An Evening at the Paramount

A few weeks ago I posted lyrics to a little song in the tune of Brian McKnight's Back at One. My inspiration was that on Friday, April 27, 2007, we saw him in concert at the Oakland Paramount Theater. If you have been to a R&B concert there, you will know what I'm talking about. Attendees treat an evening at the Paramount like how most people imagine you'd dress to go to the opera or ballet. People are dressed to the nines. Of course, you get the few folks that think a sweat suit is formal wear but on average, people were wearing their Sunday best. Well maybe not their Sunday best but evening wear best. The show featured a number of headliners including:

• Sunshine Anderson
• Algebra Blessett
A visual and vocal mix of India Arie & Erkya Badu. She put on a great performance that made Jen interested in her other works. Check out her myspace page.

• Joe
Preformed like a headlining star with a show based on his dual personas. A video introduced his double personalities with his bad boy, hip-hop side performing first. These songs were of his more popular hits like "Don't Wanna Be a Player" and "Ride Wit U." In the second half of his set, he broke out with this R&B hits like "If I Was Your Man" and "The Love Scene" (although, he didn't actually sing that song as Jen hoped). During the show, Joe actually came down into the crowd a couple of times and there was this older lady who nearly molested him on each of his trips...

• And... Brian McKnight
The name on the marquee for the night didn't do a duet with Joe as Jen and I guessed but did put on an awesome performance that got the crowd rockin' out on its feet. As a special treat, Brian brought his two sons on tour with him and did a trio with them. After which the kids, kicked Brian off stage and showed off some flair of their own. The two apparently have an interest for rock music as the two did a 180 on the pace of the crowd jamming their electric guitars in rock 'n' roll duet. Their departure and Brian's return brought back the serenity of the R&B mood. Brian went on to close the set with string of R&B hits that made all the women cry out with all the emotion they felt. There was no encore oddly enough.