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Review: Sade at Frank Erwin Center
Don’t be surprised if there are a flood of babies born 9 months from last night at various Austin-area hospitals because soul singer Sade and her band provided a sultry soundtrack for many “date nights” during their nearly sold-out Frank Erwin Center concert Wednesday night.
Running more than one hour behind scheduled set times “due to the building’s safety, and technical issues,” an announcer said from the PA, Sade the singer led her band (also named Sade) through two hours of torch songs ranging from R&B to country soul to jazz-influenced mid-tempo funk…crafted expressly for lovers.
Sade (born Helen Folasade Adu) is an anomaly in the pop music business: a woman fronting a soul band and singing mid-tempo-to slow music, releasing albums only occasionally “when inspired” while still selling more than 110 million albums worldwide. In a business where you’re only as popular as your last hit, Sade the band transcends fads and vogue. They transcend multiple genres. Add the mystery created by the press-shy Sade - multiply that with her unique and deep vocal timbre and her exotic multiracial beauty - and you’re left with a reluctant diva.
The audience beamed, screamed and slow danced in the aisles. The audience’s expectations were palpable for Sade’s first tour in nine years. When the atmospheric intro to the title track from Sade’s recent “Soldier of Love” album began, Sade the band immediately locked into military-style snare rolls. Sade the band and Sade the singer melded into one seductively powerful unit, propelling beats and melancholic minor chords underneath her deep-toned mezzo-soprano.
Much of the band’s precision stems from the musicians longtime collaboration: saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, keyboardist Andrew Hale and bassist Paul Denman have been playing together with Sade since the early 1980s. Mathewman took many solos - recalling his licks from the albums note-for-note - while Denman played a variety of electric and double basses depending on his need for sweet and silky low-end (“No Ordinary Love”) or the double string pops on their international hit, “Sweetest Taboo.”
Sade made the entire performance appear effortless. Whether she was doing her slow hip shakes during “Your Love Is King” in 4-inch black stiletto heals or dancing barefoot in one of the most gorgeous form-fitting evening gowns you’ve ever seen, Sade maybe a reluctant icon, but she displayed that time ain’t nothing but a thing as she proved the consummate performer. Her vocal dynamic control unveiled like a master class (complete without the histrionics of wavering melisma that most soul and pop singers overuse these days).
“You’ll have to forgive us for being away for so long,” Sade commented during one of her multiple sincere thank you’s. “…Austin, you look good after all these years!” You could overhear audience members murmur the same thing about Sade, who most certainly proved the sexiest 52-year-old you’re likely to see in your life. She didn’t look much different from the young MTV star version of herself who broke out during the mid ‘80s.
A few of the many show-stopping highlights included the hypnotic bass-drenched “Paradise” and the six minute-plus encore, “Cherish The Day.” Of course the jazz-influenced hit “Smooth Operator” drew an enormous response from the audience, too. Although much of Sade’s repertoire descends from a musical canon including Billie Holiday and Al Green, Sade’s signature song displayed she has definitely learned a few jazz-meets-pop tricks from Joni Mitchell too.
R&B pop singer/pianist John Legend opened the show with sound and voluminous fury, signifying not much of anything at all. While his backing band overplayed like music school graduates showing off, Legend sang and posed amidst his Las Vegas-like stage show, complete with Frank Sinatra-esque swagger. Legend’s overwrought set proved to be the antithesis to Sade’s tastefully refined restraint. Let’s hope Legend will learn from Sade during this tour that in art and music, less continuous bombast can equal more dynamic power.
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By The Metal Files
September 8, 2011 6:44 PM | Link to this
Here is my review
themetalfiles.com/2011/09/08/sade-john-legend-the-frank-erwin-center-9711/