Opening for him was Anjulie; reminiscent of M.I.A.'s unique features mixed with Lykke Li's ethereal voice, she was definitely a good surprise. If you haven't heard of her head over to Anjulie's page and check her out! My favorite song was her closer "Boom" - with some sexy drums and singing. She maintains a fresh sound in a field of blandness and was just SO damn adorable!
Raphael began his set with an ode to the late, great Marvin - using his performance of the National Anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star game. This led into a set of a couple tracks off his newest album "The Way I See It" which turned into a mini Lucy Pearl set and a couple tracks off his first album "Instant Vintage." I must add that his backup singer, Erika Jerry, was phenomenal. I found myself in awe of her stage presence, voice and charisma.
I always gauge an artist's authenticity by their live performance; (as it is always easy to sound good when the album has been mixed and enhanced) and judging by this alone, Saadiq was on point and has never sounded better! He closed the show with a Tony! Toni! Toné! set singing "Pillow" and "Anniversary" and let's just say most girls needed a change of panties afterwards.
As Raphael intended and mentioned on his Twitter page, we were in store for a surprise that night. What a surprise, indeed! Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed (of A Tribe Called Quest) came out to perform "Get Involved," one of my favorite, rare Saadiq tracks.
All in all, it was a blissful experience. It was my first concert in New York and I couldn't have been more satisfied with the hour and a half-long set and the set list! I can't wait to hear his next album and look forward to catching him on tour again in the future.
To view the complete set of pictures from the concert click HERE.
To view the complete set of video footage from the concert click HERE.
P.S. Hi, I'm back.
