day span, with this year’s performer Timberlake Friday, and next year’s rumored act, Maroon 5, playing the arena this past Sunday. Not bad for a first month.

THE SET LIST

1. “Filthy”
2. “Midnight Summer Jam”
3. “LoveStoned”
4. “SexyBack”
5. “Man of the Woods”
6. “Higher Higher”
7. “Senorita”
8. “Suit & Tie”
9. “My Love”
10. “Cry Me a River”
11. “Mirrors”
12. “Drink You Away”
13. “Until The End of Time”
14. “Dreams” (Fleetwood Mac cover)
15. “Ex-Factor” (Lauryn Hill cover)
16. “Come Together'” (The Beatles cover)
17. “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” (John Denver cover)
18. “Morning Light”
19. “What Goes Around…Comes Around”
20. “Say Something”
21. “Montana”
22. “Summer Love”
23. “Rock Your Body”
24. “Supplies”
25. “Like I Love You”
26. “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel