D’Angelo @ o2 Academy, 17th February 2015
Music is a business, up in the air because of the internet, a bit like most at the moment; Supply and Digital Demand. It is a little known fact that only four percent of musicians make a living from their music. With the internet showing up and completely flipping the model on its head and the way we engage with music has changed for good, we are no longer buying physical music, we are streaming it all, oddly enough vinyl record sales are through the roof at present, which show there is still no substitute for quality of sound, which has also ushered in a new form of marketing.
It is when an establish musician, with a loyal fan base, just drops an album with no warning which, for the purpose of this review, I will call; “Drop It Like It’s Hot” named after the great West Coast Philosopher -Snoop Dogg. Three months ago D’Angelo did just that and sent, social media and the internet into meltdown, 12 years after his last studio album, and it was just like music back in the day when every track was worth listening to. They simply do not make albums like this anymore.
Off the back of the civil unrest that was going on in “United States of unarmed Black Teenagers”, the album gathered a lot of momentum for its well written socially engaged dialogue, exploring the Black American experience resulting in the controversially named “Black Messiah” the Second Coming.
D’Angelo came to Birmingham on a cold February evening to a diverse and eclectic crowd showing appreciation for this new material. An incredible performer with grand band to match, we were treated to beautiful chords and arrangements just as though on the album. With beautiful lighting to compliment his timing in parallel with the heavenly experience on the night, giving an effect of lighting on thunder.
Just as when you have nothing meaningful to contribute, musicians should take a page out of D’Angelo’s and keep their fucking trap shut. Speak/Sing when you have something to say. The same should be said for awful formulaic musicians releasing practically the same material every other year exploiting their fan-base, with zero growth in outlook and little or no storytelling values.
D’Angelo’s timing tonight was just like the releasing of the album: near perfection. In tune with the times and saying what needs to be said at the right time, with a healthy dose of Funk, Soul and love-making music. I am pretty sure some children will have been conceived after this performance. After a half an hour encore where I witnessed a young lady literally dragging what looked to be her mother from the o2 Arena, saying they were going to miss their train, you know tonight proved to be a good investment for both people’s time and money.
This was a master-class in live performing, D’Angelo tonight was a man possessed by Marvin Gaye, Jimmy Hendrix and James Brown, just to name a few of the sound scales he touched on.
The Second City witnessed the second coming of a first class performer tonight. Take a bow D’Angelo & Co.
Review: Chadwick Jackson
Photographs: Andy Watson