Reviewed on Monday March 21 (photo by Ashley Mar)
For a man allegedly uncomfortable with his sex symbol status, D’Angelo is doing everything right to earn it. Crooning the opening lines to the slow jam ‘Devil’s Pie’, he takes to the stage clad in black feathers and do-rag while his band The Vanguard back him in equally stylish attire. Since returning from his 14 year hiatus, D’Angelo has tightened up his act. He now echoes the hard-working ethos of James Brown, albeit tinged with his own touching vulnerability.
Indeed, it’s his vulnerability that makes the show both great and a bit difficult to connect with. A massive Prince fan, D’Angelo’s roots come through in the crunching rock covers of Roberta Flack’s ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ and Prince’s ‘She’s Always In My Hair’. With strobe lights flaring and the band powering through the chords, it’s admirable that they’re paying tribute to D’Angelo’s influences, but the effect is as jarring as it is spectacular.
At other times we get exactly what we came for. The strings of ‘Really Love’ resonate through the Opera House as a beautiful flamenco guitar trickles over the chorus, D’Angelo singing, “I’m really in love with you“. He makes his first costume change of the night, and we’re treated to a funk extravaganza, complete with scatting, simultaneous three-way guitar solos and synchronized dance moves.
The neo-soul singer seems to have shrugged off any damage that his extended struggle with drugs and alcohol might have been expected to wreak on his voice. He screams into the mic, and incites the crowd to sing along on the more soulful tracks. “Used to get real high/Now I’m just getting a buzz” he sings, dancing to the smooth groove of ‘Back to the Future (Part II)’. However, if his voice has escaped unscathed it’s clear that his performances have been touched, as though they are a part of D’Angelo’s catharsis and he has transformed his pain into this high energy show.
Suddenly the band shudder to a halt, and the hall is plunged into darkness. There’s an uneasy silence for a while, and then the band slam back into gear for a rock-funk fusion encore. D’Angelo finishes by flinging his mic stand to the floor in true James Brown fashion, a fitting end for a show too focused on D’Angelo’s idols but saved by incredible performances.
