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Review: Quiet confidence carries Alicia Keys far
By Shay Quillen
MediaNews Staff
May 12, 2008
ALICIA KEYS wears well. Watching her perform, it's easy to imagine her 40 years from now as a grande dame, still dispensing soulful music and empowering messages, more Maya Angelou than Mariah Carey.
Saturday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Keys delivered a nearly two-hour show that was consistent, classy and musically varied, marked by a quiet confidence that made even the lesser songs from her three-CD catalog appealing.
Following a video starring comedian Cedric the Entertainer as Keys' pastor — more uplifting than laugh-out-loud funny — Keys' band took the stage around 10:45 p.m. to the instrumental introduction from her latest CD, "As I Am." The music stopped for a moment, and when the lights came back up, Keys was at a grand piano on a rotating circular stage.
Keys — decked out in a trio of simple Armani outfits throughout the evening — started the evening up-tempo and on her feet with the dance-hall reggae of "Ghetto Story" and the salsa-tinged "Waiting for Your Love."
Then she went back to her girl-group roots, joining her two female backup singers on a quick blast through hits such as the recent "Teenage Love Affair," before heading off for the night's first costume change.
The singers were part of a first-rate supporting cast, including seven instrumentalists and six dancers. But the show's most memorable moments occurred when Keys was at her piano with little or no accompaniment, as on the new album's moving "Sure Looks Good to Me" and Keys' version of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore."
Throughout the night, Keys spoke calmly and conversationally to the audience about following one's dreams. The only overt political message came during "Prelude to a Kiss," in which the video screens urged help in the fight against AIDS in Africa.
Nearly every song was written or co-written by Keys. At times, her lyrics slip into Oprah-esque self-improvement banalities, but songs like the new album's "Superwoman" came across better in person.
Though Keys is a breathtaking beauty, she never relied on her sexuality to sell the music. At one point she lay down on top of her piano, prompting a hoot or two from men in the crowd, before reaching down to expertly play the intro from "Diary" on the keyboard, upside-down. Take that, cat-callers!
Keys' voice was strong throughout, but she wasn't reluctant to share the spotlight. On "Diary" and "Tender Love," Keys let singer Jermaine Paul take over with some of the night's most impressive vocalizing.
The set closed with Keys' breakthrough single, "Fallin' " (including a snippet of James Brown's "It's a Man's World"), but she returned a moment later for the recent monster hit "No One," which finally brought the bulk of the crowd to its feet. For a finale, a piano popped up at the end of the catwalk, and Keys came out for a heartfelt "If I Ain't Got You," dedicated to the audience.
Earlier in the night, R&B singer Ne-Yo performed one of the biggest shows you'll ever see from a support act, backed by a slick nine-piece band in sharp gray suits and four female dancers. Amid hits such as "So Sick" and "Because of You," he and a remarkably flexible lap-dancer acted out a pantomime "boy gets girl, boy loses girl" story that distracted from the artist's vocal and song-writing talent.
Opener Jordin Sparks, last year's "American Idol" champ, showed no signs of the vocal problems that delayed her entry onto the tour. Neither did the 18-year-old reveal any distinctive artistry that will keep her on the scene after her "American Idol" season fades into memory. Awfully friendly, though.
Copyright 2008
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