Walking into the Louisville Palace, the mood is elegant, perfect for a Maxwell performance. Middle-aged women jabber about their anticipation to see the show just as a teenage girl would for Justin Bieber. On the inside, I was personally just as excited. Maxwell has been around for over 20 years - which he referred to quite a few times during the show. He is an R&B legend and a true performer.
The opener, Ro James, is an R&B singer who is just getting started with his hit single, Permission, which the ladies love.
Maxwell's set begins with a collage of quickly flashing pictures and audio, filled with images of recent police brutality scenes, Orlando, a lion, a cheetah and clips of him performing at a young age. Then the video shows a black bird, a circle with a line through it and blackSUMMERSnight begins.
Chills went through my body as the bass begins to vibrate, accompanied by a smooth, soothing saxophone. Maxwell, dressed in a blue suit and tie with shades reminiscent of Ray Charles, emerges from the blue lights, slowly walking toward center stage. There are screams from the audience before he even says a word.
He begins by singing harmonies to go along with the epic chords. At times he leans back about as far as Neo in The Matrix, taking in and loving every note his band plays. He breaks into a song which really shows the band's ability, and they jam out for about five minutes with seemingly no structure. They seem to be led by Maxwell's strong hand signals; he almost acts as an orchestra conductor.
The lights dim, and the spotlight shines on Maxwell. “Y'all still look the same 20 years later,” he says. “I love how it smells really good here, and the food is really good here.” He throws his L's up.
The show goes on and the crowd pumps up, leading to one of the most special moments of the night. They play a video of Muhammad Ali doing the Ali shuffle, and Maxwell does the shuffle with him, then kneels down in front of the screen. As the video ends, the crowd chants: “Ali, Ali, Ali.”
The R&B icon dedicates the next song to Ali. He sings about how Ali gave us power and strength during his life and how we need to overcome the racism that has recently been the center of big conflict across the U.S.
At the conclusion of this song, Maxwell is almost brought to tears. He even has to stop and say, “Get it together, Maxwell.” He then delivers a brief but passionate speech: "We lost him (Ali). We lost Prince. We are losing people in the streets to police." He adds that the retaliation is not helping the situation, which leads into the perfect song, Lifetime, where the chorus goes: “Work it all out this lifetime, lifetime.”
Maxwell gave an amazing performance, demonstrating all of the range he has as a performer. He had full control over the room all night long. On top of this, his theme of peace and unity for the night was powerful. As he said, "It's not about skin, it's about what's wrong is wrong and what's right is right." Having such a positive message to go along with such uniting music made the show a night to remember.
Cover Image: Maxwell
