Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I Saw Maxwell In Concert and Lived to Tell the Tale

Cuz lemme tell you, some of the women in the audience were a bit enthused. Heads bobbing, arms flailing, hips shaking and shouts of....euphoria. I thought I was witnessing a 'holy ghost' experience. Nah, just good ol' fashioned randy behavior. Maxwell was the sexual chocolate of the evening and as he said to the men in the audience, "I'll do all the work for you tonight."

Thanks to a curly-haired diva sitting next to me, who reset the features on my camera I have plenty to share and some video. Just bear in mind, it was filmed on a camera, not a camcorder. Sneaking the camera in was hard enough. I had to do serious dodging from the ever-watchful eyes of security and ushers while I used it.

He looks and sounds just as good - if not better- than when I first saw him in 1997. His backing band was amazing. Everyone was dressed with a touch of elegance: the men in tuxes and the lone female backing vocalist wore this Grecian-inspired peach gown with finger waves.

Maxwell did all the hits! He had nice segues between the songs and had the band change positions on stage which was a nice touch to break up any potential monotony. He had a killer horn section who doubled as male harmonies as well. I could go and on....and on. I am totally biased. I wish the show had gone on for another hour.

One thing that stood out for me was his appreciation of the audience. He thanked us for our support and took the time to introduce the musicians for a final bow at the end. He seems like a really nice man who does what he loves for a living. I felt the respect he has for his audience by his respectful behavior.

So although I am a bit of a perfectionist, this footage is not professionally shot and I obviously didn't have higher quality equipment, but it's a nice memento that captured a moment! Enjoy.

Update: I may have to edit the video because the upload was taking more than one hour. I have no idea why it was running so slowly. The photos can be viewed on Flickr.

2 comments:

SerenityLife said...

Ooh thank you for sharing your experience! I am excited to *peak* your photos on flickr. I saw maxwell too in NYC at Radio City Music Hall but I could not hear him to well because a fan was screaming in my ear?! Waah..but, I am so thankful for those of you who were able to sit back and embrace the true essence of maxwell. I appreciate you for sharing such kind thoughts!

He seems to always be so respectful of his audience. That shows the sign of a real performer. Someone who interacts respectfully with his fans on stage and I assume off stage too. Did you know some of his fans in Amsterdam met him!?!? They said he was really nice! Ahh!

Wow, they gave you a hard time with your camera at your venue?

So many people in New York City had cameras. I was really surprised. I snuck mine in but honestly I did not use it too much. I even called the venue in NYC to see if it were okay to bring a camera but the line was busy ever time I called so I took a risk! I was shocked at everyone around me in the concert hall who had a camera!

I was wondering who was going to be selling maxwell DVDs the next day here in New York!

No, I would not buy it. I'm not a fan of bootleg DVDs.

I hope Maxwell considers producing a DVD with clips from his favorite performances with his commentary. That would be cool!


[[big hugs]]

Faith at Acts of Faith Blog said...

Hi Serenity,

Thanks for visiting my little neck of the internet woods! Please stop by again. We haven't had any live footage since the MTV Unplugged. I'd definitely buy a new one. I have no idea what Columbia is doing with Maxwell promotion-wise but they're sleeping on the job!