CONCERT REVIEW: MAXWELL Steams Up the Dodge Theatre (The Arizona Republic)
Maxwell steams up the Dodge Theatre
by Ed Masley – Jun. 30, 2009 02:00 PM
The Arizona Republic
Having avoided the spotlight for much of the decade, Maxwell re-emerged in style at last year’s BET Awards, rocking a sleeker, more sophisticated look while pouring every ounce of soul and sensuality he had into the Al Green classic “Simply Beautiful.”
And Monday’s Dodge Theatre concert in Phoenix picked up pretty much exactly where that show left off. After making us wait for what felt like forever, but may have been longer, the singer emerged in his black suit and shades while the “greatest band ever in the history of bands,” as Maxwell called his backing band, eased the audience into his erotic world with the smooth, sophisticated soundtrack funk of the opening track from “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite,” his acclaimed debut. And that Wah-Wah guitar was the work of none other than Marvin Gaye guitarist Melvin “Wah-Wah Watson” Ragin.
A steamy “Get to Know Ya” followed, Maxwell whipping off his shades as a dramatic gesture after an opening verse reminding his girl that while “others were tryin’ to get in your trousers,” he was “just trying to get into you.” After making the most of his upper register on “NoOne,” Maxwell and his band brought “Lifetime” to a gospel-flavored climax like some great lost Al Green ballad, effortlessly slipping back and forth between a sweet falsetto and grittier, full-bodied vocals with an urgency that made the studio recording seem a little on the tame side.
He dipped into “Black,” the first part of an upcoming trilogy of albums, with “Bad Habits,” a slow-burning funk groove that peaked with Maxwell dropping to his knees to plead “I can’t control the feeling” as strobe lights flashed around him.
A gorgeous version of “This Woman’s Work,” the Kate Bush song he covered on his “MTV Unplugged” set and revisited on “Now,” became a Michael Jackson tribute, although it hard to say whether he chose it because it’s so emotional or because he sings it in a range that’s pretty close to Michael Jackson singing “Ben.”
“We lost a very special person, probably one of the most amazing musicians ever known to man,” he said, quickly adding “to woman” and asking, “Can we all sing it to him?”
If that song was the concert’s emotional highlight, it’s safe to assume a fairly high percentage of the ladies in the house were just as moved by “Everwanting: To Want You to Want.” Sent out to “all that single ladies,” of which there appeared to be many, it found Maxwell lying on his back while making the most of a mike stand’s phallic properties.
It can feel a bit like a bachelorette party, at times, with Maxwell playing to the ladies. But like Marvin Gaye in his “Let’s Get It On,” years, Maxwell backs it up with songs that don’t rely on any mike stand tricks to get their point across. He may have introduced the Chic-like groove of breakthrough single “Sumthin’ Sumthin’ ” with more banter geared directly to the ladies, but the song itself belongs to everyone.
As Maxwell would later explain, as though it wasn’t obvious, “This is a love thing tonight.”
The testifying funk of “Cold” found Maxwell offering the fans another preview of that soon-to-be-released first album in his trilogy, rhyming “She means business” with “As God is my witness” in one of his grittier vocal performances of the night. After turning the lights down low for the moodier, echo-driven soul of “W/As My Girl,” he slipped another new one, “Pretty Wings,” into the set list, graciously accepting two shots of Tequila from girls in the audience when he was through before joking “Y’all got me all drunk.”
At that point, he paused to address the “brothers in the house.”
“Some of you came with your lady because she dragged y’all,” he joked, before explaining that he was “just setting the situation up” for later, getting all those women in the mood. And then, he dropped his stunning version of that Al Green classic, “Simply Beautiful,” sticking in lines like “You can wear your sweatpants, your rollers. I got you girl.”
A smoldering “Fortunate” kept the mood of “Simply Beautiful” going, after which Maxwell again thanked the “beautiful” women for keeping those shots of Tequila flowing his way before admitting, “I don’t see enough panties on the stage but whatever.”
The panties eventually made their way to Maxwell, after “Stop the World,” another new one, during which he told his girl, “I’m gonna let you get your hair done so I can mess it up tonight.”
It was only after he’d reminded them, though, setting up a soulful ” . . . Til the Cops Come Knockin’ ” as panty and drawer-dropping music, playfully adding “only if you’re single, please. Nobody trying to beat my (expletive) tonight.”
And then, he had to stop the song because the security guard wouldn’t let the panty-throwing woman close enough to reach the stage.
With a laugh, he asked the guard, “You gonna block my panties?!”
It was one of those priceless, spontaneous moments you’re just thankful to have witnessed.
” …Til the Cops Come Knockin’ ” brought things to a climax, then he sent us on our way with a soulful “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder),” starting with an acappella sing-along.
By that point, any fears that Maxwell’s retreat after “Now” in 2001 was the end of an era had been laid to rest. In fact, you almost had to wonder if the man’s just getting started, especially considering how well that new material help up against the classics.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 7:36 pm and is filed under Concert Reviews 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
doreen July 1st, 2009 at 10:08 am
Wish I could have seen it first-hand!