Clear Channel network’s Iheartradio.com and Power 105.1 awarded 200 lucky radio fans the opportunity to see John Legend & The Roots perform songs from their Wake Up! album on Monday, Sept 20th and GLOBALGRIND WAS THERE, FRONT ROW!
The up close and personal show started around 9:15 pm in Tribeca, New York at the PC Richard & Son’s Theater with Power 105’s DJ Self who introduced John Legend and the legendary Roots Crew. Fans were truly excited to stand within feet of the performers for the taped show that was kicked off with “Hard Times” from the album.
“Hard Times” the only original on the Wake Up! album was the opening song and was lead in with a church like wail from Legend that exploded into a feel good party vibe when the Roots joined in and set the tone for the entire show.
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As the band moved onto more politically charged songs like Ed Harris’s “Compared to What” and Donnie Hathaway’s “Little Ghetto Boy” the air became a bit heavy but the mood was lightened when Legend and Roots launched into Legend’s own song “Again” enhanced with a slick flow from Black Thought. Ladies in the crowd sang along and screamed out to Legend “I love you” as he poured his heart out about a turbulent love affair.
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Fans continued to sing along as John Legend & The Roots continued with their already popular Teddy Pendergrass cover “Wake Up Everybody,” and you could see the crowd light up though when The Roots and Legend started to play another of Legend’s hit songs.
Where only ladies had sang along before, everyone joined in for a soulful rendition of “Ordinary People,” and hands began to wave in the air as couples gravitated toward each other for their own personal concert.
By far, the highlight of the night was a rousing rendition of Bill Wither’s anti Vietnam War song “I Can’t Write Left Handed” that tells the story of a soldier who was shot and lost his right arm.
The soldier asks “Could you write a letter to my mother because I can’t write left handed” hence the name of the song. It started with an intro from John Legend about the current social environment and wars and went into a heartfelt performance from every performer on the stage.
Root’s guitarist “Captain Kirk” Douglas offered a delicious guitar solo that set the crowd afire and kept us burning as Questlove bore his soul on the drums.
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After The Roots and Legend’s message had been felt, they decided to leave us on an uplifting note continuing with three more of Legend’s solo offerings lead off by his Grammy nominated song “Save Room”.
Once again the ladies began to profess their love for Legend as the band segued int
