Legend released his debut album 20 years ago, but he started making his mark well before anyone knew his name
Wednesday night (Sept 3rd) was a gorgeous night to Get Lifted with John Legend. It was his second of two nights at Wolf Trap. The Voice Coach is celebrating 20 years of his seminal album, Get Lifted, by performing the full album live.
Legend emerged shortly after 8 pm—the tour has no opener—wearing a classy metallic-white suit to contrast with his 8 band members, clad in all black. He started slow, tinkering a pensive “Prelude” on his upright piano. But then the notes took off, soaring with “Let’s Get Lifted.”
For “Used to Love U,” Legend had the crowd on their feet as he stalked the stage in his boxy sneakers. “Heaven” saw Legend’s Pentecostal-church-trained-soulful voice reach even bigger heights that wowed the 7,000+ in attendance.
The show was nine songs deep and 45 minutes in before Legend stopped to talk with the crowd. “No matter where I go, I always tell people some of my favorite shows in my career have been right here in this area,” Legend said of the DMV (The DC, Maryland, and Virginia region).
He also talked about his upbringing in the church, before playing a sweeping “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” Following that, he offered insight into his Pennsylvania-born career beginnings, which included an encounter with R&B enigma Ms. Lauryn Hill. To this day, most of Legend’s band are from Philly.
John Legend is one of the must-hear voices of his time. He can take on a sultry tune and turn on the ladies (“So High”), or take the entire venue to church with a tune that hits you right in the soul (“Green Light”). And if that weren’t enough, Legend demonstrated—live—a vocal sample he provided on a track for another then-unknown: “Jesus Walks” by Kanye West. The mention earned a mix of whoops, oohs, gasps, and tepid applause that made your ever-professional reporter let out a very loud guffaw.
After this narrated retrospective, Legend returned to his own catalogue, focusing mostly on slower ballads. While every song from Get Lifted was offered, the tracks were ordered for dramatic effect. Example: “Ordinary People” came toward the end of the night.
In just about two hours, he performed over 30 hits and snippets of music that showcased just how deep John Legend’s fingerprint on R&B goes. He really is no “Ordinary” person.
