Mary J. Blige is definitely Just Fine

There has only been two times I’ve been to a concert and sang and danced so hard that I felt like I was going to pass out.

The first was earlier this year at the Heart of the City Tour co-headlined by Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z. The second was this past Saturday at the Love Soul Tour featuring Robin Thicke and starring Mary J. Blige.

Guess who almost had me on the floor both times?

I’ve seen Mary a total of three times, and each instance has been a different experience. I just saw her five months ago and Saturday’s performance was completely different than April’s. For an artist to change up her show in a matter a months speaks volumes because it probably would have been easier to just stick with the same show.

When I heard Mary was coming back to the Bay Area, I convinced my sister, Regina, to fly out for the concert (for some reason, the tour bypassed Denver) because she’s never seen Mary live before. I’ll venture to say she’s not sorry about the airfare she paid!

I’ve been pumped for this concert since the day I bought the tickets – part of that excitement was the great seats I was able to secure. After sitting in the nosebleed section at the Heart of the City Tour, I made a promise to myself to always get the best seats possible – as long as I can afford it.

Before the show, I was concerned about how well Robin Thicke would do. Having seen him on the BET Awards, I wasn’t sure he would be able to come across well in a big venue.

I was wrong.

Robin came out strong and finished the same. I’m not a major fan of his, but I was on my feet when he sang Magic, Can You Believe and Lost Without You. This is bad, but the thing that stuck out most in my mind about Robin’s show is how fine his drummer and guitarist were!

Many times my friends said “Look at the drummer!” The camera person must have thought the same thing because he/she kept focusing on him.

As the lights dimmed to let the audience know Mary was coming, a countdown to her performance was displayed on jumbo screens. You could feel the electricity in the air because everyone knew we were about to witness a performance we would never forget.

Mary came out swinging with Grown Woman (off Growing Pains) and for the next two hours she kept the energy level high, moving from Love Is All We Need to Be Happy to Real Love to Love No Limit (the remix) to Mary Jane (All Night Long) with ease.

If you are a true Mary fan, you know all these songs are off her first three albums – What’s The 411, My Life and Share My World. There’s nothing better than an artist revisiting where it all began.

It’s funny because, before the concert my sister and I were listening to Mary’s older albums and discussing what she may sing. Regina called it when she said Mary would go old school, and she sang many of the songs we wished she would.

Performing like a woman who is definitely comfortable in her own skin, it’s obvious she’s in great shape (no heavy breathing between songs) and she looked absolutely fabulous in her all black ensemble.

During the break (in which she changed into an all-white outfit with gray boots), a montage of the songs she couldn’t fit in were shown on a screen. The video clip ends flashing 1975 and playing Roy Ayers’ Everybody Loves the Sunshine.

Mary then appeared back on stage, lying on a couch, singing My Life. It was by far one of the best moments of the evening.

Other memorable moments include Take Me As I Am, Work That, Enough Cryin and No More Drama. I don’t know how Mary was jumping around on stage in those grey high heeled boots, but she absolutely worked it!

The anthem for my life right now is Just Fine, and knowing this would be the last song, I was prepared to go crazy. I can still hear Mary in my head singing: “So I like what I see when I’m looking at me/when I’m walking past the mirror/don’t stress through the night at a time in my life/ain’t worried about if you feel it/got my head on straight, I got my vibe right/I ain’t gonna let you kill it/see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just fine/fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine oooooh!”

If her performance is any indication of what’s going on in Mary’s life, it is indeed just fine!

Throughout the night, I kept looking over at my sister to gauge her enjoyment level. It appeared she was in her own world, mesmerized like most everyone else.

At the end of the show, all of us had to stop and catch our breath. We knew what we had just experienced would stay with us for a long time to come.

Note: Right before Mary took the stage, a video was shown for the organization she founded earlier this year – the Foundation For the Advancement of Women Now Inc. (FFAWN). According to the Web site, the foundation is “dedicated to helping all women gain the confidence and skills they need to reach their full individual potential.”

CD alert!
Kindred the Family Soul drops a new album tomorrow (Oct. 21). Called The Arrival the first single from their third release is House of Love. I love this husband and wife duo and hope you will support their wonderful music by buying the CD.

Leave Mr. DJ alone

I have a friend who is a disc jockey, a k a DJ. For more than 20 years DJ O (most people call him Rodney) has been spinning records at clubs, parties and weddings.

I’ve known DJ O for five years. We became acquainted after he became my barber (he’s a jack of all trades).

During the course of our friendship, which turned into a relationship and is now back to a friendship, I’ve had the pleasure of accompanying him to various DJ gigs. I’ve been to numerous weddings (the stories I could tell), many clubs and a few birthday parties.

I’ve come to this conclusion – it is very annoying when people bother the DJ.

I used to be one of those people who would walk up to the DJ booth and request this song and that song. I’d stand there until the DJ would play my song and then go back to dancing.

I don’t do that anymore.

After seeing more than one drunk person come up and ask for that “song” – as if DJ O should instantly know what “song” they are talking about – I’ve determined that you should leave the DJ alone.

DJing is not easy work. You have to make sure each song flows into the next one and you have about one to two minutes to find that next song. Shifting through records, pulling it out the sleeve, dropping it on the turntable and finding just the right spot for the song to begin is a skill I’ve come to admire and appreciate.

Although DJ O now uses a laptop, the premise is still the same – he has to scroll through thousands of songs and find the right one before the one currently playing stops.

Try doing that for hours at a time – while standing.

Music is what makes any party and if the DJ becomes annoyed, the party can go downhill quick. Not saying I’ve witness this with DJ O – he’s the utmost professional – but there have been a few times he’s told people to just relax and enjoy themselves.

I remember one time he was working a party and the birthday girl was so worried about people dancing that she spent a better part of the night telling DJ O what to play. She didn’t realize that her so called “friends” weren’t interested in dancing – they just came for the free food and liquor.

The next time you’re at a party or grooving at the club, please resist the urge to make a special request. Chances are your song will eventually be played. And if it isn’t, go home, put your song on and turn up the volume like you are still at the party.

There’s nothing better than dancing in the middle of your living room!

Upcoming concert alert!
I began 2008 seeing Chris Botti at Yoshi’s in San Francisco and I will end it seeing him at Yoshi’s in Oakland. He’s playing at both venues and trust me when I say tickets will sell out for ALL shows.

More Ledisi, less Musiq

I’ve had a busy, concert filled few days. Thursday, I checked out Musiq and Ledisi at the recently restored Warfield in San Francisco. Downstairs is standing room only with some tables, while upstairs is all seated.

There used to be a time when I didn’t mind standing for hours waiting for my favorite artist to perform. These days, if I have a choice between standing or sitting, I’m sitting!

Ledisi hit the stage with extremely high energy, wearing all black and some serious black stiletto boots. I don’t know how she jumped around on stage for almost an hour, but she rocked it. She even made reference to her attire – “I’ve been hanging with Prince! Can’t you tell, I’ve got on my boots!”

I must admit, I’m not a true Ledisi fan. I have a few of her albums on my iPod, and I tried to really get to know her music before the show, but I still wasn’t familiar with many of the songs she sang. It didn’t matter though because I was grooving the entire time she was on stage.

Ledisi gave a heartfelt performance, speaking to the audience about how she really thought about leaving the business, but she pushed on and is now a two-time Grammy-nominated artist. Her voice is funky and jazzy, and she definitely gives her all when she’s performing.

I wish I could say the same about Musiq. I’ve been a fan since Aijuswanaseing and have all his albums. I’ve seen him a few times before and didn’t leave disappointed.

Unfortunately, Musiq wasn’t quite right this time. I don’t know if it was because his band was too loud or if his voice was off. Whatever the case, I left feeling like Ledisi should have been the headliner.

After waiting 52 minutes for him to appear, Musiq began the show with his first single, Just Friends and from there launched into Half Crazy. When he got to For the Night – which is my jam – I felt like he was doing more dancing than singing. I also noticed you couldn’t really hear the backup singers that well.

At one point, he left the stage and came back apologizing for the “technically difficulties.” Whatever those “difficulties” were, they weren’t fixed because the band was still too loud.

Musiq started to lose me when he went into an extended version of Teach Me (off his latest Luvanmusiq). The song went from four minutes to 20 because he decided to take a break and change clothes. While we waited, one of his backup singers introduced the band.
Musiq returned in a new outfit and a piece of candy in his mouth.

He politely ate it (while checking his phone) and the band kept playing Teach Me. Oh, I forgot another reason the song was so long – he decided to have a man moment, explaining why men are the way they are. I didn’t have a problem with that, I just think he should have had this man moment and not changed clothes.

After singing a new version of Who Knows (stick with the old), he went into Don’t Change. That ended up being the best song of the night – and the last song I heard because my friend had to go to work.

I usually stay until the end, but this night, I didn’t feel bad leaving before hearing B.U.D.D.Y. I hope Musiq can overcome those technical difficulties and pull it together for his next show.

***Concert alerts!***

Chante Moore
I saw Ms. Moore when she did a guest appearance for Norman Brown during the JVC Jazz Festival. That woman has pipes, so I can only imagine how great she’s going to sound at Yoshi’s.

Mary J. Blige
I’ve already seen Mary earlier this year and I’m pleased she’s coming back because my seats we horrible for her previous show. If you’ve never seen her, she’s worth every penny. The last two times I saw her, my behind never saw the seat and the last time I felt like I was going to pass out because I was singing and dancing so hard!

Maxwell
He’s back! Well, can you really be back if you haven’t released an album in seven years and still don’t have one out? Nevertheless, he’s touring and I bought my tickets before they went on sale. I just hope he releases a single before he comes to Oakland Oct. 28 and 29.

Amel Larrieux returns to Yoshi’s

After seeing Musiq and Ledisi on Sept. 18, I checked out Amel Larrieux on Sept. 19. I think that’s the first time I’ve done back-to-back shows.

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to make it to work following a Thursday night show (and going to the club afterwards), I took the day off and spent it chilling and preparing for Amel. I didn’t do anything special – just got the eyebrows and feet done. J Nothing like a little pampering to make your day better.

Amel Larrieux is a Yoshi’s regular – she performed there last year. This go around, her shows were sold out for all three nights. After this experience, I can see why.

There were two main reasons I went to see her – my friend asked me and I enjoy being able to leave the house every now and again. The only Amel album I own is Infinite Possibilities and I don’t know it that well. I’ll put it on when I’m sitting at work trying to focus – which means I’m not listening really close to the lyrics.

Amel’s music is truly mellow, and her show was the same. She funked up some songs, but for the most part, listening to her was like lounging in a hammock next to the beach under a full moon on a warm night – relaxing and peaceful.

Her voice sounded sharp and she had a great rapport with the audience. A lucky 9-year-old girl had the Amel Larrieux version of happy birthday sung to her; she recognized those in the audience who belong to her official Web site Bliss Life and she even asked an audience member if they had been at the show last year. I thought it was cool of her to remember seeing someone from so long ago.

As she sang, it was obvious she really feels the words behind the music. Her backup singer, Amina, was in sync with her every step of the way and their voices blended together well. The rest of the band was on point.

Thinking on her feet, Amel gave three sections of the audience three different parts of a song to sing. You could tell she made it up, but it flowed well with the show.

Her personality was engaging and at the end, I was delighted I got to experience her performance.

Do you remember Thriller?

This morning, a local DJ remarked that Michael Jackson’s album Thriller is still selling thousands of copies a year – more than 25 years since its initial release.

His comment sparked a memory of when I first saw the video for Thriller. Back in 1984, there was a relatively new television station that played only music videos. Aptly titled Music Television, MTV played music videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It’s hard to fathom that MTV used to be all about music and not what it is today.

In the beginning, MTV did not play black recording artists. Then along came Michael Jackson and Thriller. According to Wikipedia, Michael is the artist who broke the self-imposed MTV color barrier and made it more acceptable for black singer’s videos to be placed in to rotation.

The night of the video’s premiere was preceded by days of anticipation. Everyone knew the day and time the video would be shown. At my god parent’s house, my sister, god sisters, god brother ate fast and I made sure our homework was out of the way.

We did not want to miss this event because we knew the next day everyone would be talking about it at school.

We prepared as if we were going to witness the greatest thing since the showing of the miniseries Roots. In our eyes, this video was something that we would never witness again.

I remember sitting in front of the TV, eating popcorn and waiting for the show to begin.

And what a show it was.

Michael Jackson gave us 14 minutes of something we had never seen before – a video complete with acting and a story line that actually went with the song lyrics. Sitting on the floor, I felt myself becoming scared as the scene opened with Michael and his date being at the movies.

I remember flinching and closing my eyes when Ola Ray did.

Walking down that dark street, we knew something was going to happen. But what? I was on edge the entire video.

Michael Jackson did not disappoint with Thriller. He set the bar high and made it so you expected much more from a music video than just singing and dancing.

Despite what you may think of Michael, his influence and revolutionary way of entertaining us through song changed how we would forever view videos.

There are many who have tried to duplicate his style, but there will never be another artist who has done what Michael has.

Never.

Obama and my mama

Let me preface this blog entry by saying it won’t have anything to do with music. You probably could have guessed that from the title.

I can not pass up the opportunity to talk about the excitement this election season is having on my family – in particular, my mother.

First, let me let you in on a little family background. Politics were not a topic of discussion in my house. My mother was too busy rearing two daughters to discuss such things. Any talk about politics would be my father’s domain – but I can’t recall having conversations with my father about politics when I was younger either.

My mother didn’t take us to the polls when she cast her vote because she didn’t – she was too busy working.

It’s not until recently that mom has been exercising her right. She’s not a fan of either Bushes and she used to like Clinton (Bill that is), but he fell out of her favor when the current process of selecting a candidate for the Democrats began.

As most people are aware, last week was the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver, Colorado. I was reared in Denver and my family still lives there. My sister volunteered at the convention and my extended family all had a part in the historic occasion.

Unable to travel home, I lived vicariously through my sister’s five-day odyssey (boy, she has some great stories to tell and I hope she blogs about it like I told her to).

Back to mom. I called her to catch up and the conversation quickly turned to Barack Obama. “Do you really think he has a shot at winning the presidency?” she asked with a cautiousness in her voice.

Born in 1943, my mother has been through plenty as a Black woman in America. She’s experienced Jim Crow laws firsthand and has lived through the Civil Rights movement.

She knows being alive to witness a Black man be a major contender for the presidency of the United States is a historic occasion she never expected to see in her lifetime – or mine or the children I have yet to have.

As our talk continued, my mom went on and on about how she watched every moment of the DNC on CSPAN. “I didn’t want to hear what the reporters had to say,” she told me.

“Did you see Ted Kennedy?” she asked. “Stevie Wonder tore it up and Jennifer Hudson did a good job singing the national anthem,” she continued.

“Michelle Obama’s speech was really good and their daughters are too cute.” On and on my mom went about everything she saw.

I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of shock, pride and delight as I listened to my mother inform me about the lies “they” keep telling about Barack and how Hillary gets on her “last nerve.”

Never before, my mother said, has she watched a convention. “I never saw the need.”

But Barack Obama, with his passion to move America in a different direction, has my mother in a place she thought she would never be – hopeful that, come Nov. 4, this country will elect the right man to office. Not just because he’s a Black man, but because he’s the best option to lead this nation out of the despair and dysfunction it currently is in.

I anticipate that on Jan. 20, 2009, my mom will be beaming with pride as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.

I know I will.

Chocolate Legs and Eric Benet

Eric Benet wants me to wrap my chocolate legs around him.
Um, well, that’s what he was singing about during the celebration of a local radio personality’s birthday. Of course, I just knew he was singing directly to me seeing as though I was really close to the stage.
Forget about the 30 or so women who were right in front of the stage; he looked me in my eyes (through darks shades) and sang Chocolate Legs to me and only me. Maybe I’m stretching it, but I was there and you weren't.
Eric was the invited guest for Kevin Brown’s 50th birthday party. Several hundred people attended the event in support of Kevin, and for a worthwhile cause – helping children returning to school.
The price of admission was a backpack full of school supplies or $20. I chose the former.
Despite being in line 30 minutes before the doors opened and with only about 50 people ahead of us, my girls and I were still unable to secure seating (there were a lot of VIP sections. What’s up with that?), so we decided to grab something to eat next door.
Unfortunately we missed the surprise appearances of D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone! and comedian Mark Curry.
No biggie since we were really there to see Eric Benet. He took the stage around 9 o’clock and sang four songs – Feminity, Georgy Porgy, the aforementioned Chocolate Legs (from his soon-to-be-released album Love & Life out Sept. 9) and his latest single You’re The Only One. I’ve never seen Eric perform live, but he was well worth my backpack full of school supplies.
Eric’s voice was clear and crisp (despite the sub par sound system). I’m sure every woman in the audience felt like he wanted them to wrap their legs around him. There were even a few women in the front row who were trying to make that happen, and Eric had to step back from the stage because several of them couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
I don’t blame them though. That man oozes sexy. The lips and five o’clock shadow just did it for me!
According to Eric’s Web site he plans to tour in support of Love & Live. Check him out – I actually plan to buy his new album based on his performance (Chocolate Legs had a little something to do with the decision as well).