So… last night Damien took me to see Allen Stone at the 9:30 Club in DC. I wasn’t versed by this artist’s music at all so I was completely stunned and moved when I heard the music that this man played. He has one of the most soulful voices of this generation and everyone who left the building last night definitely felt “lighter on their feet” as Stone said we would.
Kudos to his band as well, who are phenom. My eyes were drawn to his brass players who were full of extreme energy; jumping up and down and getting the crowd even more pumped than they already were. His keyboard and organ players were on point; especially with that moment of random autotune. Perfect. Drummer was live from the beginning; dripping with sweat 2 minutes into the show. And lastly, his beautiful black backup singers who were the perfect accent to his voice.
All in all, I’ve been listening to his albums all day on repeat. I’ve seen Wale, Ludacris, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, MGMT, and Beyonce all perform live and I must say he doesn’t fall too short of Beyonce in being one of the best concerts I’ve ever went to. He proves you don’t need to have dancers and crazy special effects to give your audience an unforgettable performance. And he also proves that you don’t have to be a black man to be soulful. Music has no look, just sound.
The video below is my favorite song of his and some photos I took. If you don’t have the patience to listen to the entire song at least fast forward to 4 minutes where his vocals will blow you away.