Maxwell owns a watch, a very nice one at that. It was plainly visible on his wrist. Perhaps it does not work. At 1:15 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning — fifteen minutes after his Essence set was scheduled to finish — it had not yet begun. The preceding act, Anita Baker, ran late, contributing to a domino effect. But the stage appeared to be ready at least 30 minutes before Maxwell.

Discriminating Essence audiences give every performer a shot, but patience is not unlimited. Maxwell tried it, doing himself no favors. Exhaustion is not conducive to appreciating his chill bedroom soul. As his set wore on into the wee hours, thousands of empty seats surrounded diehard fans.

That fans could see him at all is something of a minor miracle. He performed at Essence in ’97, soon after his “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite” introduced his as the voice of nouveau soul. He canceled a return engagement in 2000 the day before the show, supposedly because of laryngitis.

He was inactive for much of this decade. In 2008, he reemerged from self-imposed exile with a new tour and plans for an album trilogy. The first installment of his “Blacksummersnight” project hits stores Tuesday.

Even as he resumes his career, his eccentricities are not entirely exorcised. On Saturday, he ordered security guards to clear out from behind the stage barricade. As musicians soloed, he sometimes seemed unaware that he was still being broadcast on big screens. And he is perhaps a bit too sure of the aphrodisiac powers of his music.

He’s picked up, if not entirely mastered, the classic moves of an R&B showman. Wearing black pants and shirt and shiny white shoes, he spun, dropped to the floor and sang on his back. He is the type of singer for whom a microphone stand is an essential stage prop; he made the most of his.

He caressed the microphone, and lyrics, with an especially sweet falsetto on “This Woman’s Work.” Curiously, he dedicated the Kate Bush song, which he covered on his “Now” CD, to Michael Jackson and “the people who knew him as a person, not an icon.”

Perhaps due to the late hour, his set bogged down. Outside of his best half-dozen songs, his material can grow tedious. His new “Stop the World” is not likely to join his greatest hits.

Wisely, he showcased much of “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.” Late in the set, the singalong chorus of “Ascension” – he tossed off the first verse a cappella as the audience kept time with finger snaps — provided a much-needed boost.

At 2:50 a.m., he finally called it quits with a semi-acoustic “Whenever Wherever Whatever”; his percussionist tapped out a heartbeat rhythm. As his final act, he prompted his musicians to introduce themselves – a strange ending to what even the singer acknowledged was a strange night.

Source: NOLA.com

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