DCist goes to more than our share of indie rock shows in this fine town of ours, so when the chance came about to check out Nelly Furtado and her arena-type stage show, it was hard to say no. Furtado started out her career as a Jewel-like folkie but when that career path started down the road to obscurity, she jumped on a few hip-hop remixes and eventually landed Timbaland’s midas touch on her latest effort, Loose. It appeared that a majority of the crowd was there to sing along and dance to the likes of hits like “Promiscuous” and they had their chance late in the show, but overall, Furtado’s pacing was suspect and she came off not quite ready for prime time.
After getting the crowd all worked up with her first few numbers, the show hit a big lull in the middle of her set, when she slowed everything down and played four slow songs in a row, including a stripped down version Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” Seriously, who hasn’t covered that song by now? Following that up with a sub-par remix version of “I’m Like A Bird” didn’t help things. The crowd wanted to sing along with the song, but were a bit confused by the new arrangement. She got the crowd back a short time later when she donned a D.C. United kit to sing “Forca” before finishing up the show with her Timbaland mega-hits.
I give Furtado credit for making the change from folkie to slick pop chanteuse (something Jewel was never able to do) but this show seemed bigger than her. A faster paced, stripped down show minus the costume changes at a venue like the 9:30 Club would probably have been better for her, but not her pocketbook, hence the arena tour. Maybe next time.
Kenna, who took the stage after opener Saukratese’s thankfully short set, was able to pull off a set of brand new material to an audience that was not there to see him due to sheer force of will and his engaging stage presence. Openers in arena shows generally don’t get the full light shows that the headliners enjoy, but Kenna used this to his advantage, spotlighting himself in stage level floodlights and giving his songs, a weird soul and post-punk hybrid – imagine Andre 3000 fronting The Bravery – center stage. Judging from the crowd reaction to songs like “Loose Wires,” it worked. Kenna was also quick to point out his affiliation and friendship with fellow Virginia Beach natives Chad and Pharrell from The Neptunes but the crowd sounded less than impressed. Name dropping wasn’t needed, the crowd was enjoying him all the same. Kenna’s music has tremendous crossover appeal, but he never found his core audience with his first record. It will be interesting to see if he can accomplish that with his new album, Make Sure They See My Face, which drops in late July.
