To me, very few experiences are beautiful. I guess, after a certain age things tend to go from shiny and new to predictable and dull. However there are certain situations in which our emotional strings are touched… Let me correct that, our emotional strings are played, dare I say masterfully! and suddenly a beautiful song somewhat familiar yet new ropes us back in.
Back where you may ask, back to feeling like a child, experiencing things for the first time.
You may think I’m a bit over the top, but hear me out, I didn’ know live music could feel this fresh after 24 years in the industry, I’ve never met an artist out there, that could make me feel like I was seeing in color for the first time in my life. That, my dear fellow human, is what the last show of the “The Alicia + Keys World Tour” felt like. Pure divinity wrapped up in a veil of Beauty and excellent musicianship.
Right off the bat; we gotta talk about the visuals. The color palette was something soothing and artistic, the images and lighting perfectly accentuating the intention of each song reflecting yet another face of this whole show’s personality. Yes the entire show felt like a living breathing creature right out of a fantasy novel.
Alicia got us singing to all of our favorite tunes leaving us with nothing but delight in the first section of the show (Wasted Energy was one of my favorites). If you’ve never seen her live, there are a few things that catch your attention right away. One is her unbreakable childlike smile, pure and unwavering, it invites you into her world of melody and harmony. It’s so enchanting that after a little while you don’t realize it but find yourself smiling too. In a sea of people that uses aggression and violence to express themselves, someone that smiles unapologetically while allowing you to let go of the weight of the world on your shoulders for the next two hours is not only a rebel but a leader, one that cares.
As If agreeing with this beautiful energy coming from the stage, the weather was beautiful! A crowd favorite during this opening section packed with her early hits was “you don’t know my name”. The guy next to me was about to lose his sanity on this song, and all I could think was: “Me too dude, me too”(Shout out to the sound engineer.) Right when we thought “If we could only receive this bliss for another hour we wouldn’t ask for anything else” Alicia introduces a guest on the stage. None other than “The” Jill Scott, to perform Jill Scott, by Alicia Keys together. I know your jaw dropped when you read that, well guess what? Mine too! Them singing together was amazing and even more surprising was to learn this was their first time singing together. Unreal! (I teared up a little, not gonna lie). After another song performing “The Way”, by Jill Scott. These Goddesses say their goodbyes, Alicia announces another surprise and disappears while her band takes the front with some jazz.
At this point the day turned into night and we don’t even know how we got there. A slow cool breeze grazes our faces and out of nowhere people start looking around, like looking for something. Turns out this super woman “magically” appears in the middle of the crowd surrounded by her keyboards and synths transporting us all the way back to the Apollo Theater, this time engaging all of us in a battle for the two. Which version of the song (Album KEYS, a 2 part album) did we like more? My favorites were “Only you” and “Is It Insane”, but to be honest I loved both versions. As she played the beginning of “Empire State Of Mind” we started going crazy and the sky started weeping from joy. The images from the big city were flashing in black and white on stage, Alicia was walking back to the stage and the light rain was giving us some much needed relief while enhancing the Beauty of this performance. Amongst other tunes the mashup including “Girl On Fire” was one of the most energetic.
As she gently guided us to the end of this ride, there was another major surprise waiting. Not only is Alicia Keys singing “Fallin’” to us but with the company of Nashville’s very own, Fisk Jubilee Singers. There is nothing like Alicia Keys and her piano together, when we thought we were done for the night, she once more, allows us to experience that beautiful friendship as she begins to play and sing “If I ain’t got you” as the encore of the most beautiful show of my life. Thank you for the art, thank you for daring, thank you for being brave, thank you for the music.
