Concert Review/Photos: Meshell Ndegeocello @ World Café Live
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Exploring the human condition and the essential connections between people with unique musical insight.
[ 6/6 ] Exploring the human condition and the essential connections between people with unique musical insight, Meshell Ndegeocello is a formidable artist. On Friday at World Café Live, she provided context for her brilliant new record, Comet, Come to Me, by playing two sets — the first of older material and the second focusing exclusively on Comet. New informed old and vice versa during this stunning show.
A nearly sold-out house showed its love early and often. Pieces from her career, played in chronological order, received enthusiastic applause. Her catalog yielded wonders like the soulful “Ecclesiastes: Free My Heart” and the lovely, laid back take on “I’m Diggin’ You (Like an Old Soul Record).” And when her new songs pierced through the room they were gloriously electric. Reggae, R&B and rock danced with each other with startling grace. There was the dreamy piano that takes the listener into the desire-strewn “Comet, Come to Me,” while the phenomenal bass line in “Conviction” stuck with me well into Saturday night.
The night’s defining moment was its final song, the new album’s opening track. On the haunting cover of Whodini’s “Friends,” Ndegeocello did her best to hide from the crowd. On a stage setup as far away from the audience at World Café as I have seen, Ndegeocello locked herself away from the us and most of her four bandmates. This, paired with the dim red lighting for the majority of the show, made it easy for the music to stand on its own without the distractions of camera phones. On “Friends,” Ndegeocello detached the microphone and went to the back of the stage so the dark and direct lyrics seemed to come to life. Then, semi-abruptly, Ndegeocello responded to the repeated flash of one person’s camera with how she hated the flash and then left the stage. Was this meant to be the end of the show? Maybe or maybe not, but with the lyrics like “With friends like that you/Don’t need enemies” fresh on the mind, it seemed like an apt end to a brilliant evening.
More reviews and photos by Chris Sikich:
- Mirah @ Johnny Brenda's
- NonCOMM 2014
- Drivin’ ’N’ Cryin @ World Cafe Live at The Queen
- Jessica Lea Mayfield @ Johnny Brenda's
- Ani DiFranco @ World Cafe Live
- Escovedo @ World Cafe Live
- The Sounds @ Union Transfer
- The Stray Birds @ World Cafe Live
- Okkervil River/Typhoon @ Union Transfer
- Tinariwen @ Prince Music Theater
- Suzanne Vega @ Two Rivers Theater
- Drive-By Truckers @ World Cafe Live at The Queen
- Arcade Fire @ Wells Fargo Center
- Throwing Muses @ Bowery Ballroom (NYC)
- Paul Simon and Sting @ Wells Fargo Center
- Ex Hex @ the Ottobar (Baltimore)
