FEATURE: I Want Some More (concert review)
The following is a review from theBLACKsummersnight tour MAXWELL featuring Chrisette Michele and Common w/Bilal in New York City, NY September 28, 2009. enjoy!
I was at Madison Square Garden concert last night and the show as well as all the artists were quite lovely. MAXWELL made me proud to be a supporter of his music, with this website (The Latest Maxwell News). Go Maxwell, Go!
The energy was insane, I would have expected nothing different given the location. I previously read all the comments, featured reviews and professional reviews from the 2 previous shows but I kind of skimmed them. Usually, by the time I see Maxwell in concert, I know what he is going to say before he says it, when its gonna happen and so on. Maybe he will throw in a line or two that he did not say at the previous shows. It has never bothered me to know beforehand what is going to happen because mostly, I enjoy reading everyone else’s experiences because no 2 people see 1 thing the same way. Anyway, oh my goodness!
We arrived towards the end of Chrisette Michele’s set, I believe she was performing her last song but I have no clue what it was. From what I heard, she sounded great. I did see Common. He was fantastic. He did a selection of his songs and paid homage to the hip-hop heavy hitters from coast to coast from years past. A highlight was hearing the music from Digable Planets’ – Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like That). He did not rap a verse but the music did play. I was ready for him to rap a verse because I have loved that song since I first heard it in 1993 (its the horns). Common’s entire set was wonderful and Bilal was there helping him out.
When MAXWELL came onto the stage with his band, I was trying to take in as much as I could from stage set up, screens (& graphics) and the people. Maxwell gave an alluring and gripping performance throughout the entire night, playing to his hometown. He performed old songs and new songs and new-new songs? He did “Loving You”. I have no clue if this is a new track off an upcoming album or an alternate version of Love You. But whatever it was &$^* (give me some more please…). If he was trying to sell the song, it would have been purchased before he and the band finished the final note.
A few highlights of Maxwell’s performance, of course the number one was seeing Maxwell. Second, I enjoyed that the band members were a part of the show. They moved around and got involved just as much as Maxwell did. Third, the lighting was outstanding. Maxwell bathed in purple mixed with a little red lighting…nice! Fourth, everyone played an instrument, except Maxwell (unless you count his voice), at one point in time, even Latina Webb. Lastly, even though I could go on and on, the crowd. Its great to see a crowd serve up the same type of energy as what is going on stage-wise.
On the technical side of things, I am going to be honest, there were some hits and a couple of misses. What I had a problem with, I view Maxwell as a full body performer (from the top of his head to the bottoms of his feet), but rarely did the screens show that. Some of the images were off. Like if you have a square and in the center of it is a circle, if you split it down the middle there would be equal parts on each side. But what I saw was more of the image on one side than the other. That could have been because of the way the screens were designed? What I loved about the screens was seeing Maxwell large and in charge, that cannot be beat! And also, getting an up close glimpse of the band members while they were performing. Kudos to the crew for all their hard work on the tour!!
MAXWELL’s theBLACKsummers’night tour is definitely one you do not want to miss. Wait, there was another…incident. I just don’t understand the appeal of getting on the stage while a show is happening. But again, some dude decided to place himself on stage while the band members were introducing themselves. He got onto the stage where the horn section (Kenneth Whalum III, Saunders Sermons, and Keyon Harrold) was and I don’t know what was being said but the body language from the guys was reading back the f*ck up and get off, random dude.
Its very dangerous getting up on the stage, you may be someone who simply wants to get up close to all the action but no one really knows that, who is to say that person isn’t up there to do harm? If you jump onto that stage and get hurt (badly) guess who is liable for that? Maxwell and everyone else involved in the production. Please, DO NOT JUMP (walk, maneuver or other) onto the stage. I do not know if these incidents will continue to happen but everyone needs to air on the side of caution.
In closing, the concert was out of this world!! I hope everyone who has the opportunity to go, gets the chance! MAXWELL’s voice is getting better too, just a little more healing though. While its healing, concert-goers will sing when needed! From what I saw of the entire performance, I definitely want some more, especially of Loving You. When can I add that to my personal collection of music? And next time I visit the city, hopefully I will be able to stay a little longer to meet up with everyone.
“I Want Some More!” feature concert review for The Latest Maxwell News presents “Fan Concert Experiences“.
Copyright Greencaty/Chantay (LMN) © 2009. All words were used with permission of the owner. Special thanks to the owner for allowing The Latest Maxwell News to feature the concert review.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Feature. 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.
Ckimyonw September 30th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I’m going to the show in DC. I can’t wait!