R&B singing sensation Usher may have some more Confessions to make, after a steamy performance Nov. 13 at the House of Blues that featured scantily clad dancers and a fair amount of simulated sex. Thousands of shrieking fans packed the downtown venue on a
R&B singing sensation Usher may have some more Confessions to make, after a steamy performance Nov. 13 at the House of Blues that featured scantily clad dancers and a fair amount of simulated sex.
Thousands of shrieking fans packed the downtown venue on a drizzly Thursday night to see the Yeah! man himself, as part of Usher’s One Night Stand Tour.
And when the first note of his opening song, Love In This Club, was played, the over-21 crowd got so amped that they literally shook the floor.
Women waited as long as four hours for the start of the show. Some snuggled in their Boo’s arms and went nuts when the curtain finally went up, and Usher appeared on stage, dressed in a three-piece ensemble that included a white tuxedo blazer trimmed in black.
As he further ignited the crowd with his Club hit that has taken Billboard charts by storm, Usher sported his signature dark shades and showed off some of the dance moves that have the superstar compared to such legends as Michael Jackson and James Brown.
He worked the stage as women dressed to the grown and sexy nines groped and grappled, trying to touch the hem of his fitted, chic garments.
Sex sells, and the crowd was sold out on Usher’s prowess, albeit simulated, as well as his wide-ranging vocals. No doubt, the first half of the show was hardly for the romantically faint at heart, as the five-time Grammy Award winning singer’s dancers, dressed in one lingerie ensemble after another, pretended to perform sex acts on and with him. Even an adoring fan, picked by Usher from the audience to come onstage with him, got a chance to “love him down.”
But as men tried to hold on to their clamoring women, the ladies were feigning for Usher.
The 30-year-old international icon moonwalked and cool-walked all over the v-shaped stage, pouring sweat and peeling off his clothes. Fans couldn’t seem to get enough. The audience, no doubt, Got It Bad for the R&B star.
Performing songs like Prince’s Adore and Do Me Baby and another sampling of a Stevie Wonder song revealed who the industry standout draws inspiration from.
Down to his sleeveless undershirt and revealing his chiseled physique and huge tattoos, Usher beckoned, “scream for me ladies.”
It was billed as a Ladies Only tour, and the men could only enjoy their girls enjoying Usher.
By the second half of the show, the sexcapades died down.
Usher cooled the often-steamy performances to a simmer in the last half of the show, as he performed hit songs from his six-album career, which spans more than a decade.
Though more PG and grooving than the first half of the show, the second half was no less entertaining and signature Usher, proved why the new dad and newlywed is the music sensation that he is, enjoying a multi-award, stellar singing career.
The greatest hits medley he sang that included Lovers and Friends and Yeah are hits he collaborated with rapper Lil’ Jon on, and had fans singing along and waving their hands.
Usher married Tameka Foster in the summer of 2007, and a few months later, the coupled welcomed their son, Usher Raymond V.
After riding high off the success of this Confessions album that sold 1 million copies in its debut week and helped the R&B to stay at the top of the charts for a record 28 weeks in 2004, Usher returned earlier this year with his Hear I Stand album.
The album’s singles, Love In This Club and Trading Places, continue to top Billboard charts and hog radio airplay.
Rhonda Gillespie can be reached at rgillespie@chicagodefender.com.
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