All Hail The Queen

In October I went to see Queen Latifah in her Trav'lin' Light concert.
She sang well and was a definite crowd pleaser at the House of Blues in Atlantic City. She performed covers of Donny Hathaway with"Gone Away" as well as an upbeat Nina Simone number. Highlights of the show included the reflective song from "Hairspray", called "I Know where I've been". On songs like "Baby Get Lost" and the beautiful "Georgia Rose", with inspiring lines such as , "don't be blue 'cause you're black" her range and spirit shined through. We have some idea of where Queen Latifah has been. I can't say that when I first watched her old classic video for "U.N.I.T.Y" or her urban heist film "Set it Off" I knew she would become a Jazz, pop, and soul singer starring it hit film adaptations of musicals.

Her band was great and the presence she had on stage marks as a true performer. Talking with the audience and bringing her father onstage marked her as a true Queen. When the show had ended the audience erupted into loud cheers and a standing ovation as she exited the stage. Of course the Queen came back out to sing!

Holi-daze part II

Greetings Readers,

I hope your holiday went well. It's only natural to stuff your belly in November and December then wish the weight off as a New Years Resolution. For my Thanksgiving I woke up to watch the Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is a lot of labor wars affecting the arts. Most of Broadway appears to be on strike. This years parade catered to those in dire need of sing-a-long worthy songs with jazz squares and kick ball chains. Songs were performed by the cast of "Xanadu", "Legally Blonde: The Musical", and "Young Frankenstein among others. I like my Broadway on the stage. I do not like my Broadway on MTV ( "Legally Blonde: The Musical" ) The live theater experience is amazing and the Parade was all about lip syncing. It was nice to see the band Good Charlotte, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, and tween' favorites Ashley Tisdale and the Jonas Brothers, but it would've been better to hear them. It would of been better to hear some of them...

Also in attendence "singing" on a float was R&B singer/songwriter Ne-yo. Although I appreciate Ne-yo's music it was not great to see him. He was very overdressed. Neyo is from the west coast, and may have heard that recent New York City weather was in the low temperatures, but on Thanksgiving morning it was sunny and warm. Just looking at him on the TV screen made me hot. Ashley Tisdale's coat and hair bothered me a bit, but Ne-yo...wow. Did you need the hat, the scarf, AND gloves??




I'll have to assume that Ne-yo is a little confused. After being dropped off of the R. Kelly tour for no sane reason I can see. R.Kelly's people say Ne-yo didn't sign a contract. Ne-yo rehearsed,promoted, and produced consistency on the tour. He deserved more then that. I'm not going to bring up R.Kelly's diva behavior on the tour. I will say that Ne-yo was getting better reviews then R.Kelly. For some reason be it ego or delusion R.Kelly was under the impression that people wanted to see him perform. In reality fans jumped at the opportunity to see Ne-yo, Keyshia Cole, and J.Holiday in concert. R.Kelly just came with the package. Unfortunately his songs were popular so it's easy to find yourself singing along to an R.Kelly son. It doesn't mean we have to like it! We don't have to like him. His concert-goes obviously didn't and Ne-yo caught that wrath. It doesn't matter Ne-yo is an artist in every sense of the word. Not the greatest artist, but an artist nonetheless. Waits for a Neyo featuring ________ concert. Who should fill in the blanks...