Katy Perry Plans to Conquer Globe With Arena Spectacular

Neil Lupin/Redferns

With less than a month to go until the start of her 95-date California Dreams world tour, Katy Perry couldn’t be busier. “I’ll give you a sneak peek of my day,” she says. “I have a nice, healthy breakfast. I’m on a meal plan, which absolutely sucks ”“ but on Sundays I get to have a cheat day where I go buck wild and eat In-N-Out Burger. Then I’ll work out, go to a vocal lesson, run through the entire set at rehearsals, go to dance rehearsal until 10 pm. I feel like I’m training for the Olympics!”

Perry is determined to make her first headlining tour a jaw-dropping spectacle, on par with Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour and Pink’s recent shows. “I just really want to raise the bar,” she says. “Touring is no longer an ordinary thing where you play an instrument in jeans and a T-shirt. It has some pizazz these days. The show has a Broadway feel to it. It’s got a story line that’s going to be very interesting, kind of loosely based on my life, but a cartoon version.”

The show takes some unlikely inspiration from the painters Will Cotton and Mark Ryden. Cotton ”“ who art-directed Perry’s ”˜California Gurls’ video ”“ incorporates candy and baked goods into his art. Ryden is known for surreal images of meat alongside creepy, doll-like children. “I have this whole thing in my show that is about candy and cupcakes and meat,” Perry says. “It’s both really sweet and shocking, but not in a sexual way.”

She’s most psyched about a new addition to the show: “Smell-O-Vision.” “It’s the first concert that’s going to smell good,” she says, of scents that will be pumped into arenas. “It’s going to smell like you’re in cotton-candy heaven.”

Perry insisted downtime be built into the schedule. “When people ask, ”˜How was Barcelona?’ I’m not gonna be stupid and be like, ”˜Uh, the room service is great.’ That was really annoying the first time ”“ I’d go to these magical places and literally just have time to taste the room service. I wanna go and see Gaudí this time.” She’s also scheduling family time with husband Russell Brand. “I have some two-week breathers where I can see him,” she says, “and regain some stamina.”