Jill Scott and Maxwell- One Night Only

A few months ago, my brother called to tell me he bought tickets for us to see Jill Scott and Maxwell in concert during my birthday month. I was excited, being a fan of both artists music, so I looked forward to the day approaching. A short stint in traffic had my brother and me worried we would miss the beginning of Jill's performance. After hiding my camera which I didn't have to do since no one checked my bag just my ticket, we were relieved to see Guy Torry as the opening act. We soon learned we didn't miss much with him being on stage 1) He shouted out Kobe Bryant when the vast majority of Philadelphia doesn't like or claim Bryant as a Philadelphian 2) He dissed our home team the 76'ers saying we were mad they continue to lose games. I wouldn't have been surprised if someone would have jumped him on stage, being as though we are deemed the worse fans in all sports. Less than 10 minutes later, the show began with shadow dancers doing there thing, the band setting the crowd's atmosphere, the background dancers adorned in Adidas rocking to the beat, and then enters Philly's own Jill Scott. Dressed in an Adidas jacket, rocking Gazelle sunglasses, her signature Afro, sparkly tights and some hot shoes she began her set with "Gimme" and quickly went through a catalog of her hits from all three albums: "The Real Thing", "Insomnia","Whatever", "It's Love","Come See Me", "He Loves Me", "Not Like Crazy","Crown Royal", "A Long Walk" her new single "I Love You" and finished her set with "Hate On Me" followed by Ms. Scott chanting "North Philly's in the house", and striking a b-boy stance as a message to all the haters.
 During her set Ms. Scott made her fans feel like she was a close friend, she wasn't afraid to show her vulnerability in love and life, she also spoke on being hurt in a relationship, and surprisingly her messing up in a relationship. She made her fans laugh telling the all too familiar tale of conflict between your head and your privates; a man that's good for pleasure, who sends a tingling up your spine, but gives you grief with their irresponsibility. Before exiting the stage she thanked Philly for all their love and support, for accepting her as she is in the fickle music business that prefers a slimmer, half naked woman, instead of a woman who's a little thicker in the waist and chooses to wear clothes that leaves something to the imagination. "Thank you Philly for allowing me to be...human. Thank for letting me go to market to buy groceries, thank you for allowing me to take my son to the park, Philly is my safe haven." She finished her set telling the ladies to get ready for Maxwell "He's even sexier in person" which was met by screams from women.

After a brief intermission, Maxwell entered the stage dressed in a gray suit and a pair of sunglasses. It didn't take long for women to begin rushing the stage, screaming, and reaching out to touch his hand. Some women even threw their panties on the stage, and gave him a card. Maxwell stated  per her fans request, he was going to do a mix of his old and newer songs. He went into a a string of his hits and some album favorites of fans "Sumthin', Sumthin'", "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", "Bad Habits", "Fistful Of Tears", "Stop The World", "Cold", "Fortunate", "Reunion", "'Til The Cops Come Knocking", and the Isley Brothers "Don't Say Goodnight" While watching Maxwell perform, I finally understood how older women felt seeing people like Teddy Pendergrass and Marvin Gaye in concert. Maxwell has all the makings of the perfect man: he's handsome, immaculate style, a beautiful smile, talented performer and a great sense of humor. "I smell that good stuff, y'all smoking at my show? Where's the connect at...it smells like badussy in here...but that's not what it's about tonight it's about love...I know a lot of you fellows don't wanna be here, but after tonight she'll give you some." much to the laughter of the crowd. Maxwell finished his set with "Pretty Wings" or "Wangs" as he sings.
  Overall, the show was more than I expected these two performers don't get half the credit they deserve, they have more than studio voices, the can sing, they can rock to the beat, they can open up and relate to their fans on levels not yet achieved by other artists. I hope I get the opportunity two see these two again in concert...again...for one night only.


Here's some video from the concert: