Tom Armstrong reports from one of the most highly anticipated comeback gigs in recent times.
When D'Angelo's debut album 'Brown Sugar' dropped in 1995, it changed the face of soul music. No longer was it an empty, over-produced shadow of its former self; it was real again. The critics went equally as mad for the follow up, 'Voodoo', sending D'Angelo well on his way to the top of Mount Soulympus to sit among the greats. And then – nothing. Off the radar. Rumours of drug addiction, stints in rehab and arrests circulated, but musically, someone switched the light off.
That was until the beginning of this year, when the man whose short career had become another example of lost young talent announced two surprise dates at Brixton Academy in association with PhatNights events. I, and the rest of the sold out venue, stand with baited breath.
The lights go on and there he is, with longer hair but unmistakable in stature, his charisma undented. Roberta Flack's 'Feel Like Makin' Love' sets the tone, sending the crowd into a mass sing-along. It's OK – he's still got it. Switching comfortably between an electric guitar and a keyboard with veteran bassist and 'Voodoo' collaborator Pino Palladino providing a dark funk groove, the band work through new arrangements, extended jams, with purposeful omissions of some of his best known hits, at least in any form with which we're familiar. It's naïve to expect anything less from a man who's sophomore album was a masterpiece in studio jams and unstructured beauty, but still a bold move by any standards from an artist with almost zero stage practise in over a decade.
Then begins 25 minutes of the most raw sexual music London has been witness to for a long, long time. Parliament's 'I've Been Watching You' segues into 'Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker' in a haze of red light and moaning guitar solos. D'Angelo has often been compared to Prince and Marvin Gaye, and while a ten year sabbatical means he can now never match that great pair's prolificacy, when it comes to cool, natural charisma, and ability to make female legs turn to jelly, there's no question he matches up.
Musically the band is as tight as any, which is all the more reason they could be used to greater effect during the solo keyboard medley, with 'Spanish Joint' and 'Africa' lacking the soft encouragement of Amir Thomson's expert drumming on the studio cut. We're even treated to a few new songs from the supposedly forthcoming 'James River' album, 'Sugar Daddy' being the most popular.
A near ten minute JB's style encore structured loosely around 'Brown Sugar' rounds off the night. To perform so confidently in light of such weighty expectation is amazing. A lesser artist would have certainly buckled under the pressure, but here is somebody who knows as well as we do that he lives up to the hype.
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