Miley Cyrus in Boston :: Show Goes On Through Tears

Amid the screams of thousands of teenage girls, their gay best friends, and the pungent aroma of pot, Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz Tour' rocked up at Boston's TD Garden last night (Wednesday, April 2).

After supporting acts by Sky Ferreira and the electric Icona Pop, Miley arrived, sliding down an enormous replica of her trademark tongue, singing her signature tune "Bangerz.". It all seemed very typical at first, very 'Miley'...but then, suddenly, it wasn't.

"Your responsibility is to get me through, I think, the hardest day of my entire life", she uttered, choking back the tears. "I want to make sure you guys are still having fun though" she explained, on multiple occasions, devastated from the sad news received just hours before -- the news that her beloved dog, Floyd, had passed away.

Determined to carry on, the 21-year-old starlet performed a couple of tracks with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, in spite of the somber atmosphere. There were dancers in cartoonish animal costumes, there was a whole lot of twerking and there was plenty of glitter. She belted out some of her more upbeat tracks -- "Can't Be Tamed," "Do My Thang, " "FU."

Yet the show remained a conspicuous struggle at times -- a reminder, as Cyrus herself pointed out, that pop-stars are human -- that there's a real person behind the persona. Cyrus' sadness overwhelmed her when a giant inflatable Floyd emerged on stage. She ran over, unable to continue singing, grabbed its leg, and broke down on the floor.

Her emotional state was compounded during an acoustic set, in which she performed renditions of Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," Lana Del Ray's "Summertime Sadness" and Coldplay's "The Scientist." This was Miley at her most vulnerable -- it was incredibly raw and her vocals were phenomenal.

Despite the sadness in the air, it felt as though Boston was offered a glimpse of something a little more authentic -- something to offset the 'we can't stop' party animal antics. As Huffington Post columnist and Edge contributor Chris Sosa notes, "Miley Cyrus showed something rare for big-budget pop performance: raw vulnerability. While her vocals were on-point when she managed to sing through the tears, and the show itself is a wildly fun spectacle, the most memorable part of the night was Cyrus' affecting authenticity".

The show, however, managed to salvage a 'wildly fun' atmosphere, especially towards the end. This was Cyrus at 90%, which of course, was still immensely electric, garish and extremely outrageous. There was a plethora of moments that would invariably make middle-America blush -- simulating oral sex on a mock Abe Lincoln, straddling a giant hot dog, and slapping numerous asses, to name just a few. She closed the evening with her blockbuster hits, "We Can't Stop," "Wrecking Ball" and "Party in the U.S.A," delivered with a renewed enthusiasm.

No, this wasn't a typical Miley concert, but that doesn't mean it was subpar -- just different. A reminder to us all that, even for global superstars like Miley, tragedy can come in like a wrecking ball.