Sorry about the length-- but I wanted to capture everything. now I can go to
sleep-- I think...

Nfa




Nfared’s Concert Review

Faith Evans



EarthLink Live, Atlanta Ga.

July 20th



Atlanta has become famous for a lot of things. For Faith Evans, the city she
once called home has now become the infamous city where she “caught a case”.
Tonight though, she was back in Atlanta performing for the National Black Arts
Festival. That case, or any other problem she has had is seemingly the last
thing on her mind and she slips on the stage of the large, yet intimate
EarthLink Live Theater, wearing a black dress with black heels. The crowd,
seated through opening acts Ke Ke and Anthony David, were instantly on their
feet rushing the stage as the curtains rolled back.



Faith began with “All Night Long”. Rocking back and forth, one hand in the air,
red hair pulled back in a bun with bangs hanging just above her eyebrows, if
happiness has a look, Faith was wearing it along with that black dress. She
smiled as she greeted the crowd, the majority of which were on the floor just
below the stage. Faith gave dap to fans in the first row as she slipped into
“Burning Up” and then “Love Like This”. “Ya’ll gotta help me with this one…” was
her request as she placed the microphone on the stand and sang “Can’t Believe”.
She closed her eyes and gently swayed her arms, moving her hands as if she was
pulling her emotions out of the air. Backing away from the microphone for a few
seconds as the band switched up the beat, she went into “I Love You”. After the
ballad, the band stops and she polls the audience, asking, “Now I know ya’ll
wanna hear some singing and I got songs I can sing all day, but how many of
ya’ll have that first Faith album?” After thunderous
applause and cheers of agreement, the band gears up for “No Other Love”. After
the first verse and the bridge, she moved to “Come Over”. Faith left no emotion
unturned with both of these songs. She riffed effortlessly and as she twisted
her mouth and kicked up one leg, she reached those high notes at the top of her
being. The sweat began to pour as she sang “Soon As I Get Home”, and then
wrapped up the first set with the “Faithful Interlude”, then “Faithfully”.

Changed into a blue and pink sequence dress, Faith began the second half of her
show with “Alone In This World”, then Falling In Love. Next was Used To Love Me.
This song was stretched as Faith took a moment to take her special “voice stuff”
(spray and something in a cup) and introduce her band. Throughout the night
people in the audience were acknowledging Meelah, lead singer from 702 and now
backup singer for Faith. As Faith introduced her, the response was a beautiful,
jazzy riff that showcased Meelah’s vibrato, control, and agility, all in about
twenty seconds. It was then on to “Gets No Love”. Quite possibly one of the
strongest ballads of her career, “Never Gonna Let You Go” followed and was
accompanied by Faith’s famous index finger waving, a move much of the audience
was already doing the moment she walked out on stage. Moving on to hits from her
current album, Faith went into “Goin Out” and “Jealous”.



She introduced her next song with the question, “Real people go through real
things right?” At that moment, the band began to play “Again”, followed by
“Can’t Get Over You”. Then it was “Tru Love” and “I Don’ Need It”. Faith
encouraged audience participation on the latter as she put the microphone into
the crowd during the chorus. The jazzy “Stop N Go” was the height of the second
half. Faith bee-bopped and do-wopped as if she was the first person to ever do
it. She worked the stage, flexing her hands and jumping up and down, ending the
song by placing the microphone back on the stand as the band, taking her hand
direction, switched to “Mesmerized”. She curled her mouth and belted out one
last soul stirring run at the end of the song, then thanked the crowd for the
love, dapped up the front row again and was gone, far too soon for the lingering
awe struck crowd.



Rumors about Faith’s health abound. However, seeing her perform in person for an
hour and a half—dancing around the stage in high heels, on her knees at several
points—it’s difficult to believe she is strung out on anything but music. Faith
looks healthy and toned, strikingly beautiful in person. People are quick to
give Faith one of the royalty titles that are being given out to artists like
candy. With tonight’s performance though, Faith proves that the name she has had
for the bulk of her career, “The First Lady” speaks for itself.



Alfred “Nfared” Vines















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