When Usher hit the stage at Barclays Center on Friday night, he made himself right at home at the Brooklyn arena for the first of four sold-out shows on his Past Present Future Tour.
The R&B superstar — dressed in all black everything, from his sequined coat to his shades — opened with “Coming Home,” the title track of his latest album, which he dropped just two days before headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in February. Then he smoothly moved into “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home),” his hit single fro 2010’s “Raymond v. Raymond.”
This wasn’t Atlanta, his hometown where the 45-year-old singer launched his career as a teenager three decades ago. Nor was it Las Vegas, where his “My Way” residency was the hottest ticket in town from 2022 to 2023.
Still, there was a feeling of homecoming for Usher Raymond IV — as if Brooklyn was his home, and Barclays Center was his house.
And there was lots of love in this arena for the artist who many in the audience had grown up with — from 1997’s “You Make Me Wanna…” and 2001’s “U Remind Me” to 2004’s “Yeah!” and 2008’s “Love in This Club.”
Thirty years after he released his self-titled debut on Aug. 30, 1994, it was a nostalgic celebration of his iconic career that brought the past into the present with the kind of old-school showmanship that never goes out of style.
While Usher showed off his fancy footwork — even while roller skating — on uptempo numbers that kept the party rocking, he had the largely female crowd even more caught up on slow jams such as “Nice & Slow,” “U Got It Bad,” “Burn” and “Confessions Part II.”
Whether he was putting his hand down his pants, humping the stage or pouring a a bottle of water over his shirtless self, he was a master of soul seduction in the tradition of R&B greats such as Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass and Prince.
After taking it back to the club with the EDM crossover moves of “OMG,” “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love Again” and “Without You,” Usher donned a red fur coat and went into the audience to croon “There Goes My Baby,” bringing some of the intimacy of his Vegas residency to the arena.
He ended up serenading actress Taraji P. Henson before singer Victoria Monét — with whom Usher has the new single “SOS (Sex on Sight)” — and rapper Yung Miami joined in the fun that ended up at a makeshift strip-club.
Then Usher was joined onstage by rappers Fat Joe and Ja Rule, who brought some New York hip-hop energy to the party.
But by the time he finished with “Yeah!,” there was no doubt that this night, this room, this town belonged to Usher.
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