Here We Go Again Tour Cher May 2019 Setlist

There's no need to turn back time — Cher is forever.

The pop diva is arguably as popular today as she ever was, and her current global Here We Go Again Tour is a glorious celebration of that fact.

Over just about 90 minutes at Brooklyn's Barclays Center Thursday night, Cher stunned the arena with hits that stretched from those dating back more than half a century to songs released in the last few months.

(Check out the photo gallery at the top of this story for a look at the Here We Go Again Tour stop at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.)

How's this for awesome longevity? Early in the evening when Cher — decked out in straight-hair-and-bangs with fuzzy vest and bell-bottoms regalia — delivered a pair of her star-making Sonny and Cher gems, 1967's "The Beat Goes On" and 1965's "I Got You Babe," as virtual duets with video footage of her late foil, partner and former husband Sonny Bono.

Then, in a testament to the epic scope of her career, the star and her troupe of backup dancers stopped off at the title song to her 2010 film "Burlesque" before a joyous mini-set of Abba covers which climaxed with the grandiose theatrics of "Fernando."

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Cher's latest LP, the 2018 Abba covers collection "Dancing Queen," capitalized on her fan-favorite appearance in last year's hit movie musical sequel "Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again."

The album arrived in October with the year's biggest sales week for a pop album by a woman, according to Billboard. Its debut at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart also tied for Cher's highest-charting solo album ever.

According to a December tweet, Cher is working on her memoirs, with the first volume expected in 2020 and a biopic to follow. Just this week the biographical musical "The Cher Show" on Broadway received a trifecta of Tony nominations, including one for Bob Mackie's costume designs.

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And the Here We Go Again Tour, complete with nine different costumes reflecting the different periods of her career explored in the show, is a sort of living biography mixed with a Las Vegas stage spectacular.

The show made use of video montages during the costume changes, and these interludes served to enhance the experience and contextualize the numbers.

A video package of Cher's acclaimed film career drew wild cheers before the powerful performance of the Oscar-nominated "Chances Are" (1989) theme "After All," while a tribute to Cher's childhood idolization of Elvis Presley preceded her heartfelt cover of Marc Cohn's King tribute "Walking in Memphis."

Cher's iconic voice still shakes rafters with aplomb. It was particularly remarkable to hear how her iconoclastic, booming voice can elevate hits as well-worn as Abba's "SOS." She's been making songs her own for decades now, such as the Rudy Clark-penned pop classic "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)," from her 1990 film "Mermaids,'' also on her set list. They become Cher songs first and foremost by the power of her voice and complete and utter Cher-ness.

It's all so grandiose and its epic scope needs to be seen to be believed. Cher has earned herself generations of fans at this point, and for any attendee the highlight is likely to be the appearance of "their" version of Cher.

For this writer, the climactic emergence of late-'80s "rocker Cher" with period-accurate long, black curls and leather jacket for the hard-hitting "I Found Someone" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" was singularly powerful. In that moment time and space seemed to disappear, there was nothing but Cher in the eternal now.

Cher mixed this polished pop mastery with a disarming charm, particularly in her audience banter. One lengthy, early chat with the audience touched on working the dinner theater circuit with Bono, a difficult phone call from her "Witches of Eastwick" director George Miller and her complicated relationship with David Letterman.

The tale ended with Cher telling the audience her age (she's 72, although she said 73 a few weeks early) and asking one question before heading backstage for her first costume change: "What is your granny doing tonight?"

Cher brings her Here We Go Again Tour to the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday, May 3.

She returns to our area for a Dec. 3 engagement at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, followed by an encore show at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 6, following a recent sell-out.

Cher Here We Go Again Tour setlist for May 2, 2019 at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn

1. "Woman's World"
2. "Strong Enough"
3. "Gayatri Mantra"
4. "All or Nothing"
5. "The Beat Goes On"
6. "I Got You Babe"
7. "Welcome to Burlesque"
8. "Waterloo"
9. "SOS"
10. "Fernando"
11. "After All"
12. "Walking in Memphis"
13. "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)"
14. "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"
15. "I Found Someone"
16. "If I Could Turn Back Time"

Encore

1. "Believe"

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Source: https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/05/03/cher-tour-2019-setlist-review-here-we-go-again-barclays-center-brooklyn-new-york-city/3643578002/

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