Alicia Keys Shines In Charlotte

Keys To The Summer Tour Stops At Spectrum Center

“This girl is on fire…” That may be the chorus to Alicia’s biggest and most well-known song “Girl On Fire,” but it’s also an accurate description of the 15-time Grammy Award winner’s performance last night in Charlotte. From start to finish, Keys’ was on fire treating fans to a concert that showcased her musical career and why we just can’t get enough of her.

Music has always been a part of Keys’ life. From a young age, she was a classically trained pianist, composing songs by the age of 12 and landing her first record deal at the age of 15. The singer found mainstream success with her 2001 album Songs in A Minor and has become one of the world’s best-selling artists and has been dubbed the “Queen of R&B.” This past December, Keys released her very first Christmas album Santa Baby and is currently out on tour bringing the Keys To The Summer Tour to arenas across the country.

For this tour run, Alicia gives fans a different perspective with a 360-degree “in the round” experience. Unlike a traditional stage set-up, this allows for better viewing angles for everyone where there is no bad seat in the house. The circular stage is set in the middle of the arena floor with a catwalk on one end and a super long catwalk on the other which leads to a large set of stairs on one end of the venue. In the middle of the stage sits Keys’ Yamaha grand piano, glistening brilliantly under the lights. It truly is a beautiful instrument and as a spotlight shines down upon it, the crowd gets amped up anxiously awaiting for Keys to make her appearance.

The arena lights go dark and it’s time. I can hear Keys singing the opening lines of “Fallin’” but haven’t seen her yet. The lights go up and she is on the stage dressed in a lime green and white sparkly pantsuit completing the look with sunglasses perched atop her nose. The next thing I notice is the quality of the sound. Sonically, this performance is second to none. From Keys’ vocals to her piano to her backing band and singer, everything and everyone sounds phenomenal. Keys stands at her piano as it slowly rotates around, giving everyone their first peek at the artist. She breaks away from the Yamaha grand, grabs her mic, and makes her way around the round stage singing her heart out as the crowd soaks up every note and nuance of the presentation. Alicia makes her way over to my side of the stage, throwing her arms out to each side in front of the piano as if to say here I am, welcome to the show.

The lighting scheme for this portion of the show was subdued and yet breathtaking as our eyes were focused in on Alicia and the amazing group of musicians sharing the stage with her. Keys made her way down the long runway to those stairs at the end of the arena to perform, taking a few minutes to address the crowd in between songs. This segment of the show featured 15 songs including her cover of Usher’s “My Boo” before finishing off with “City of Gods (Part II.) As Keys made her exit, the band had their time to be in the spotlight with band introductions and solos.

The venue lights again went dark and we have Keys rising up from a platform at the top of the stairs with a smaller Yamaha piano. This time she was decked out all in sequins and black as she urged the crowd on to help her sing Prince’s “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore.” Asking where all her girls are, she launched into “A Woman’s Worth” and my personal favorite “Superwoman” as images of women and girls were shown on the video screens to the sides and above the main stage area. Hearing her solo just vocals and piano was enough to put chills down both my arms as Keys was magnificent in every way. We may have been in a huge arena, but somehow she made it feel intimate like we were all just sitting in her living room listening to her sing at the piano and it was amazing to see and hear. Keys may be a superstar but she definitely comes across as completely genuine and humble as she addresses the audience and they roar in appreciation.

Her band joins back in during “Diary” and then we are off to the main stage area for the final part of the evening’s show. When Alicia begins to play the first notes of “Girl on Fire,” everyone cheers and jumps to their feet in anticipation. For this signature song, Keys makes her way down the catwalk at the other end of the arena, and as she sings “This girl is on fire,” plumes of smoke shoot up in a circle around her as well as down each side of the longer runway on each side. Next, Alicia took us on a trip to New York City with “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down” and Baby, we were all from New York at least for a little while. We danced and sang along to Keys’ cover of the Eurythmics classic hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” as laser shined down upon the stage area. Nobody wanted the night to end but Alicia assured us “Everything’s gonna be alright” as she took us home with “No One.”

29 songs into the night and Keys and her band are still on fire as they graced us with one more song, capping off this spectacular night of music with an encore of “If I Ain’t Got You.” Keys showed yet again why she is one of the biggest superstars on the planet with a passionate and emotion-fueled performance for the ages.

The Keys To The Summer tour is just getting started so you still have plenty of time to catch this iconic artist when she makes a stop in your city or town. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it!

Opening the show was Cameroonian-American Afrobeats singer Libianca. You may remember Libianca from her appearance on the 21st season of the television show The Voice back in 2021. She brought a full band as well as dancers with her as she warmed up the audience with performances of her breakout single “People” along with her latest single “Jah.”

See the Full Gallery of the Evening Here!

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