Nashville Was Witness to Harmonious Interplay Between Audience and Artist-the Crowd So Excited for Usher & Chris and Showed It in Call and Response and Pre-Concert Beats

Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth

Psalm-150

The audience had filled the stadium almost to capacity and the "audience-warmer" DJ enthusiastically blasted the air with recorded sounds of R&B and soul music greats while the audience responded energetically dancing in celebratory anticipation of the historic concert, co-headlining two R&B icons. It was a giant pre-concert stadium-filled party southern style with vibrant dancing and wild routines of twerking, hustle routines on the main floor embellished by audio call and responses. Some of the live concert music fans chants sounded like college fraternity and sorority chants from a roaring and cheering pre-game crowd. It was then that I looked around and observed that the seats were filled to capacity with the magnetic energy of thousands of fans-70,000 capacity seating in unison eagerly anticipating Brown and Usher's appearance on stage. 

I had the good fortune to view it via livestream since I could not attend in person. It was an educational experience to say the least, in the midst of a vast community of concert attendees enjoying the experience of robust commentary by other fans-as they observed the vocals and dance moves of Brown and Usher. They made the kind of relational outbursts you may have experienced from excited movie fans in a neighborhood theater. Cheering the stars on like they were close family members or friends.

In summary, I thought the concert was very good. What I noted most were the vocals. They were somehow crisper and clearer. Of course, we know each artist can sing and they have the accolades, record sales and Grammys to prove it. We also know that the music for the tour is being done by the well-known and respected Avila brothers. But if this means anything to all you audiophiles out there, the microphones were indeed on, as one person interjected frequently during the singing. You could clearly hear and listen to the runs. Chris Brown's singing on "Something in the Water", "Residuals", "With You", "Ain't No Way",

Raymond and Brown Tour on a Creative and Artistic Roll Since Denver's Mile High Kick-Off: Bringing Memorable Performances to Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit and Cleveland With Stadiums Filled to Capacity

When I saw the first video footage in a video clip the morning after the kick-off concert   in Denver, I was quite honestly simply wonderstruck by the fantastic light show and stage art design. Especially liked Usher's background show where a chess board was portrayed kind of holographically throughout the song performance. He has such a smooth and cool stage presence and an impressive majestic command of what was the vast audience before him. 

Throughout the show how Brown paid tribute to Michael Jackson, Prince and other r&b artists was heartening. I particularly liked his performance of Residuals where the hood of a car was used as his stage and all the lights glowing in the backdrop from what appeared to be Los Angeles, provided an amazing backdrop.

 Detroit's show was as energy packed as Denver's. The crowd really enjoyed Chris coming down from the stage, mingling and dancing with some of the audience. The performance of New Flame where Chris and Usher danced and sang together was great to see after all the build up and pre-concert enthusiasm expressed by both of them about working together. To actually see it accomplished was heartwarming. Of course, Chris flying through the air had everyone excited and probably on the edge of there seats and on pins and needles.

Here's a video recorded by a fan at the second night's concert at Ford Field in Detroit. And, a link to an experience shared by a seasoned Detroiter who had an absolute blast! 

The concerts on both nights have been  spectacular. The combination of these two entertainment icons performing live at a huge stadium with capacity crowds surpassing 50,000 created quite a buzz.  

Clip from Minneapolis:

Clip from Cleveland:

Forthcoming via link

While I thoroughly have enjoyed watching the amazing concert videos and live streams,what has been most notable about the tour is the way the artists have opened up access and opportunities for our youth as well as fans in general. Usher through his non-profit Usher's New Look , 10 interns have had the paid opportunity to learn what goes on behind the scenes of such a large production. Chris has VIP receptions  special behind the scene/backstage tours and raffles, Meet and Greet space for group and fan photos. And the tour has recently sent out a call to the pubic to apply for paid positions to participate in the actual stage concert performance as background extras.

As for the relationship of all of the foregoing in terms of its theological implications and relationship to serving God, giving back to the community that has contributed to your wealth and success is one of the things that god loves us to do. "Love your neighbor as yourself" and God loves a cheerful giver are starters for discussion. Scripture also calls upon  us to make a joyful noise to the lord. There is evidence of that and some sounds that may be a little risqué. That will be discussed in the follow-up podcast. I believe that may be where the bridge comes in.

Please tune into my podcast to learn more about my coverage of this and other concert and music events as well as how music plays and has played a role in our relationship with god in gospel music, jazz, blues and R&B.

God bless you and continued success to Usher and Chris on this tour. Shout out to the fans as well.

Cynthia Wilson,

Founder,Editor & CEO

Cynthia D. Wilson Speaks

Blog and Podcasts

Long Awaited "Epic"Raymond and Brown Tour Kicks Off in Denver the Mile High City Friday, June 25,2025

 

The highly anticipated and long awaited Raymond and Brown, the R & B Tour kicks off in Denver, Colorado tomorrow, Friday, June 25,2025 at the Empower Field. 

Eager fans, well respected titans and old school influencers of the  industry have been commenting about this historic tour for months including Jermaine Dupris who's comment  was motivating and deferential. He shared it in his customary  laid back style. It can be found here on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/5sDTI-4-dK4?is=OIHoP1jwHd_E-4nc

and just today Damien Damizza had this to say:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaAr7LVp5zK/?igsh=MTdiaWF4aWJ6cncycw==

Note- Please excuse the link malfunction. I am experiencing technical difficulties at this time of posting by way of glitch or hackers. Hopefully, things will be back to normal soon. In the meantime, you can catch this update on the related YouTube channel at the following link:

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxozzCxY4OXS2fSatfnyt_MKL-qwIHml6d?si=ZpZ3EzBwr4JU2BGS

Alicia Keys' Joins in the Celebration of New York Knicks Fans with Performance of "Empire State of Mind"

Video Courtesy of YouTube.com

 Native New Yorker mult-platinum, multi-Grammy Award winning , r&b-pop music mega star Alicia Keys, joined City officials including New York  City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on the platform outside City Hall and performed her very popular hit song "Empire State of Mind: before an enthusiastic  crowd of New York Knicks fans.

Senator Raphael Warnock Speaks On God's Vision for the Land During Sunday Worship Service at Greater Allen Cathedral