REVIEW: john legend at spac
August 7th, 2024
“Am I really gonna call myself John Legend when I haven’t even put out a record yet?!”
As I took the obligatory pre-show stroll around the lawn at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the twilight of a sunny August afternoon, it occurred to me that it’s not often you get to spend a Wednesday evening sitting down for an intimate performance from one of the world’s most decorated contemporary musicians.
That’s exactly the treat I was in for, and on an absolutely picturesque, late-summer night, a capacity crowd would get the opportunity to witness 12-time GRAMMY winner (and Academy award winner) John Legend right here in the Spa City.
Backed by the iconic Philadelphia Orchestra, Legend set the tone immediately in a white suit with black bottoms and trim; it was evident right away that compared to the usual SPAC summer offering, this would be more of a “fine dining” experience. Everything was tight, from the orchestra to the rest of the backing band to the fluid choreography of the backup vocalists (all also hailing from Philadelphia).
Legend strutted onto the stage and began with a powerhouse performance on standalone vocals, something that would be repeated for the post-intermission second set, putting his powerful singing on full display as a true testament to the use of human voice as an instrument. Known for his soulful, gospel-flavored style, he’s a true virtuoso on stage; his presence is magnetic, immersive, and sincere all at once as he exercises total control of the crowd.
But this was more than just a mind-boggling performance; it was a full-on magic act effortlessly weaving a big-band R&B feel with a sincere and heartfelt storyteller experience, crafting a unique blend of big-city jazz club vibes and an intimate evening with an old friend bonding over some drinks and their baby grand piano. Legend addressed his audience with the warmth of someone welcoming an anticipated guest, and his energy was not only entertaining but infectious; this came in handy on several crowd sing-alongs throughout the night.
The set list was carefully constructed to take us on a trip through the life and times of John R. Stephens (Legend’s birth name). There were the gospel roots that he got from the piano lessons his grandmother gave him during his childhood in a strict Pentecostal church where secular music was discouraged. There was her sudden passing along with his mother’s substance abuse issues leading to a single-parent home. There was his early start in the Ivy League at the University of Pennsylvania at just 16 where he felt like an outsider due to his age.
Then, there were tales of Philadelphia jam sessions with the likes of Erykah Badu, Common, and The Roots, the story of his big break playing piano on Lauryn Hill’s “Everything is Everything” for which he was paid a lump sum of just $500, the story of Stevie Wonder performing “Ribbon in the Sky” at Legend’s wedding to Chrissy Teigen which led to his own cover of the song. That was another striking thing about An Evening with John Legend: the strong presence of covers in the set.
Legend structured the performance to not only include the hits his biggest fans were expecting like “Ordinary People” (revealed to be originally intended for the Black Eyed Peas), “Wonder Woman” (another tour de force in lead vocals), and “All of Me” (the big sing-along that ended the night), but also the songs that inspired and influenced him on his way, including a spirited rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”.
He also stressed the importance of activism to his music and life, stressing how lucky he felt to have power and influence while expressing the duty he felt to bring positive change. This was followed by a tear-jerkingly sincere performance of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” which bled into an inspirational take on Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. He also honored the Black Lives Matter movement that gained prominence in 2014’s protests in Ferguson, drawing parallels from it to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and leading into a rousing performance of the song that won him and Common an Oscar: “Glory” from 2014’s Selma.
Even with all of this, perhaps the most entertaining story of the evening was the one that might seem obvious to ask: who came up with the name John Legend? When introducing himself as John R. Stephens, he quipped that his name sounded more like an accountant or lawyer than a soul singer (which is somewhat appropriate, since he worked as a management consultant in Boston and New York before turning to music full-time); so when the time came to sign his first big-time contract, he knew he needed to come up with something that would set him apart. He had been given the nickname “The Legend” by some of Kanye West’s crew in the early 2000s as the two were collaborating occasionally while working on their respective debut albums, and began rolling the name John Legend around in his head as a possibility.
“I thought: ‘Am I really gonna call myself John Legend when I haven’t even put out a record yet?!’” he mused. “... But I decided the name would announce my presence, and I would have no choice to live up to it. I was finished with backup plans. This was it!”
Looking back on a career that has spanned the past 27 years and included some of the highest honors one could achieve in music, one can look back and say that Legend has lived up to his moniker indeed: An Evening with John Legend was truly a legendary experience.
