Badu makes her statements with style
When Erykah Badu took the stage at the Orpheum Theatre last night she was rocking a shiny bouffant wig and ruffled black crepe dress that looked like a tailor-made human candy wrapper. Her two-hour performance took its lead from her sartorial statement: classic, sleek, sweet, and uniquely funky.
Backed by, and acutely in tune with, her band - a big affair including four singers, a flutist, and a turntablist - she began the night easing into the
sultry “New Amerykah,” one of several tracks from her strong, socially reflective new album “New Amerykah, Part One: 4th World War.”
“The Healer (Hip-Hop)” found Badu hungering for a global reboot over snappy handclaps and cooing background vocals. “Master Teacher” envisioned a future without hardship. And “Soldier” offered empathy to everyone from victims of street violence to government corruption and featured some of the singer’s most otherworldly wails, which felt like they came from a place much deeper than her vocal cords.
She wisely parceled out those vocal outbursts to give them more impact, using her voice to suit the song, not show off. Whether it was the wry murmur of the slinky “On and On” or the insistent cry of “Danger” - the show’s rhythmic high point - Badu was in the pocket. As was her lighting director, who saturated with bright colors one moment and then drew back to single pinpoints in one of the more tasteful theater shows of late.
As usual Badu offered up bits of sassy choreography, eventually doffed her wig, and struck her regal, Nubian queen poses. (Between songs she would artfully lean over a laptop. While she was presumably cuing samples, we started to wonder if she wasn’t really bidding on Ebay.)
A decade into her career Badu has blossomed from a neo-soul classicist into an intriguing musical polymorph, using whatever she needs - jazz changes, hip-hop breakbeats, space-age noise, even a little crunk - to transmit her deeply personal but globally concerned messages of peace, revolution, and love. Last night, while ethereal in bits, those messages came across as heartfelt.
Since Badu took her time taking the stage - it was an hour wait - a looming deadline meant missing Badu’s foray into the crowd for singalongs of early favorite “Bag Lady” and her interpretive dance to “Green Eyes” - complete with aerobic balls. Whether busting a modern dance move or examing the digital world with her warm analog eyes, Badu exists on her own special plane.
Badu’s former comrades in the Roots kick-started the show with a bang. The seven-man hip-hop group pumped up the packed house with the sizzling guitar work of Kirk Douglas, the deeply funky backbeat of drummer Ahmir Thompson, and the furious fire of emcee Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter. Although the mix often reduced Trotter’s intricate rhymes to a muddle of hard consonants and long vowels, the heat could not be denied.© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
Erykah Badu
With the Roots
At: the Orpheum Theatre, last night more stories like this