The first time I saw Cyndi Lauper in concert, she was opening for Cher in 2002. She took to the stage and went straight for the audience's jugular as she immediately hopped off the stage and into the crowd. From that moment forward, she owned us. She did not just capture the hearts of the audience but stole them. It sent me on a re-evaluation of her entire catalog including a Hat Full of Stars and Sisters of Avalon, both records that fell under the radar at the time of their release but were worthy of a larger audience. However, Lauper has re-connected with that larger audience in the last year with an autobiography on the New York Times Best Seller List, Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir, and a hit Broadway musical, Kinky Boots. If this was not enough, Lauper became the first female in this category to win the "Best Original Score" Tony on her own. Further, the single from the musical, "Sex in the Heel" reached the top 10 of the Billboard club charts, which is notable because it's the first song from a Broadway musical to reach this position in more than a quarter of a century. Success is the greatest antidote to fear. While Lauper has never turned her back on her past, she has always been someone with the wind behind her pushing her forward even when it may not make the most commercial sense. However, with her unparalleled success in recent years, she has been able to embrace her past and give back to her fans without feeling as if it is a step backwards. She decided to give her fans the tour they have long been yearning for, the She's So Unusual: 30th Anniversary Tour. Since that opening slot for Cher, I have seen Lauper in a wide variety of venues and she's never been anything less than spectacular, however, onstage at the Chicago Theatre for this anniversary, I can say without a doubt that she's never been better.

Despite the record clocking in at a mere thirty-eight minutes, the live performance stretched to over eighty-minutes. On paper, this may seem impossible but Lauper didn't take to performing She's So Unusual lightly. Every song was carefully performed to match its studio counterpart. Over the last few decades, Lauper has grown into these songs and their arrangements, several of which found a home on her excellent 2005 release, The Body Acoustic but for this tour, she embraced the original arrangements. With wavy long red hair that stretched down her back and an all black leather outfit, Lauper walked out to the center of the stage to a crowd that welcomed her warmly. She signaled her band and as they kicked into "Money Changes Everything", Lauper and her superb five-piece band swelled with joy that overflowed into the audience. Towards the end of "Money", Lauper held a note that was as remarkable as any guitar solo or dance moves you will ever witness. Her backing band came locked and loaded with enough firepower to make their mark which they did in devastating fashion over the course of the ten songs that embody She's So Unusual. Has there ever been a more prevailing, partying and empowering song for women other than "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"? I doubt it and the reaction, during only the second song of the evening, was nothing short of euphoric. During "When You Were Mine", Lauper fell to her knees, held the microphone stand and sung every word as if her life depended on it. Despite being a cover from Prince, she owned the song and it could be argued that her version has permeated in the public consciousness more than Prince's and performances like these explain why. The keyboard and drums synths were surprisingly punchy invigorating the crowd rather than turning them off.

On "Time After Time", the album's only song to reach number-one, the stark and breezy arrangement was highlighted by glacial guitars and a gleaming crowd. The song in recent years has been stripped of its original pop arrangement and replaced with a more serious tendency, which accentuates her vocal and the lyrics. However, one listen to the original on this tour and it will be hard to go back considering the original was executed perfectly. After "Time After Time", she spoke to the audience in great depth about the history of the record. Her manager and boyfriend at the time, David Wolf was mentioned numerous times as was Bruce Springsteen and KISS (more of them in a bit). This wasn't a Storytellers evening but a documentary on the record. The performance of "She Bop" was every bit as twitching as its subject matter with Lauper even nailing the flute solo but it was the story that preceded it that made everyone smile. To get the giggles recorded, Lauper went into a warehouse where KISS stored their equipment and did pre-tour rehearsals to capture the sensual playfulness that can be heard on the record. The reggae-ska flavored "Witness" is a forgotten gem of a song that allowed the rhythm section to shine. "I'll Kiss You" with its Godzilla synths and two-fisted drums brings to light the muscle of a live performance. I barely remembered the song but the live version is mighty and moving. Even though it clocks in at less than a minute, "He's So Unusual" on record sounds like a 78 record with its static and distant vocal, but in concert, Lauper pulled out a ukulele for the occasion before segueing into the album's conclusion, the mischievous "Yeah Yeah".

The five song encore is the only time the set list varies city-to-city but it always begins with "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" which until recently has been buried by Lauper, however, due to continued requests by fans, she has resurrected it and it elicited an incandescent reaction from the crowd. While the evening's mission was to shine a light on the past, two songs exemplified Lauper's continued influence as an artist. One song from Kinky Boots was "The Sex is in the Heel" works as a seductive disco dance-off that jolted the crowd like an electric current. However, it was "Shine" that was the evening's defining moment. Originally recorded in 2001, the album was inexplicably shelved and released as an EP when she toured with Cher. The full Shine album was released in Japan only in 2004. The title cut electrified the Chicago in a way that was so prevailing, inspirational and crucial that for my money it stands as the single greatest use of her voice to date. The expression of emotions that she pouts forth captures philosophical resolve by Lauper. I don't think Lauper has ever penned a better song and my gut tells me she feels the same way. The song is a declaration of love and support but in which she anthemically hugs the crowd. It's an extraordinary song that takes hold of you and never let's go. For those without someone to hold onto at the night, the tenacity she displays is enough to make you feel like you are not alone and that feeling will stay with you long after the house lights go on.

More than any album, book or musical that she has ever created, Lauper's greatest achievement is her voice. The final songs of the evening, a soaring cover of "At Last", an a capella rendition of "Feels Like Christmas" and a stripped acoustic performance of "True Colors" were vocally transcendent. Her unwavering vocal is one of the most confounding displays of talent I have seen on a concert stage. It is on par with the dance moves of Mick Jagger or the six-string wielding of blues legend Buddy Guy. Lauper perfectly recreated her most seminal album of her career in a performance that will be burned into my brain for quite some time. I've seen full album performances from the likes of Rush, Bruce Springsteen, Butch Walker, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Megadeth, Slayer, Roger Waters, The Who, Huey Lewis and the News, Weezer and more, but few executed their shows with the zeal and meticulousness that Lauper did. The songs grappled with the past while being in the present. The material held up surprisingly well and it serves as a reminder why the album made the cut for Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 500 Albums of All Time list in 2003. The songs are sweet, sentimental, sexual and strident. Even though Lauper didn't write all of them, she made her mark on the world with these songs because she owned them. She is an empowered woman that has always brimmed with confidence and astonishing talent and amazingly, thirty years after she made her mark, she's reminding the world that her success was not a fluke but it ever evolving.

Cyndi Lauper will perform at the Beacon Theatre in New York on December 7th and in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 4th. Kinky Boots continues its Broadway run through May 2014 at the Al Hirschfelt Theater in New York.