Monday, April 19, 2004 | 8:18 a.m.
Not so long ago, teaming female artists on the same concert bill was considered tantamount to tour suicide.
Then along came 1997's first "Lilith Fair" tour, which proved that the right combination of women could indeed pack large venues and generate significant revenue.
As Friday night's "Ladies First Tour" stop at Mandalay Bay Events Center demonstrated, that clearly remains the case in 2004.
Excited by the prospect of seeing Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott on a single stage, fans gobbled up all 8,800 tickets to the Vegas show, with women and young girls comprising at least two-thirds of the audience.
While filling the arena turned out to be an easy task, retaining that crowd for the duration of the night proved more difficult.
By the time Beyonce encored with megahit "Crazy in Love" around 11:30 p.m., a significant number of seats were empty. Much of the audience left the four-hour event early, many likely still grumbling about two lengthy periods of inactivity between performers.
Those breaks in the action -- 35 minutes apiece -- lasted longer than Elliott's entire set, an incredible development considering the veteran rapper has seven years in the business and five critically acclaimed albums to her credit.
Constrained by her half-hour time limit, Elliott presented most of her material medley style, rarely pausing between song segments.
The 32-year-old Virginia native was a blur of activity, scrambling around the stage, disappearing periodically to change outfits and even parting the crowd while performing 2002's hit single "Work It."
Ultimately, though, all that energy signified little. Overpowered by both her DJ and an unidentified male MC, Elliott's clever rhymes were nearly impossible to make out.
Her production elements -- a throng of dancers and a riser complete with a giant stripper pole -- were also a poor fit for her act, which is far better suited for intimate nightclubs than arena expanses.
Next up was Keys. The least-heralded of the night's headlining triumvirate proved to be its most successful performer. The 23-year-old New Yorker won over plenty of Beyonce fans with her alluring vocals and classy piano work.
Without resorting to major costume changes, Keys gave the crowd multiple musical looks.
She whipped her braided hair in circles and got funky with her 10-piece band for "Rock Wit U," took it down a notch for sultry R&B tune "A Woman's Worth" and went sparer still, sitting at her black grand piano for three solo numbers.
Backed only by her own accompaniment, Keys' spectacular voice sounded rich and pure, even as she sustained long notes in her upper register during a cover of Prince's "How Come You Don't Call Me?"
Keys capped her 70-minute set with "You Don't Know My Name," a top-five hit this year, sending the crowd to its feet for an ovation and setting the stage for the night's finale.
After another infernal intermission, that is.
Beyonce, formerly Beyonce Knowles from teen vocal group Destiny's Child, arrived on a white sleigh, carried through the crowd by a crew of muscle-bound roadies.
Though that entrance suggested the 22-year-old Houston native has been reading her press clippings this past year, her hourlong performance was far from pretentious.
Beyonce got her fans up and moving early, front-loading her set with hook-driven singles "Baby Boy" and "Naughty Girl."
She also danced confidently for someone on her first full-fledged tour as a solo artist, replicating moves from her popular videos, sometimes at the head of a column of professional dancers and sometimes by herself at the foot of the stage.
Musically, however, the budding superstar showed room for improvement. Following Keys would be a tough task for any vocalist, and Beyonce's own voice came up a short several times when she tried to fully belt out.
Five costume changes -- most of those to don two-piece outfits intended to show off her curves -- prevented the singer from maintaining any sort of flow, but that was about the extent of her Divalike behavior.
Beyonce also made a genuine effort to connect with fans near the stage and farther away, and offered some fitting words of advice on "Ladies First" night.
"Ladies, before you can love a man, you have to learn to love yourself," she said.
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