Concert Review: Sade at Philips Arena in Atlanta

Sade’s latest trip to Atlanta has been a long time coming, ten years in fact. Not many artists can go into hiding for a decade only to popup like a proverbial groundhog and sell out shows nationwide. But that is the power of Sade. The British Nigerian singer Sade Adu recently released her latest album “Soldier of Love” in February 2010 and has been touring most of the summer in support of it as well as the release of the group’s second helping of greatest hits, “The Ultimate Collection.” For those who were wondering if she was really worth the wait, I’m hoping that’s a rhetorical question.

Soul brother John Legend opened the evening about 10 minutes past the posted ticket time which is always nice for a weeknight. Legend is touring in support of his 2010 album “Wake Up” that he recorded with the Roots. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him once before, and the man doesn’t disappoint. He had an hour to warm up the audience for Sade, and he wasn’t going to waste a second of it. He opened with a cool take on Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” then flowed one song right into the next, effortlessly winding back through his catalog from “Wake Up” to “Lifted.” The man oozed soul and unfortunately no one informed him that he was the opener. In the face of a half packed arena busily milling in, Legend belted out tracks from “Green Light” and “Get Lifted” to “Everybody Knows” and “Save Room.” He had a fun audience moment when he invited a women onto the stage to do a little “Slow Dance” with him. He kicked his seduction skills into high gear with a bit of dirty dancing you’d think would make her blush. Nothing could be further from the truth. She returned the favor, seemingly wanting to make Legend skip out on girlfriend Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Christine Teigen. At the close of his time on stage, we were jonsing for an encore, but alas the main course was still on the way.

Artists seem to have their own style when it comes to the stage setup. Sade’s can be best described as minimalist. No elaborate sets, billowing smoke or dwarfs riding miniature ponies. With arena shows, we’ve been trained to expect these over the top elements of showmanship. Whether the performers are trying to justify the high ticket price or take the attention away from the songs, its hard to pinpoint. Tonight, it was just Sade, the band and a huge screen to give a visual backdrop to the tunes. There was no need for anything else. She let the music speak for itself. Sade opened the evening with “Soldier of Love.” If it wasn’t clear on the first listen in your living room, the new album embraces rock and the art of the beat much more than its smooth predecessors. She took advantage of the tempo change onstage to really sink her groove into these tracks. Overall, the set was more focused on material from “Ultimate Collection” than “Soldier of Love.” I guess when you only tour once a decade the paying public demands the hits. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

From the second number of the evening “Your Love is King” to the closing encore “Cherish the Day,” Sade had the audience on their feet and completely invested in the show. When she downshifted, she found her way into some really nice moments. Her stirring take on “Pearls” was chills worthy. She traveled the spectrum of sound with a subtle cool that I’d imagine few outside of Nina Simone could command onstage.

One of the more interesting elements of the show was a mesh curtain that dropped around the stage for a few select numbers. You could see the ghostly figure of Sade and the band behind the backdrop as they overlaid the screen with images projected onto it. It was a bit off-putting at first as you thought, why is she performing behind a curtain, but it quickly becomes apparent that this is a pretty cool effect. Thankfully, they were careful not to overuse it. With that said, the segue way into “Smooth Operator,” that doubled as a quick water break for the band, was a bit corny at best.

Some of the evening’s highlights included “No Ordinary Love,” dripping in sensuality with its forceful guitars that afforded it a punch I hadn’t remembered from the record version. “The Sweetest Taboo” was another soul melting performance. She lit into this number on her third costume change of the night into her evening gown. She was absolutely stunning. I have to ask, does the woman age? If you look at her skin, she doesn’t look a day over 35 yet she just eclipsed 52 this year. Maybe she just has the fountain of youth gurgling in her backyard in the UK. I believe I may have found your next spokeswoman Olay.

An unlikely highlight of the evening was when Sade took time to thank the band. Every singer calls out their bandmates names as if to say, yeah don’t forget those guys were on stage tonight with me as well. Sade thanked each individually and said what each musician meant to the group as a whole. Some of these guys have been with her since the early 80s, and you could tell she really valued their contribution to the band and saw them as family. If I were to find a fault with anything, it was not pulling John Legend back out on stage for a shared duet. These performers make up the best R&B/Soul of their respective generations. It just makes too much sense to pull them together for at least one song.

I’ve been a fan of Sade’s since she stole the film “Indecent Proposal” with “No Ordinary Love.” This concert had been on my musical bucket list for many, many years and as stifling as those lofty expectations had to be to live up to, she didn’t disappoint in the least. She was genuine, cool and her voice was absolutely flawless. She brought to life three decades worth of music like the songs had just escaped the recording studio yesterday. I’m just glad I was able to catch her performance before she ducks out of the spotlight one more time. Catch her now before you have to wait until the calendar rolls around to 2022.