The Ladies First Tour

pop/hip-hop

In a year where women artists will be the toast of the touring season -- Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Janet Jackson, k.d. lang, the gulls of Fleetwood Mac -- this Ladies First Tour may be the bestest. Say what you will about Beyoncé hamming it up on the Grammys -- she out-funked Prince and out-everythinged the White Stripes. She also out-howled Janet during the Super Bowl. "Crazy in Love" is one of the most insistent dance-floor fillers of all time. And she's not 23 yet. For Missy Elliot -- hip-hop hasn't had such a weird, but catchy, one-two punch as Under Construction and This Is Not a Test! since the first two De La Soul albums. Perhaps Alicia Keys' first funky-finessed CD and its gospel-pop first single (Songs in A Minor and "Fallin'" respectively) got played to death. Wanna know why? Because when they came out, Keys -- already an industry vet, albeit quietly -- was fresher than spring with a minimalist soul-jazz sound as thrilling as D'Angelo. Know what's better? Her deeper, jazzier sophomore release, Diary of Alicia Keys, proves she's got the chops to top the pops. The show this weekend is sold out, but a second show has been added for April 6.

The Ladies First Tour, with Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott and Tamia Tue., March 23, 7:30 p.m., sold out; second show, April 6, $45-$79.50, Wachovia Center, 3601 S. Broad St., 215-336-2000.

—A.D. Amorosi

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