John Legend, Somerset House, review: US soul superstar brings the heat to London
17.07.2022 - 18:41
/ msn.com
American soul superstar John Legend got married to his biggest hit. Legend’s gloriously romantic All of Me – “‘Cause all of me loves all of you/ Love your curves and all your edges/ All your perfect imperfections” – has become one of the wedding songs of our time.
It was written in 2013 for his soon-to-be-wife, the model Chrissy Teigen, and, of course, he was saving it for the encore. This London visit had been delayed for two years, and Legend seemed very glad to be here, as he sauntered on stage in raspberry suit and matching shirt to the sha-bop sha-bops of The Flamingos’ 1959 hit I Only Have Eyes for You.
The sample kick-starts track one on his most recent album, Ooh Laa, from 2020’s Bigger Love, and the song showcases the range of Legend’s voice, from a high falsetto that tilts at Curtis Mayfield levels of purity and sweetness to an all-out soul belter. The opening moments came with a special anticipation – as they do for any great singer – what will he/she (or they) sound like in the flesh? The sensation was akin to seeing a Ferrari idling at traffic lights, before the engine roars into life (and accelerates to the next traffic lights): a momentary sense of shock at the sheer power of the thing.
Damn, the man can sing. And with a seven-piece band and two superb backing singers, the sound was big and full, as Legend marched through Used to Love U, from his 2004 debut album, Get Lifted, and the slinky funk of Penthouse Floor from 2016’s Darkness and Light.
Then there was a short detour into the stirring Glory, from Ava DuVernay’s 2014 civil rights film Selma. Legend won an Oscar for co-writing the song; he is one of the tiny few to have won an Egot – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards – and the first black man.
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