Sade Sizzles the Senses
You’d think I went kicking and screaming, I was so ‘unenthrauled’ with going to the John Legend/Sade concert last nite at the Target Center downtown Minneapolis. My husband, an avid live music fan, bought tickets to the concert months before and had become increasingly more excited about the event than his own birthday in a few weeks. I honestly didn’t see the point. We’d seen John Legend before and well, he was so much more into himself than the music that he put out, that I found no reason to see him again. And the main act, Sade. Wasn’t Sade something you slowed danced to in college?
As the week approached, we learned of other friends hitting up the concert so we made plans to meet first at one of our favorite downtown hot spots, The Capital Grille. While I’m always confident there isn’t much that their famous Stoli Doli Martini can’t fix – I went along with the program. Dinner, as it turned out, spectacular. And after a couple of fab Croatian wines down the hatch and a crispy cold cocktail, I was ready for whatever we were about to hear.
We missed the majority of Mr. Legend’s set, but were able to catch the last four songs of his act. I must say, I’m not sure if it were because I was so taken aback with his slinky white on khaki linen look or if I actually thought his music and interaction with the audience had ‘matured’. Yet I think I had decided, I liked it. His dark husky voice sounded sort of ‘jazzy’ this time around – making me think that I wanted to listen to his music outside on a patio somewhere while sipping expensive bubbles. Real bubbles. Like those that snap on the ends of your tongue, a gorgeously yeasty type – Champagne. Ahh yes, a vintaged Pol Roger ‘Winston Churchill’ Champagne, that would do nicely.
Next came what I apparently had envisioned wrong all along – The Queen of Sheba – Ms. Sade. I mean, what does a woman of 52 and a career that seemed popular ages ago, sound like now? (I mean, look at what happened to Stevie Nicks.)
There she was – fit, lean, with that slicked back iconic ponytail, all in black and as gorgeous as the day I remember ‘Smooth Operator’ hitting the airwaves. With a kind of a ‘take charge’ yet, mesmerizing appearance, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was that voice. The voice and the songs that I thought I couldn’t remember a word of, that had me tuned right back into 1984, mouthing every word. Remembering the mid eighties, I suppose was right about my Madonna stage, where I remember thinking…this is what REAL women sound like. After all, what girl in her prepubescence didn’t want to be someone like Sade or Madonna in the 80’s?
Fabulous, is all I have to say. And as it turns out, is quite the opposite review than my local newspaper, The Star Tribune. They really never cease to amaze me with their music reviews. You’d think that the people they’re sending to these concerts don’t like music, as I’ve never read a positive response from any concert they’ve reported on. As usual, they ripped apart the staging, the melodrama and the feel of the event. Saying that each of Sade’s slick black outfits didn’t pop enough for the stadium lighting – reporting that her figure was lost behind the satiny lighting and the gorgeous sheer curtains that fell with the transitions of each song. I say, they didn’t see the same show I did. My gosh, in the entire third act of her concert she appeared in a tight, white, sequin-y, floor length dress – peeping a brite pink brassiere that took over the whole front half of her outfit. I mean, what part did they miss here?
Point is – Ms. Sade – I think I have to dredge up those old CDs of yours. And you, my dear, deserve bubbles too. And yes, the real ones. While I can’t give the same wine pairing to you as I did your opening act – I will say that your music had me thinking ‘All I want to do is drink French Wine right now!’
Perhaps a gorgeously, dry Chenin Blanc from the region of Savennières in the Loire Valley of France is more fitting for your act. And, I would of course, pair you to one of my favorite producers of the region: Mr. Nicolas Joly. One of THE most powerful and gorgeously eloquent wines I’ve had in the last ten years… Joly’s La Coulee de Serrant is the perfect pairing to you, Ms. Sade. Still rockin’ it with class, elegance and style.
Pleasantly surprised, I guess you could say, is an understatement as to my expectation of the evening. I loved every minute of the concert and would highly recommend to all of you peeps out there looking to ‘spice’ up an evening at home, pull out some of those old Sade albums. I think you’ll find yourself lured right back into the Smooth Operating Tones of this hot rockin’ mama. Salut!