Befitting a legend

American singer-songwriter John Legend seemed to have left some subtle messages while entertaining the audience during his first concert in Bangkok last Friday.
More than a few songs performed that evening were accompanied by the screening of video regarding racial issues. Messages such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Freedom Now” were shown, along with black-and-white footage of assassinated civil-rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jr.

 

“Glory”, an award-winning number co-written by Legend for the movie “Selma”, was one of those songs. It was the finale, beautifully performed, to his “Darkness and Light” concert at Bitec. The venue – the 9,200-seat Hall 106 – was packed with his local fans, including many expatriates.
Another song with a message was “Wake Up Everybody”, which was performed with documentary video of street protests against racial inequality.

 

Legend, whose real name is John Roger Stephens, entertained the fans with his singing, dancing and piano playing backed by eight musicians and three other singers. Bangkok was the last leg of his Asian tour, which had taken him to China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines.

 

The numbers performed during the two-hour concert came from Legend’s many albums, from the 2004 debut “Get Lifted” to “Darkness and Light”, released in 2016. The tracks included “I Know Better”, “Love Me Now”, “Save the Night”, “Like I’m Gonna Lose You”, Ordinary People” and the title tune, “Darkness and Light”.

 

The 39-year-old singer and his squad also satisfied their Thai fans with hits like “Save Room”, “We Just Don’t Care”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “All of Me” – the last of which he saved for the encore. 
Legend formed “All of Me” solo at the piano, with many audience members singing along. It was one of many mesmerising moments during the show organised by Neekrung Connects.
Thanks to his powerful voice, Legend sang beautifully both in the high range and baritone. He also did equally well with both fast-paced and slow songs. Moreover, the three women backup singers played an important role in enlivening the concert – dancing in unison, singing full of energy and even taking Legend’s place in the spotlight while he was taking a break and changing outfits.
Legend’s parting song before the encore was “You & I”, which was performed with video of his half-Thai wife Chrissy Teigen and their year-old daughter Luna. 

 

Chrissy’s mother showed up onstage before the start of the concert and introduced the singer to the crowd. It was a rare thing for a mother-in-law to do at any concert. Legend joked later on Instagram, posting a video clip of his mother-in-law speaking to the audience in Thai, “I’ll find out what she said later.” 
It was a concert full of affection and fun. The singer told his audience, “I feel the love tonight, Bangkok. Do you feel it?” In another Instagram message he said, “We had so much fun!” A lot of his fans here will remember his promise to make a comeback.