Music Matters

Katy Perry throws sexual innuendo, fantasy and 17 costume changes —sugar-coating included — at Houston

A Katie Perry concert is never dull.
Is Katie Perry and the bear supposed to be sexy or girlie?

It was so easy to be a parent concerned with what music your kids listened to 25 years ago. Back then pop stars like Madonna, Janet Jackson and Prince sold sex as song to kids on MTV in the most overt way possible. Mom and dad were outraged, but at least it was easy to identify who the offenders were.

Friday at Toyota Center lite-pop icon du jour (no disrespect, Lady Gaga but you're a little darker than lite pop) Katy Perry brought her highly-stylized, visually-stunning California Dreams Tour to Houston and set a new standard for turning three-minute songs into imaginative cohesive theater. She also offered parents a whole new layer of terror: Foreplay presented as fairytale.

"Where are all my sexy ladies at?" asked Perry during a break in her 18-song, two-hour show of hit singles, covers and songs from her two multi-platinum albums. Two excited elementary school age girls enjoying popcorn and glow sticks eagerly started shouting their response.

At first I thought, "How cute." Then a part of me couldn't help but think, "Am I OK with these youngsters responding to the word "sexy?"

Such is the conundrum of Perry and the Candyfornia world she introduced in her chart-topping "California Gurls" video last year and which she has now brought brilliantly to life on a multi-faceted stage.

Perry demonstrated that a strong mid-range and a helplessly likeable personality trumps vocal gymnastics and snooty diva-dom.

On the surface, Perry has created the ultimate 12 year-old girl's bedroom complete with lollipops, unicorns, fluffy pink clouds and furry mascots. Her video screens are lined in pink neon and her band and dancers dress like Barbie and Dr. Seuss characters.

But pay attention to the song lyrics, peek-a-boo fashions and thinly-veiled innuendo and it's clear that there is a lot of heavy flirtation mixed in with Perry's innocent sugar. She is definitely walking a delicate tightrope between PG and a strong PG-13.

I hate that this is an issue, because aside from those moments of discomfort, the show rivaled some of the best and most historic pop concerts of the last several decades. 'N Sync's No Strings Attached Tour and Madonna's Blonde Ambition Tour are the shows it's on par with.

Weaving a tale about an Alice in Wonderland-type girl who flees an evil butcher to be with her beloved Baker Boy, Perry demonstrated that a strong mid-range and a helplessly likeable personality trumps vocal gymnastics and snooty diva-dom.

Live renditions of hits like "E.T." and "Waking Up In Vegas," take on new dimensions when you can see her party girl vision played out as she sings. A powerful vocal on "Firework" and soulful reworking of "Hot N Cold" affirmed that Perry's voice doesn't get the credit it deserves while lesser-known torch songs like "Pearl" offer glimpses about some other artistic tricks she has up her sleeve.

But all that vocal energy was muted by visuals so stunning that the eyes couldn't catch it all. From a multi-colored Lego-inspired staircase to illuminated keyboards, Glee-worthy dance choreography and a stunning 17 wardrobe changes (the seven mid-stride, on-stage outfit changes during "Hot n Cold," is one of the coolest tricks I have ever seen) Perry set the bar very high for how she could possibly top this wonderland in the future.

Perhaps she might design a stage that is as adult as her music.

If Katy Perry has mastered anything over her lady-pop peers it's an ability to appeal to children and adults in equal — but very different ways. For the young girls she has filled her albums and videos with visions of unicorns, fluffy pink clouds and light-as-air choruses that are harder to shake than a debt collector. For her more mature fans there is an undercurrent of lust and physicality in her music that is helplessly magnetic because of its innocent hard candy coating.

The genius is that each individual listener takes what suits them when listening to Katy Perry.

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Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep welcomes spooky season with PG-scary new movie

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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