Get your clicking finger ready: There’s going to be stiff competition for tickets when the reigning king of neo-soul finally makes it back to the Bay Area for the first time since 2000 (when he rocked the Paramount Theatre in front of an adoring, sold-out crowd on two consecutive nights).
To be honest, we’re still feeling just a little bit burned from his scheduled-and-missed appearance at Outside Lands in 2013, a set he canceled due to illness. On the other hand: He’ll be making it up to us not only with a set at this year’s festival, which runs Aug. 7 through 9, but with this newly announced stand-alone show at the Fox Theater in Oakland on June 7, as part of his national tour (“The Second Coming,” a tour name very few others could get away with) for Black Messiah.
Presale tickets go up for grabs Thursday, April 30 at 10am on the Fox’s website with the password “rowell” (brownie points for anyone who can tell us why?). The general onsale starts Friday, May 1 at noon.
Though some of us may be biased about Black Messiah (for example, those of us who listened to it at least two dozen times in the two weeks following its release), it’s among the most interesting albums of 2014 — not only for its decade-and-a-half-long incubation period, but for its funky, experimental, solidly challenging soup of politics, sex, and race relations, with sonic nods to Sly and the Family Stone, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, Marley Marl, and more.
And hey, if there were any doubt about D’Angelo’s ability to still deliver a mind-bending live performance, check out this recent set on Saturday Night Live. We’re gonna go ahead and suggest this is worth the $49.50.
