I don’t know what it is about free concerts, but they are always the best to watch. And they’re even better at the Taste of Chicago when you can feel the energy of the crowd. So far, I’ve seen Lyfe Jennings, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Stevie Wonder, Anthony Hamilton, Jason Weaver, and India Arie at the Taste. Nobody had topped Lyfe Jennings (Anthony Hamilton came close though) so I had to go see him again. And usually I work 12 to 15 hour days on Wednesdays, but when I found out that one of my favorite R&B artists (Ne-Yo) was going to be at the Taste, that had to change. I hate mornings, but I woke up at 5 am and headed to the newsroom. I was on a mission and got everything I needed done to the site by 2 pm and bounced!
It was raining, I have a fresh perm and broke as a joke so barely enough money to get on the train, but I collected what I needed and headed out. Ne-Yo onstage is as good as I thought he’d be. He started off singing my second favorite song from him: “Stay.” I love the energy of that first verse! It was bittersweet that Michael Jackson just passed, but he did a tribute to him that made me agree with Jamie Foxx on the BET Awards. He doesn’t look remotely like MJ, but he can sing his songs extremely well. If there was ever a Michael Jackson tribute CD to come out, judging from the BET Awards, Ne-Yo is the only one who can hit the right notes. I’m curious how Chris Brown sings Michael Jackson’s slower songs, but he wasn’t at the BET awards so I don’t know. I saw a lot of people fail at trying to sing them, but Ne-Yo really did a good job.
I knew he’d written Mario’s song “Let Me Love You,” Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” and Rihanna’s “Round of Applause,” but I had no idea he wrote Jennifer Hudson’s “Spotlight” and neither did the crowd because they were shocked when he sang that one with the rest of his creations. I really wanted him to sing Marques Houston’s “That Girl” because I have the feeling he can sing it better. I liked Marques’ version, but I really like Ne-Yo’s range a lot more.
When you can have grown fully heterosexual men swaying in the crowd and looking all googly-eyed at their girlfriends, you gotta love that. I haven’t seen that since Al Green was on the BET Awards (last?) year. It was a joy to interview him for the Chicago Defender, but an even bigger pleasure to see him live. And as modest as he was about dancing in the interview, he can move quite nicely. And the sermon at the end about “Miss Independent” was too cute. Although I like “She Got Her Own,” him performing “Miss Independent” love made me switch over.
Great job! I’d recommend anybody who hasn’t seen him go asap.