In 2013, D'Angelo was slated to play the Outside Lands Festival. It would've been the Virgina-born singer's first trip to the Bay Area in more than a decade, had he not canceled his performance because of an undisclosed "medical emergency," only to be replaced by Outkast's Big Boi, who also didn't play due to extenuating circumstances. It was a comedy of errors for an otherwise excellent slate of artists that year. But now, resurrected, D'Angelo's day is nigh.
When D'Angelo takes the stage at Outside Lands Festival on Friday night, finally making his Outside Lands debut, the wait will be worth it. In the past 14 years, the singer's inner demons (depression, drugs, seclusion) made for a slow and winding road to follow up Voodoo, one of the sultriest, sexiest albums in the history of a genre, R&B, that's rich with sultry, sexy sounds. But D'Angelo's most recent release, Black Messiah, released in December, came at a time when music needed his voice more than ever. Amid civic unrest, political and social discord, D'Angelo dropped a collection of songs that speak to the condition of love, peace, and strife in our country.
It's not just a rejuvenated D'Angelo you'll see on stage, but also his accomplished backing band, The Vanguard, featuring The Who's Pino Palladino on bass; vocalist and co-songwriter Kendra Foster; and a cadre of talented soul, jazz, and funk musicians. Together, the 10-piece powerhouse provides the musical melange that an emotional D'Angelo ballad deserves, thus fully allowing the singer to rise like the proverbial phoenix into his current incarnation, which has drawn comparisons to James Brown.
The anticipation of D'Angelo's return, following his 14-year departure, was first fully witnessed when he opened the Black Messiah tour at the Fox Theater in Oakland this past May. He delivered, by many accounts, the Bay Area's best show of the year. He wore a tattered trench coat that looked like it had been through the same bumpy roller-coaster ride of a career he has. But in a trimphant moment he removed it, revealing his trademark black tank-top underneath, all while sporting an ear-to-ear smile wide enough to wash away any doubt: D'Angelo was back.
He churned through a set beginning with Black Messiah's opening track, "Ain't That Easy," all the way through set-closer and arguably his most significant opus, "[Untitled] (How Does It Feel)." He gave the crowd an impassioned performance, that often saw him testing the range of his capabilities, yet seemingly hitting every damn note.
And now, the test of the grand Outside Lands festival stage awaits D'Angelo, who should be ready and willing to perform this time around. What he is showing with Black Messiah is that he's a much more important artist than just another turn-of-the-millennium sex symbol. With his politically poignant and brutally honest plea in "The Charade" — "All we wanted was a chance to talk / 'stead we only got outlined in chalk" — D'Angelo shows what a significant voice he is for social justice in America. It'll be in your best interest to be there Friday at 7:45 p.m., when D'Angelo and The Vanguard explode the Sutro Stage with the bravado and musicianship that are truly a sign of the tumultuous times we're living in today.
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