Maxwell and Anthony Hamilton shined. But was the R&B concert’s timing off?
There is, according to a New Orleans-based music critic, an infamous instance of Maxwell being late — in 2009, to a New Orleans music festival that was already running behind. Though the stage was ready for him at 1 a.m., he reportedly made fans wait another 30 minutes before coming out to start his set.
Another much more consequential example of a delay involving the R&B singer: When he released the second part of his planned trilogy of albums in 2016, he hinted the third might be completed that fall. It’s still not out yet.
I think that’s just Maxwell’s process, honestly. He does things when he’s good and ready to do them.
And so, with still no sign of him at his scheduled Spectrum Center concert by 10:10 Thursday night, I had a sneaking suspicion that I and the 10,000 or so other people waiting for him to commence with his “Night Tour” show in Charlotte might have been wise to have packed a sleeping bag, a pillow and a good book or a deck of cards.
To be fair, the listed time on the tickets was 8 p.m.; there were two scheduled openers — Joe, and Anthony Hamilton — up first; and the tour had said in advance that Maxwell wouldn’t be coming on at 10.
But at 10:08, I was forwarded a report that a forklift driver had “ripped out a bunch of power lines” backstage. A couple minutes later, I could see (because my vantage point wasn’t blocked by the big curtain hanging out front) that the giant video screen to the rear of the stage was... well, let’s just say it appeared as if the computer responsible for operating said screen was having trouble getting things booted up.
In other words, there’s a very good chance Maxwell wasn’t being fashionably late on purpose.
And once he finally took the stage at 10:22 p.m., he set forth on a memorable, thoughtful, charming and gracious performance, one I believe proved to be worth the extended wait — although it’s worth noting that a fair number of people who were inside the arena when he started were no longer there when he finished. (More on that in a minute.)
Interestingly, there were some little echoes on Thursday night of a concert held in this same venue 11 years ago, when the late, great Prince made fans wait even longer than Maxwell — till 10:33 p.m., to be exact — to take the stage for what would turn out to be his final Charlotte appearance. Coincidentally, Hamilton, the Grammy-winning Charlotte native, also opened that show.
Last time around, the hometown hero had his work cut out for him, responsible for teeing up one of the most famous men on the planet for people who’d come to be a part of an Event with a capital E. For a lot of those in attendance, Hamilton was just kind of in the way.
This time, though, it felt like the singer-songwriter was much more easily able to get a grip on the crowd.
Wearing dark sunglasses and a confident smile, Hamilton coolly and casually worked his way through a nine-song, 45-minute set that careened from classic hip-hop hits like 2002’s “Po’ Folks” (a Nappy Roots song he was featured on) to slow jams like 2008’s “The Point of It All” to the update of “Superstar” he recorded with Jennifer Hudson during the pandemic.
After finishing and raving about the latter song, Hamilton told the crowd, with a chuckle: “You should absolutely download that while you’re sitting there, since you ain’t got nothin’ else to do.”
Then — taking advantage of his, um, home-field advantage — he attempted to give a shout-out to everyone in the arena who he knew personally.
He mispronounced former WCCB morning-show co-anchor Laresa (pronounced Luh-REE-suh) Thompson’s name, then corrected himself. He extended happy-anniversary wishes to V101.9 radio duo/marrieds Fly Ty and Jacinda and to Power 98 morning-show host No Limit Larry and his wife Tasha Mims.
There were shout-outs to Charlotte Hornets president Fred Whitfield and his brother Charles, who was recently inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame as a producer. He then went through several more names until he got to “some cousins and some nieces,” eventually cracking a (frankly pretty funny) joke about relatives asking him if they could borrow some money — before quickly walking the joke back, with a laugh.
And just like his personality, Hamilton’s singing was pitch-perfect on the night, even when he was making songs up as he went along. Specifically, toward the end of his set, he appeared to ad-lib a variation of his 2016 song “Grateful,” turning it into a thank-you to Charlotte fans:
Before we go any fuuuurther
I’d just like to sayyyyyy
That I’m grateful...
Thank you for loooovin’ me so looooong
Thank you for keeeepin’ me so looooong
Hamilton then closed as he almost always does, with “Charlene,” the ballad that launched his career.
He was, in many ways, an ideal match for Maxwell.
Hamilton is 51 and Maxwell is 48, and both can still hit high falsetto notes gracefully, without risking embarrassment.
Like Hamilton, the headliner wore a statement-making suit, Maxwell’s featuring a jacket with what looked like pieces of mirrored glass decorating it from just below his chest on down, and on the arms from just below his elbows to his wrists.
Like Hamilton, Maxwell had something stylish on top of his head: Hamilton wore a wide-brimmed black hat, while Maxwell has returned to sporting what’s been called a “retro-cool mane.”
Like Hamilton, Maxwell has smooth moves on stage, both being masters of the un-choreographed dance routine, incorporating everything from spins to squats, stepping to stomping. Maxwell in particular seems to have adopted a range of styles that include big dollops of Prince and Bruno Mars along with a dash of (!) Napoleon Dynamite.
Like Hamilton, the Brooklyn-born and -raised Maxwell also has both a sense of humor and an affinity for making up songs. For instance, this one — which he teased would be “grown, mature and exclusive”:
She came from Charlotte
He grew up in Brooklyn
He took a trip dowwwwn here
And he couldn’t believe the cookinnnnnnn’
He couldn’t believe how good lookinnn’
Charlotte is toniiiiiiiight
Your shoes, they looking really gooooooood
That dress, it fits youuuuuuuuuuu
It makes me think about how it would look if it was not on youuuuuuuuuuu
Oh, and as it was with Hamilton, gratitude was a key theme with Maxwell.
After getting the crowd up on its feet with his funky, flirty 2001 hit “Get to Know Ya,” he gave his version of a shout-out to his longtime fans.
“Twenty-six years ago, I put something out called ‘Urban Hang Suite,’” he said, referencing the debut album he made in his early 20s. “It makes me emotional because in the beginning, they didn’t think that anybody would really appreciate it at all. And you literally broke the door open for me. All of you. All the radio stations, particularly in this area, for some reason. I don’t know what it is.”
He continued: “I love Black music, OK? Marvin Gaye. Sam Cooke. Curtis Mayfield. Aretha Franklin. Ohh, Prince. Oh God. You know, Michael Jackson. I mean, it is such an institution, and it should be respected. ... I’m on stage with Joe, Anthony Hamilton and this incredible band behind me. And you made it possible. Cause it —”
Maxwell paused for just a beat, then started crooning “— hap-pened the mooo-ment, when you were revealed —” which, of course, are the opening lines of his breakout hit, “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder).”
As he sang, it felt like 1996 again, and Spectrum Center felt like a big nightclub as opposed to a big arena. Everybody was up and dancing. It turned into a huge singalong, with the singer trading off on verses and choruses with his fans. When the song ended, Maxwell just stared out at the masses smiling, and as the applause grew, his eyes actually appeared to well up.
It was a powerful moment.
But almost as quickly as it materialized, it dissipated. It was as if 2,000 people suddenly looked at the time, realized it was 11:34, and thought, Yeah, that’s it. I’m outta here. I gotta be at work tomorrow.
It’s a shame, because those who left missed a sweet, elegant nightcap of an encore: Maxwell with his longtime backup singer Latina Webb and his best friend/guitarist Hod David sitting on stools at the head of the stage together, singing “Whenever Wherever Whatever.”
“Wherever” and “whatever”? Seems about right. But for a fair number of fans with early wake-up calls, “whenever” apparently has its limits.
Maxwell’s setlist
1. “Sumthin’ Sumthin’”
2. “Dance With Me”
3. “Lifetime”
4. “Fortunate”
5. “Bad Habits”
6. “Stop the World”
7. “Always and Forever”
8. “Off”
9. “Pretty Wings”
10. “Fistful of Tears”
11. “Lake By the Ocean”
12. “Get to Know Ya”
13. “Ascension”
Encore:
14. “Whenever Wherever Whatever”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 5:29 AM.
