Janet Jackson, at 42, back on the road with a dance-heavy show

Notice something missing from the concert schedule these past few years?She's back.Seven months after her album "Discipline" debuted atop the Billboard chart -- her sixth No. 1 -- Janet Jackson is on the concert trail with the Rock Witchu tour, which will bring her Saturday night to the Palace of Auburn Hills.Until the tour's launch earlier this month, it had been seven years since we'd seen Jackson on the road -- though we certainly got a good look at her during the 2004 Super Bowl performance that pushed the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" into the popular vernacular. After a decade of groundbreaking concert runs that started with 1990's acclaimed Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour, Jackson eased offstage to focus on studio recording and film work.She says she was set to hit the road last year, even commencing rehearsals with her crew, before pressure from Island Def Jam convinced her to wait for the new album's release."It was something that they really wanted me to do, so I said, 'OK, I'll do this for you guys.' I waited, and so here I am," she says. "I wasn't going to postpone this one for anything."There may be lingering ill will: Saturday's show will come just days after Jackson announced her split from Island Def Jam, her label home for just 14 months. She had already publicly accused the company of bungling the album's promotional campaign.Meanwhile, the tour's name has bred confusion among some who assume it's an allusion to the 1980 chart-topper "Rock with You" by brother Michael. Not so, she says: "It's about dance -- that's why I decided to call it Rock Witchu."But MJ still gets a name-check from his younger sister. At 42, more than three decades after her emergence as a pop star, Janet Jackson continues to pay tribute to the acts whose stagecraft paved the way for her, including Prince, the Time and her brothers in the Jackson 5 -- "the biggest inspiration for what I do when it comes to dance and really 'up' music." Among newer artists, Jackson says, a particular favorite is Jill Scott.As with Jackson's prior outings, Rock Witchu's two-hour, nine-costume-change set is a heavily choreographed affair -- an eclectic, electric show that Jackson says might as well have been called the History of Dance Tour. The 33-song set includes plenty of hip-hop-influenced fare, including a virtual duet with rapper Nelly, via video, on their hit "Call on Me."That's no surprise. "Discipline," like its predecessors "20 Y.O." and "Damita Jo," is peppered with hip-hop flourishes and other up-to-date dance sounds. (Produced by boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, it's also her first album in a quarter-century not to feature the services of golden-touch producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.) But Jackson noticeably bristles when asked if she feels compelled to keep up with current pop styles."I don't think the word 'keep up' is correct. I think you do your thing. I've already been there. I've already done all of that. It's not a matter of keeping up," she says. "I hope that doesn't sound cocky, because I don't mean it to sound cocky. ... It's about doing what you do -- being you, not trying to change because this is going on or that's going on. And of course you're going to evolve. That's what I've always stuck to, and that's what I'll always stick to. Music has changed. I'm a lover of music. My music has changed. It will continue to evolve."It would be hard to accuse Jackson of coasting at this point. Leading into the tour's Sept. 10 kickoff in Vancouver, Jackson and her crew -- which she equates to a close family -- were logging seven-hour rehearsal stints, day after day."There's a certain level of expectance from you, and you have to get that done and be on point," she says. "So whatever that takes, that's what you put into it. ... I don't think that's changed. I've always been a hard worker. That's how I was raised. Everyone in my family is like that, and I don't think I'll ever be any different."Jackson may get the lion's share of spotlight, but it's clear she considers the stage work to be a team effort. She eschews flying by jet in favor of traveling by tour bus -- part of a 21-vehicle caravan transporting about 80 crew members -- where she likes to unwind by catching up on potential scripts and watching historical documentaries."I love being on the bus with my people, with people that have been with me 10-plus years," she says.Staying down-to-earth also means retaining a tight bond with her audience, a fiercely loyal bunch who got the chance to help select Jackson's tour set list through a promotional call-in line."Being so dedicated and loyal, they told me what they've wanted, and this is what I'm trying to give them," she says. "So hopefully they'll be happy. Like I said, this show is for them -- it's for the fans."