Christina Aguilera gets ‘dirrty’ at San Francisco’s Portola Festival

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the flyest of them all?” Christina Aguilera sang into the microphone as she strutted across Portola Music Festival’s Pier Stage in black chaps and wraparound clear glasses — embodying the bad girl bravado that cemented her as a pop powerhouse.

Around 7 p.m. on Saturday, the five-time Grammy Award winner took the stage with platinum blonde hair cascading down her back, launching into her rebellious 2002 anthem “Dirrty,” igniting the crowd from the jump as flames shot up from the stage.

From there, Aguilera tore through a career-spanning set that pulled equally from her roots and the ever-shifting pop landscape. “What a Girl Wants” unfurled with a soaring, gospel-tinged chorus as she performed her trademark vocal riffs. “Genie in a Bottle” got a full makeover, her live band supercharging the song with pulsing reggaeton dembow beats under a wash of Y2K cyber-blue, a reminder of the era of music she helped define.

“It’s been 20-plus years,” she said at one point, reflective. “It’s been such a ride.”

For Aguilera, that journey has stretched from her late-’90s breakout as a teenage pop star on “Genie in a Bottle” to her early 2000s reinvention with her “Stripped” and “Back to Basics” eras, where she imbued her version of pop with gospel, soul, and big band flourishes. The 2010s saw her lean into experimentation on “Bionic” and return to R&B, hip hop and balladry on “Lotus” and “Liberation,” all while balancing stints as a coach on “The Voice.”

In recent years, Aguilera has split her time between touring, recording, and Las Vegas residencies, reestablishing herself as a reliable live act. Her 2022 Spanish EP “La Fuerza,” and subsequent Latin Grammy nominations, were a nod to her Ecuadorian heritage, while her Vegas run showcased the breadth of her catalog, from chart-topping singles to deep cuts from 2010’s “Bionic,” exhibiting her creative range and ahead-of-her-time flourishes.

Aguilera’s Portola set made clear that her voice remains the greatest weapon in her arsenal. Even as she leaned on backing tracks in places, there was no doubt about her command of tone and range, most notably during “Lady Marmalade,” when her high notes cut through the night air. At times, the crowd was awestruck, cheering to the sheer force of her delivery.

The night’s most anthemic set came in its final stretch. “Feel This Moment” swelled with its euphoric EDM beats, urging the crowd to shout the lyrics back at her. She followed with “Let There Be Love,” an empowering closer introduced with a pointed shoutout to the LGBTQ+ community — one of several nods throughout the night tied to her partnership with Grindr.

“Everybody has the right to live how they choose…” Aguilera told the crowd. “We only got one shot.” With that, she launched into the song, rainbow lights flashing as her platinum hair shimmered in the glow. By the final chorus, Aguilera was bounding across the stage, radiant as she delivered her last high notes.

“Who’s the flyest of them all?” she had asked earlier in the night. By the end, Portola had its answer.