Written by | Ray Cornelius
I had the pleasure of seeing three-time Grammy nominated singer, producer and actress Angie Stone the other night at Atlanta’s The Loft at Center Stage. The event was in celebration of her new album Dream, which dropped last Thursday.
While I have met Ms. Stone several times at different events promoting TV One’s R&B Divas, this was my second time seeing her in concert and my first time in such an intimate setting as The Loft. Either way, the lady knows how to put on a show!
Stone opened her set with a “Motown” inspired track written by Stevie Wonder‘s daughter Aisha Morris, titled “Calling It Quits.” She then segued into her classic hits like “Brotha,” “Everyday,” and “I Wish (I Didn’t Miss You)” in which she sang her version and a snippet from The O’Jays‘ classic “Back Stabbers.”
Midway during the show, she performed music from the new project including the mid-tempo song “Magnet,” which talks about attracting the wrong of type of men. Next, she performed the seductive track “Two Bad Habits” and then went right into a fast paced number titled “Dollar Bill,” which she predicts will be her first club hit. She then follow up with her crowd favorite “No More Rain (In This Cloud).”
Stone, like many soul singers from the past, performed these songs effortlessly. Unlike a lot of today’s contemporary artists, her show was very organic, fluid and unscripted. If she wasn’t feeling the groove of the song or the audience’s response, she’d simply stop and start over until she was satisfied. It was real. It was raw. It was Angie Stone!
She closed out the set with a tribute to her hip-hop roots by performing songs from her days as a member of The Sequence. The trio were by all accounts the first female rap group and consisted of Stone aka “Angie B” along with Blondie and Cheryl the Pearl. The group released such hits as “Funk You Up” and “Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off)” and were signed to the iconic Sugar Hill Records. Stone was joined on stage by Blondie and John Ecstasy Fletcher from the iconic rap group Whodini.
Click here for a sample of Angie Stone’s new CD Dream and check out more concert pics below featuring Stone and her opening acts—Naystar and Rhonda Thomas:
Naystar was Angie’s first opening act
Rhonda Thomas was Angie’s second opening act and had the crowd moving
Rhonda Thomas was a background singer for the late music legend Isaac Hayes
Angie Stone performing “Two Bad Habits”
Angie Stone performing “My Sunshine Has Come”
Angie Stone signed CDs after the show
Rhonda Thomas with Angie Stone
Thanks Again to The Muddy Water Group for the invite!
Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com
