Anthony Hamilton
The highly anticipated Love After Valentines concert made its way to the Perot theater on Friday night, February 19th. Thanks to KTOY 104.7 and Soul Man Billy Bland, I was able to attend the show, and I must say it was a very good concert that any lover of R&B and Soul music would have enjoyed.
The performers were Vaughn Willis, Maad Moiselle, 2-time Grammy award winner Timothy Bloom and the Headliner, platinum recording artist, R&B diva KeKe Wyatt.
Up and coming R&B artist Vaughn Willis opened the show, and he proved to be a very talented 1 man band on this occasion. Willis performed a mixture of socially-charged and relationship original songs along with cover songs, namely Let’s Get it On, a Marvin Gaye classic, and Change is Gonna Come, which is a Sam Cooke classic. The highlight of Willis’ performance found him playing his guitar and harmonica at the same time. Willis also has a very strong vocal presence. He is not a household name, but I believe he will be at some point, as he’s a very talented artist with a strong stage presence. To find out more about Vaughn Willis, check out swifmusic.com.
Maad Moiselle followed Willis. She is also multi-talented and what some would consider a jack of all trades. Not only did she perform her own material, but she was the DJ, and she provided the music for KeKe Wyatt. Her performance although short, was very high-energy and entertaining. At one point of her performance, she performed out in the audience. The highlight of her performance was the performance of her funk-tinged new single Sweet & Low, which is available on iTunes.
Next was 2-time Grammy award winner Timothy Bloom. His performance was as soulful as it gets. Not only is he a very accomplished singer but also a guitarist as well as a pianist, and he put all of these talents on display. Bloom appeared to really enjoy himself, as there was a lot of playful interaction with the audience during the course of his show. It was amazing to see and hear him switch from guitar to piano and back to guitar flawlessly for the highlight of his performance which was the performance of his hit song ‘Til the End of Time, which is also available on iTunes.
The last performance of the night came from headliner KeKe Wyatt, and you could tell from the reception she received from the crowd that her performance was highly anticipated. She also seemed to really enjoy the intimate setting that the Perot offers, as she interacted with the crowd while performing her hit songs including Nothing In This World, and her cover of Patti LaBelle’s classic If Only You Knew and the song that put her on the map in the late 90’s, the duet with Avant, a cover of the Renee’ and Angela classic My First Love. The highlight of her performance for me was when she revealed that her father had just passed, and she performed a tribute song titled Tears In Heaven during which she was overcome with emotion. Many celebrities won’t share vulnerability the way she did, and for those who have lost a parent who was indeed their world, it was very touching and emotional to us all. Her new album is available for pre-order as well on iTunes.
All the performers pointed out how happy they were to put on this show for Texarkana, and each expressed a desire to return at some point in the future. If opportunity presents itself to see any of these artists in concert, I suggest taking advantage. It would be well worth an investment of time and money spent to see them perform. If you are a fan of good R&B music, these artists, in my opinion, are bucket list material. I would love to see each of them in concert again.
This was a very enjoyable as well as entertaining night for the lover of good soul music. I’m very happy to have been a part of it.