Alicia Keys 'Freedom' Tour Chicago Concert Recap

As reported by Greg Kot at the Chicago Tribune

At Allstate (Wednesday, March 3), the singer wasn’t content to stay in one place, let alone one style, for very long. Her 100-minute, 22-song set was a jumble of ideas that didn’t quite jell into a consistently powerful performance. When (Alicia) Keys stripped things down and gave her voice and fingers room to move, she was riveting.

She was never better than during her all-too-brief piano interludes. Keys sounds best when she’s at a keyboard, setting up natural call-and-response patterns that were further accentuated by three excellent backing singers.

The singer went to church on “Prayer for Forgiveness,” “Diary” and especially the slow-build secular gospel of “Like You’ll Never See Me Again.” It was almost a relief to see Keys sit down and explore the songs rather than shaking and shimmying through them.

The concert began with a gimmick: Keys singing from inside a cage before breaking free, the better to hammer home the night’s themes of self-empowerment and self-determination. She started “Fallin’ ” on a toy keyboard, then built to a big show-biz finish. She vamped it up with wailing electric guitar on “Another Way to Die,” the James Bond theme song she cowrote with the White Stripes’ Jack White. She tossed in a snippet of the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” during “Karma,” and stepped with her dancers during “Heartburn.” Throw in a series of go-get-'em video graphics, everything from Martin Luther King quotes to images of Gandhi, John F. Kennedy and Princess Diana (huh?), and you had a concert that sometimes resembled an over-stuffed video game more than a showcase for a gifted artist.

On “Like the Sea” and “I Need You,” she blended electric piano and thick Moog chords to create mini-symphonies of longing and obsession. Even a malfunctioning keytar couldn’t stop her from kicking out some Prince-style funk on “Go Ahead” with her band.

The last portion of the show was devoted to big anthems, designed to rock the arena U2-style. But the Allstate was only half full, and big production numbers such as “Put it in a Love Song” and “No One” strained to make an impact. Keys wanted it all, but her piano knew better.

Photos:
Film Magic
Wire Image
WENN Photo
Getty Images

Alicia Keys’ set list Wednesday at Allstate Arena:

1 Caged Bird
2 Love is Blind
3 Trouble
4 You Don't Know My Name
5 Fallin’
6 Another Way to Die
7 Karma
8 Heartburn
9 Like the Sea
10 I Need You
11 Prayer for Forgiveness
12 Diary
13 Like You’ll Never See Me Again
14 Wait Til You See Me Smile
15 Go Ahead
16 Put it in a Love Song
17 Unthinkable (I’m Ready)
Backup singer interlude: Feeling Good
18 Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart
19 Superwoman
20 If I Ain’t Got You
21 No One

Encore
22 Empire State of Mind

More fan shot footage below.







(video courtesy of ZalandLex)

Alicia Keys 2010 Element of Freedom Tour Dates:

3/5 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
3/6 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
3/8 - London, ON - John Labatt Centre
3/10 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
3/11 - Verona, NY - Turning Stone
3/13 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Casino
3/14 - Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Casino
3/17 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
3/19 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Centre
3/20 - Atlantic City, NJ - Mark Etess Arena
3/22 - Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
3/24 - Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena
3/25 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
3/27 - Miami, FL - American Airlines Arena
3/28 - Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times-Forum
3/30 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
4/2 - Dallas, TX - Nokia Theater (Grand Prairie)
4/3 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
4/6 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
4/7 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
4/9 - Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay
4/10 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Coliseum

Game & Kid Cudi Live Guest Performers At Robin Thicke L.A. Show

L.A. Times news clipping...

Robin Thicke opened his concert (Dec. 21) Monday night at Club Nokia with "Diamonds," the final track from his new "Sex Therapy" and true to its placement on the album, it felt an awful lot like a closer. The horn section throbbed with disco-soul abandon. The Game showed up to deliver a growly guest verse. And Thicke opened up his ode to maternal resilience to celebrate anyone who'd bought a ticket. "I want you to know you're all diamonds," he said. "Keep on shining!"



"It's in the Mornin" was the rare sexual entreaty in which the narrator celebrates his partner's willingness to "let it marinate." Kid Cudi joined Thicke for a grinding grunge-crunk take on "Elevatas," which Thicke punctuated by quoting Prince's "Let's Go Crazy." And "Shakin' It 4 Daddy" rode a hard digital bounce.



(video courtesy of MusicSays & Patrick Datuin)

Projected First Week Sales On Alicia Keys & Robin Thicke

According to Hits Daily Double, here are the projected first week sales for 12/15 new releases.



Alicia Keys - 'The Element Of Freedom' (J-Records)
330-350k



Robin Thicke - 'Sex Therapy (Interscope/Star Trak)
100-110k

The Hits Daily Double numbers will become more firmer a day prior (on Tuesday, December 22) to the Nielsen/Soundscan (the industry standard) numbers as we will see next Wednesday, December 23.

Robin Thicke 'Sex Therapy' Tracklist Posted Online

01. Mrs. Sexy
02. Sex Therapy
03. Meiplé ft. Jay-Z
04. Make U Love Me
05. It’s In The Mornin ft. Snoop Dogg
06. Shakin’ It 4 Daddy ft. Nicki Minaj
07. Elevatas ft. KiD CuDi
08. Rollacoasta ft. Estelle
09. Million Dollar Baby ft. Jazmine Sullivan
10. 2 Luv Birds
11. Jus Right
12. Diamonds ft. The Game

Robin Thicke - 'Sex Therapy' on Interscope/Star Trak in-stores December 15.

Related:
Robin Thicke NYC Listening Session

Robin Thicke NYC Listening Session

via The Urban Daily

Last night R&B star Robin Thicke previewed his new album Sex Therapy at Chung King Studios in NYC. The lucky husband of Paula Patton was a gracious host to the room full of sweating journalists and photographers. In between sips of Hennessy Black he explained why his latest CD is recession friendly.

“I thought about all of the stress we have in our day and money problems we all have,” he said. “I just thought at the end of the day how can I please my woman if I can’t buy her what she needs all the time? Maybe I can give her some sex therapy.”

The album features guest appearances from Jay-Z, Lil Kim, Nikki Minaj as well as a cover of Rakim’s “Mahogany.” (Not quite sure why he doesn’t consider it an Al Green cover but I’ll let you all work that out.)

Sex Therapy will be in stores December 15, 2009.

Photos from the event:
Music Industry Online

Robin Thicke: It Was Jay-Z Idea To Get Nicki Minaj On That

via MTV

"It was Jay's idea," Thicke said about how Nicki Minaj came to be on "Shakin' It 4 Daddy." "We were in the studio, and I played him the whole album. He was like, 'You should get Nicki Minaj on that. She's got that voice. She's got that swag.' So I leaned over and was like, 'Somebody get Nicki Minaj on the phone! Jay-Z said so!' Next thing you know, we called Nicki. She was excited. But once we told her it was Jay-Z's idea to get her on the track, she started screaming on the phone. She was all excited. She's a super, super talent. I can't wait to do a video with Nicki. There's a power in her. It's not just that she's sexy and that's the only way she can get you to like her. She's got charm — not just sex. Some women may use sex to get what they want; others have charm. She's got charm."

Read more here:
MTV - Jay-Z Co-Signs Robin Thicke's Use Of Rakim And Nicki Minaj

Robin Thicke - 'Sex Therapy' on Interscope/Star Trak in-stores December 15.

Robin Thicke ft. Jay-Z 'Meiple' Making Of

Robin Thicke - 'Sex Therapy' on Star Trak/Interscope in stores December 15.

Related:
Jay-Z Records With Robin Thicke For His Upcoming Album 'Sex Therapy'

Jay-Z Records With Robin Thicke For His Upcoming Album 'Sex Therapy'

As revealed on his Twitter post, Robin Thicke is recording a song with Jay-Z for his upcoming album 'Sex Therapy' slated for December 8.

In the studio today with Jay Z... His Hovieness!! So excited!! He's jumping on one of my records for my sex therapy album. Wish me luck!! RT

See the PHOTOS here at an undisclosed recording studio in NYC:
Star Traks Photo
Rex Features

Artists pay tribute to Michael Jackson at recent live shows

Lupe Fiasco at the Chicago Theatre Friday June 26



Beyonce at the Wachovia Center Philadelphia Friday June 26



Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the Toronto Jazz Festival Friday June 26



Robin Thicke, O'Neal McKnight and DJ Cassidy at 1OAK in
New York City Thursday June 25

Check out the photos of the 1OAK Michael Jackson tribute event HERE



German/Nigerian singer AYO at Couleur Café Brussels Belguim
Saturday June 27



Akon at the Journal Pavilion in Albuquerque New Mexico on Friday June 26



Bone Thugs N Harmony at Club Nokia in Los Angeles
Friday June 26



Raekwon at Rock The Bells 2009 at Tinley Park in Chicago Saturday June 27



Tech N9ne at Rock The Bells 2009 at Tinley Park in Chicago Saturday June 27



Kid Cudi at the Paper Magazine Sound's Like Paper show at
South Street Seaport in New York City Friday June 26

Michael Jackson from nicole b on Vimeo.

Raphael Saadiq at the Blue Note in Tokyo Japan Thursday June 25 click HERE