Concert review: Usher at Allstate Arena
Usher did a lot of role-playing Friday at the packed-to-the-rafters Allstate Arena, changing costumes about eight times as if trying to figure out exactly who he wanted to be: bungee-jumping ninja, space traveler, leather-clad club marauder, wet T-shirt contest winner.
But when things got a little slow, as they inevitably did in an unevenly paced two-hour concert, he kept returning to one sure-fire move that was guaranteed to get the predominantly female audience back on point: He lifted his shirt and showed off his gleaming abdomen. It was emblematic of his stud-next-door appeal. Not crassly explicit, but just suggestive enough to elicit screams. Call it six-pack R&B.
Even at 32, Usher suggests a mannish-boy more than a classic soul man who has been in the business for nearly two-thirds of his life. In comparison to past arena tours, when his dancing exploded into moves more suited for a gymnastics competition, he has toned down the acrobatics. But he still places an emphasis on the physical over the musical; this was about sweat and athleticism more than nuance or songcraft.
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