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first things first; I only watched the first 30 minutes of his solo set. It was bad and there was a way better show looming, which I'll get to.
The ignition remix starts, R's nowhere to be seen, the song stops, it's silent for about 60 seconds, it comes back on, he creeps up above behind the stage on a crane lift. Not only did he elect to blow his load with his biggest hit on his first song of the set, they clearly hadn't rehearsed his entrance at all and the energy of 40,000 white kids singing "SIPPIN ON COKE AND RUMMMM" ended abruptly.
He does the most baffling shit:
- He sings hooks to long-forgotten rap songs that weren't even smashes when they came out like 8 years ago. (Nick Cannon's "Gigolo"? Young Jeezy's "Go Getter? WTF?) This goes on early for about 8 minutes, and he does these hooks at like 20 seconds a piece. I have no idea what this was about and neither did the crowd.
- There's a band onstage but you can't make out a damn instrument being played with the booming backing track. This to me was the worst part of the show. This guy has Michael Jackson talent but he's performing like Lil Wayne would.
After a half hour I head over to the SuperJam hosted by John Oates of Hall and Oates, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone.
With appearances by Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes and Billy Idol, the band of nearly a dozen players tore through staples from Motown, Prince, and Sly. It was all brilliant, but no moment will be more re-told to friends by those that were there than when Jim James introduced "the very special R.Kelly" to sing "Change Gon Come."
Having swapped his outfit from earlier that resembled something a 16 year old in 2003 would've worn, Rob emerged wearing slacks, shades, and a sport coat with a cigar in hand. The crowd roared, he soaked it in for a moment, and then went on to mesmerize the masses. People were holding their hands up as if they were catching the Holy Ghost and Kellz seemed to be basking in it. His voice SOARED, and notes that I kept waiting to end would go on forever and ever. He bowed, thanked Bonnaroo, and gave Jim a hug before exiting the stage. It was a MOMENT. A moment that I think only the likes of a Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, or maybe Beyonce could've made similarly possible.
So in all I don't know what to make of R.Kelly. On one hand I thought he put on a dogshit show. An hour later I was fighting back tears as he covered Sam Cooke. He's the greatest R&Ber of the last 20 years but he puts on a concert like he's on fucking Young Money.
Why doesn't he play shows like the Superjam? Why doesn't he put together a great band, rehearse, accentuate his glorious talent and just power through his loaded songbook? In all my opinion today is probably the exact same it was before Saturday night; both reverent of and confused by a once in a generation talent who beats to no drum but his own.
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