On November 27th, the day before thanksgiving, Usher performed his first of three sold-out concerts at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. If you somehow don’t know who he is, Usher is a legendary R&B, and pop icon that has been in the music industry since 1993. This tour is meant to be a celebration of his incredibly successful career, as well as an autobiography, told through his show.
Before Usher came on, DJ Mars was hyping up the crowd with R&B, pop, and rap songs from different eras. His set was so fun and even included a group of 12 girls chosen from the crowd to compete to be on stage with Usher later in the show. Those girls were dancing and showing off like their lives depended on it. Although 12 were chosen, only 6 got to share the stage with Usher. DJ Mars also appeared throughout Usher’s set which I thought was awesome. He definitely was a necessary part of the concert.
As Usher was getting ready to take the stage, a robotic voice who introduced herself as an AI named Celeste, let us know how long before the show would. Her presence was a huge part of the story Usher was telling which was pretty interesting. Usher also used AI generated images of his past self and what-if future self throughout the show. This was my first time seeing AI being explicitly used during a show. I honestly think it was done well and fit with the story of his show. These images were projected onto huge screens that were arranged in a box-like formation. The screen was also used to project close ups of Usher and his dancers throughout the show. However, the coolest thing about the set was that the screen panels actually moved to either be a door or reveal a set depending on what was necessary. It was also a two-story set which I did not expect. The stage was shaped in an interesting way, there was essentially three different stages. The main stage had the screen panels, the second stage, which was connected to the main stage, was round with a spinning platform, and the third stage was where DJ Mars was and where the girls competed.
Once the countdown for the start of the set ended, Usher pops up from under the main stage in a red suit and a black fedora. He started his set with “Coming Home” from his newest album. The intro of the song and his dancing reminded me of Michael Jackson. It felt like an homage, but with Usher’s own twist. I knew from that moment that I was in for an amazing show. After making his way to the second stage, a beam of light shines down and he ends up using it as a prop. I thought this visual was so stunning. He then transitions to the next song on his set which was “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)”. I thought having these songs back-to-back was neat and felt like he was trying to express that his home on tour is being on stage for his fans. During this song, he was joined by his dancers. His dancers are insanely talented and each time they were on stage it was such a treat.
Each chunk of the set went through different eras of his life and different outfits as well. After his intro he took it back to the 90’s with “My Way” and “You Make Me Wanna…”. Then we moved to the 2000s with “U Remind Me” and “U Don’t Have to Call” from his 8701 album. In this section he also played “Caught Up” and a short snippet “Yeah!” before the AI says, “We blew the system and have to reboot”. Then the AI played a different version of “Yeah!” which was very reminiscent to 60s era music. This prompts and error message from the computer and we jump to a new era.
The year we jump to is 2019 with his song “Don’t Waste My Time” with Ella Mai. This was one of my favorite parts of the show because for this chunk Usher and his dancers wore roller skates and were zooming around the whole stage. It was so impressive but also a little anxiety inducing due to there not being guardrails! One thing that made me giggle was that Usher, and his dancers would make it rain money with his face on it. I also want to take a moment to shoutout his live band. He had a drum, keyboardists, brass players, and amazing guitarists. They were insanely talented while also being super entertaining to watch despite not being the focal points for the most part.
The next era was my absolute favorite. It was the era I grew up with which was Usher’s 2004 album Confessions and arguably his most popular (and best) album. He sang so many of my favorites during this especially “Burn” and “Confessions pt. II”. It was so nostalgic to hear these lives but also surreal. My inner child was so happy during this part of the show. Although on his 8701 album, he did sing “U Got It Bad” during this section which had an amazing guitar solo. The set use in this section was also really bad ass since he used both the bottom and top stories of the set to convey the stories within the songs.
During the concert we also saw some familiar faces like actress Nia Long. We also saw Al B. Sure as well which seemed like a full circle moment for Usher. They had a little dance together which was very cute. Then he brought out Houston legend Bun B to perform “Get Throwed” and “International Player’s Anthem” with him.
He played many other hits like “OMG” and “DJs Got Us Fallin’ In Love” during this concert as well. He ended with his two biggest hits “Yeah!” and “Without You”. Overall, this show was the best concert I have ever been to; getting the opportunity to watch this concert was mind-blowing. There were no dull moments, and it did not feel as long as it was (it was nearly a three-hour show). This concert is a must-watch! I cannot recommend seeing him enough. There are still plenty of shows left of his tour, but if you are a local there are two more shows. Before the European leg of the tour, he will perform three shows in Atlanta and Miami respectfully.
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