Minaj's concert shows she has room to grow

Nicki Minaj may be one of the hottest things on the music scene today, but her live show could still use some heat.
Minaj, on her first headlining tour, performed a sold-out show at the Peabody Opera House Tuesday night and showed she still has room to grow in her live show.
She barely managed to surpass her opening slot for Lil Wayne last year at Scottrade Center.
Minaj, to her credit the only female rapper on top of a major tour today, burst out in the middle of that Lil Wayne set for some electrifying rawness that was unforgettable. But now, after ascending to the height of her craft and fully crossing over from urban to pop audiences, she seems defanged.
The colorfully cartoonish Minaj now has the dicey task of catering to both halves of her fan base, though her concert here brought out what looked more like Z107.7 than Hot 104.1.
Despite Minaj's frequent wig and costumes changes, her spectacle of a show felt petite. She went back and forth between hip-hop fare such as "Roman's Revenge," "Did It On 'Em," and "I Am Your Leader" and pop-dance ditties such as "Starships," "Pound the Alarm" and "Super Bass." She struck a fair balance between the two and also included songs "Moment 4 Life" and "Come on a Cone."
The 80-minute show moved quickly as Minaj, accompanied by a hype man, male and female dancers and occasional pre-recorded vocals, breezed through songs, sometimes only performing a couple of verses.
She did well in not only performing a good rundown of her hits from her albums "Pink Friday" and "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded" but also budding cuts from the releases.
For fans who followed her before she was big, she offered popular mixtape selections such as "I Get Crazy" and "Itty Bitty Piggy." She said her St. Louis fans knew the words to some of the mixtape songs better than she did, and claimed she'd never performed some of these songs in other cities.
Several female fans joined her on stage for "Bedrock," while rapper 2 Chainz performed with her for their "Beez in the Trap." "My Chick Bad" and "Bottoms Up" showcased her verses on others' hits, Ludacris and Trey Songz, respectively, though her bit on Kanye West's "Monster" somehow didn't make the cut.
2 Chainz's opening set was a bit of a mess. The thing about 2 Chainz is he wasn't much to listen to when he was known under the name Tity Boi, and while changing his name to 2 Chainz has given him a popularity he never had before, it doesn't change who he is.
His set included "Spend It," "Got One," "No Lie," "Super Freak," "Riot" and his verse from Kanye West's "Mercy." His album "Based on a T.R.U. Story" will be released soon.

Nicki Minaj set list

"Roman's Revenge"
"Did It On 'Em"
"I Am Your Leader"
"Beez in the Trap" featuring 2 Chainz
"Stupid Hoe"
"Dance (A$$)" remix
"Right By Your Side"
"Moment 4 Life"
DJ interlude
"Starships"
"Pound the Alarm"
"Turn Me On"
"Fire Burns"
"Save Me"
"Marilyn Monroe"/DJ interlude
Mixtape medley including "Itty Bitty Piggy" and "I Get Crazy"
"Come on a Cone"
"Up All Night"
"I'm So Proud of You"
"My Chick Bad"
"Bottoms Up"
"Bedrock"
"Super Bass"