Now-a-days a good concert is hard to come by (especially in Dallas). But every now and again a show comes along that is so satisfying, it makes up for its’ own inadequacies. Such was the case Friday night at the Smirnoff Music Centre, outdoors under the foreboding heat of Texas’ coming summer.
I must admit, initially, I didn’t want to go. I’d seen Maze featuring Frankie Beverly on several occasions and though I love a good Maze concert, I wasn’t convinced that appearing with Faith and Musiq (Soulchild aka Talib Johnson) was going to be a good experience overall – boy was I wrong!
As my luck and CPT (colored people’s time) would have it, I arrived an hour and some minutes late to the concert, but got there in time to see Faith Evans belting out her last two songs. To be honest, I haven’t heard Faith’s new album and since I don’t listen to Dallas-based radio (because no station plays my kind of adult music) I only recognized the last song, which has been getting play on XM Radio. However, I was also trying to find my seat so I wasn’t really listening.
Despite my recognition or lack thereof, Faith, with her alabaster skin tone and on-again-off-again trademark strawberry blonde hair, had folks on their feet. Faith appeared happy to just be on stage performing and rightfully so after all the drama that has plagued her life and career. From the death of The Notorious B.I.G aka Christopher Wallace who is her son’s father, to drug possession charges that got both Faith and her husband arrested over a year ago in Atlanta where she was living. Faith has come through the fire and came out unscathed…well…except for the hair color. Physically looking good and loving herself, Faith Evans rocked on spirit alone.
Next up was the new soul crooning shortie, Musiq. With only two CD’s in his repertoire at present and already dropping parts of his stage name, Musiq joined his eight piece band and in Prince-fashion got the audience crunk with, “Everybody on the one!” Nope, it wasn’t one of his songs, just something he used to get warmed up and it did the job getting folks out of their seats ready for his set. Then, the 45-minute set began with the hit cut and title of his sophomore album, Soulstar.
No female singers in tow, the background was held down by a group of homeboys all dressed in black. Their sound was smooth and complimented their leader. However it wasn’t long before things begin to go down hill during Musiq’s set. From technical difficulties to bad song selections, Musiq began to sink not even a third way through performing.
Being the only “new-soul” act in the line-up, Musiq should have did a Maze-move and stuck with the hits. By the end of his second song, folks were already showing glazed over signs of unfamiliarity. Songs like La-La, The Girl Next Door, and Crazy barely made it through, if not for the few 27-35 year olds out in the crowd who actually knew the songs. Overall, Musiq mellowed out the crowd, bringing them down from the Faith Evans high.
And Musiq, obviously under the strain of dealing with sound difficulties, nearly threw his voice out which led to a few complaints from the singer. Lines went unsung, some had to be taken by the background, and the uncomfortable sense that Musiq, at any moment during the angst, might go the f**k off, but he held himself together. Like I said, there’s nothing like a good concert. When things go wrong and the performer has to get human about it, then the event has classic potential to go down in history and Musiq makes the honorable mention. His at times cocky attitude was off the hook during this lapse in his performance. This made evident when after his first song, he paused long enough to say, “What I got to do to get some water around here?”
However, after he got some water in his system, shook off the technical difficulties, and did some songs the majority of the audience knew, Musiq did his damned thang by slowing things down by asking the crowd, “How many of you have ever had a friend, and you two crossed the line, and it didn’t work out?” Well, he had my attention and enabled Musiq to transcend the crowd from the Smirnoff to planet love. This crooner, void of bells and whistles in the form of background dancers, hydroponics, pit jumping, or the wearing of outlandish costume ended his set on a high note (which came easy after he relaxed and stopped worrying about what wasn’t going right), running out of time to get to the crowd favorite from his first CD, Love.
Finally Musiq was bidding Dallas a farewell and it was time for the featured act. The band wasn’t on the stage good before the crowd was on their feet yelling, “Go ‘head” and marijuana smoke took up breathing room. People even danced in anticipation to what they were going to hear, like they were waiting for the gates of Get Down to open up and let them in. When Maze and Frankie Beverly walked out on the stage, it was officially party time at the Smirnoff. This was approximately 10:30 p.m.
Clad in his usual white cap, white linen top and white slacks, Frankie Beverly looked just like he did the first time I saw him five or six years ago. Always doused in white and never doing more than being a happy man singing.
Laid Back Kind of Girl was the intro song and from there Frankie led us through the list of hits full throttle, rarely taking a break. From Southern Girl to We Are One, Running Away, Golden Time of Day, The Morning After, Back in Stride Again, Happy Feelings, and Joy and Pain.
Wonders never cease to amaze. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly has crossed not only color lines but broke age barriers. Known for their gritty soul/funk sound which rejected the disco sound back in the late 70’s, this crew is still holding it down with songs that were hits when I was in diapers…literally. Maze and Frankie Beverly have stuck with the formula that works…sticking to only the hits. It’s been decades since they released a new album, yet and still, the classics did the job.
Midnight had come and gone when the crowd was un-wantingly let loose by Maze. Although signs of age appeared in Beverly who wasn’t holding a lot of long notes or moving around on stage as fast as he used to, this didn’t deter him from sending out good vibes with good live music.
Overall, an event I wasn’t anticipating on going to or enjoying turned out to be a night I won’t soon forget. It was a good time and a great introduction to a Texas summer because the Maze featuring Frankie Beverly concert with Faith Evans and Musiq was hot.