St. Louis Post-Dispatch commended the tour as "one of the flashiest on the concert scene." Elizabeth Aird, who reviewed Jackson's concert at GM Place, wrote "If there's a show sexier and more polished than Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope extravaganza, it's only on Broadway ... Saturday night's show at GM Place was two hours of thrills pumped out by Jackson, her never-say-die dancers and her powerful band." James Sullivan of the San Francisco Chronicle observed her concert at the new arena "offered a career retrospective, punctuated by new material, periodic video diversions and fireworks." "The show was a lot like an '80s flashback, though to its credit Jackson's eight-piece band—bass, guitar, drums and percussion, two keyboardists and two backup singers—added some inventive layering to her older hits." Charles Passy of the Palm Beach Post reported Jackson's show at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre emphasized style over substance, commenting her "two-hour set was about half hormones—and half pyrotechnics. Without much in the way of a voice, she has sold her persona throughout her career. And as that persona has evolved from girlish teenager to sexually sophisticated woman, her albums—and tours—have provided a road map." Jet Magazine reported, "With wit, sass, dance and a whole lot of sex appeal, Janet turns her song and dance fest into one of the major musical events of the year. In fact, it has become the must-see concert of the year." Jeannine Etter of Youth Outlook stated "Janet takes us from ballads to hard-core dance beats, and from sex to politics. The set changes appropriately reflect some of the stages of her musical development, from the more playful circus/funhouse vibe of light and playful songs like "Escapade" to the sexual side of Janet's music that keeps getting stronger and stronger as the years go by. During the performance, one lucky man is picked from the audience, strapped to a chair and "tortured" as Janet performs a highly erotic dance for him." The excerpt concluded "Janet is extremely beautiful, but she also demonstrates a humility obtained from pain, reflection and a sense of spirituality." Christine Robertson of Evening Post, who reviewed Jackson's concert in Wellington, New Zealand, exclaimed "The sleek choreography and superb dance spectacle saw Jackson seldom take a breath from one set to the next—her control of the stage complete. Most of the time she plunged into two decades of hits which give her the right