So, my 29 year old daughter reprimands me, “Dad, you’ve got to get out of your narrow horizons and check out John Legend. He’s like a perfect combination of Nat “King” Cole and Marvin Gaye, with a dash of Sam Cooke.” Did I raise this girl right, or what?
Having only seen him in the film La La Land, I didn’t know what to expect. First, the 2 hour show begins with him setting the tone like we were participating in a vintage Nat Cole TV program, complete with a black and white projection of Legend warmly welcoming us to the theatre and crooning “The Christmas Song.” Take a seat by the fireplace!
Up goes the screen and out jumps Legend, dressed in a Christmas green suit (the first of four, being red, white and a violet smoking jacket), and backed by a band and vocal team that would give Booker T and the MGs a run for their money. Stating that he wants to recreate the classic moods of 50s-60s Christmas TV shows, he slides into upbeat takes of “What Christmas Means to Me” and “Silver Bells.” His voice, warm and relaxed with an inviting vibrato, shows rich emotion and impressive range on R&B material such as “Bring Me Love” and “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” while he glides over the tricky and infectious drums on “Love Me Now.”
Sitting by the piano, he is able to create sweaty Memphis grit a la Ray Charles during “Please Come Home For Christmas” with the band adding “Killer Joe” riffs to a juke joint jumping “Merry Christmas Baby.”
Through every song, be it an intimate and personal “Save Room”, a simmering soul dance on “Pent House Floor” a gorgeous and delicate “Save Room” or a bluesy ballad such as “Like I’m Going To Lose You” the overall theme and message is one of love, and love of family. During a tender “You and I (Nobody in the World)” Legend sang with a backdrop of home movies of his wife, daughter and cheerful dogs. The stage, at times resembling a TV studio or roadside nightclub, included a backdrop of signs that gave messages such as “’Tis the Season For Love,” “Love When It’s Hard” and “Love For Everyone.”
Even when inviting an audience member on stage to dance, he let the crowd know that his wife gave him permission for this, while his “Green Light” reflected a gospel background and his aria of “Ordinary People” was a passionate declaration. By the time he encored with a singalong of “All of Me” and a stomping “Merry Merry Christmas,” it was easy to see that John Legend, while reflecting an era of Cole and Gaye, is not a throwback, but timeless.
Knowing that my daughter has this good of taste in music, was a pretty good stocking stuffer for me as well!