Golden Brown; Young performer has fans 'wall to wall'

Chris Brown has it. So much so that the R&B pop phenom can hold astage performing his collabos solo.

That was the case Friday during the Allstate Arena stop of his"Up Close and Personal Holiday Exclusive Tour."

Co-headliner Bow Wow didn't perform Friday, the 20-year-oldrapper having been hospitalized after the tour kickoff in CincinnatiThursday.

The early acts rendered the hits we couldn't escape this summer.Lil Mama touted her "Lip Gloss." The Shop Boyz proved they couldstill get heads to bang with "Party Like a Rockstar." Each did abouta 10-minute set.

Soulja Boy Tell 'Em gave the adolescent house a radio-friendlyversion of the Grammy-nominated and sexually explicit "Crank That(Soulja Boy)."

Hurricane Chris performed "A Bay Bay" and "The Hand Clap" withoutmissing a beat, despite his microphone being off. The crowd kepttime, A Bay Bay-ing on cue and being just as forgiving as they'dbeen earlier when the mikes cut out on the Shop Boyz. But thetechnical glitches grated on nerves by the time Lil Jon made anappearance and couldn't be heard. (That's right. Lil Jon. Couldn't.Be. Heard.)

Thankfully, the technical bugs were worked out at the early partof Brown's uber-energetic, tightly choreographed show, made just asenticing by his athletic krump style of dance and schoolboy charm asby his vocals.

Introduced with an animated Brown fighting off "haters" andrescuing his girl, the real flesh-and-blood thing entered from therafters, "Mission: Impossible"-style, in paramilitary garb,eliciting NBA-worthy verticals from girls in the crowd beforebreaking into "Wall to Wall."

But the appeal of the 18-year-old Tappahannock, Va., nativeextended well beyond the youngsters. Older women in the audience gotinto the show. One woman wore an airbrushed T-shirt proclaiming her"A Mother of Chris Brown's Lover." "Where's 'Poppin' '?" one momgroused to another while comparing notes about songs left off thesetlist.

Helping them feel at home in the crowd might have been thesection with music from the 1980s arena rap tours that they mighthave attended as teens. Dressed in a track suit, Brown rapped LLCool J's "Radio" and hosted a dance battle before re-emerging in themiddle of the arena for a portion of the show.

He sang hits, including "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" and "Run It!," witha changing contingent of background dancers.

After only two years on the scene, Brown has an ability toenchant an audience, making them forget other performers who shouldbe onstage during his show.

"Gimme That" was performed with a screened image of Lil Wayne. Heheld down "Umbrella" with the assist of Rihanna's vocal track and anifty light show. On "Kiss, Kiss," when it came time for T-Pain --the audience helped out.

Not that Brown needed any help.