Concert Review: John Legend Gives Love and Light on Darkness and Light Tour

John Legend is a provider of music therapy at its finest. With his soothing and soulful voice, his calm and wise manner of speaking to his audience, his easy and smooth stage presence, and his emotional and thoughtful songs, he delivers an uplifting and unforgettable show that elevates the concert experience for those lucky enough to be present. Legend brought all this and more to his Darkness and Light tour stop in Vancouver at Rogers Arena on June 1st.

Supporting act Gallant handled the opportunity of warming up the crowd with great gallantry. Performing songs from his Grammy nominated debut album Ology, the alt-R&B singer grabbed the audience’s attention from the get-go with his rapturous vocals, his striking falsetto, and his energetic stage movements. With massive talent like his, Gallant is soon to be on the same caliber as his tour mate and mentor.

What impressed me immediately is how John Legend fulfills on a promise, starting his show promptly at 8:55pm and performing for a full two hours. In the world of showbiz, punctuality is quite a rarity, and details like this demonstrates Legend’s commitment to his audience and his great professionalism. Currently riding on a career high thanks to high-profile gigs such as his role in the movie-musical La La Land and his noteworthy appearances at this year’s Oscars and Grammy ceremonies, the diverse, dedicated, and consummate performer is seeing his star shine brighter after years of hard work. With a large helping of hits on his sleeve, balanced with evocative and passionate piano-driven serenades and dynamic and cool stage performances powered by a full-scale production with accompaniment from a killer band and backup vocalists, the Darkness and Light tour showcases just how far Legend has come in his career.

During his generous two-hour set, Legend barraged through twenty-five songs from the entire span of the multi-platinum selling and award-winning R&B singer-songwriter’s impressive career. To promote his latest album Darkness and Light, he performed “Penthouse Floor,” the lead single “Love Me Now,” “Darkness and Light,” “Overload,” “What You Do to Me,” the current single “Surefire,” and a song he wrote for his daughter called “Right by You (For Luna),” which was presented with a cute montage of family photos.

Selections from past albums included “Made to Love,” “Save the Night,” “Who Do We Think We Are,” and the beautiful love song “You & I (Nobody in the World)” from Love in the Future, Once Again‘s “Save Room” and “Slow Dance,” during which in the latter he put on the charm factor and danced with a lucky woman from the audience , “Green Light” from Evolver, and some throwbacks to his debut album Get Lifted with “Used to Love U,” “Ordinary People,” and “So High”. Rounding out the setlist were “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” from the film soundtrack to Think Like A Man, his solo version of the pop duet “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s funky and fresh “Superfly,” before which Legend shared the memorable story of how it was the song that played when his daughter was brought into the world, “Wake Up Everybody” from his collaboration project with The Roots, and a stirring a cappella rendition of “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys.

For the encore, the soulful balladeer returned on the piano for the two most monumental songs of his career thus far, the first being his biggest single, the romantic “All of Me,” which is dedicated to his wife Chrissy Teigen. Legend took every chance he could get throughout the evening to remind everyone to love and live in the moment and to show their love to one another. He ended on a glory note with a powerful and poignant performance of “Glory,” the Academy award-winning song from Selma, which was accompanied with footage from the civil rights movement, the Women’s March on Washington, Black Lives Matter protests, and other human rights demonstrations. Known for being an artist who uses his platform to advocate for political and social activism, which he vocalizes often through music, Legend compelled people to continue to rise up, to march, and to use love as a unifier. Not only did Legend leave his audience entertained and satisfied, but he also bestowed upon them a sense of empowerment, which is the mark of a true cultural influencer.

John Legend is currently touring in cities throughout North America this summer and will be performing across Europe in the fall. For tour dates, visit johnlegend.com.

Feature image and videos courtesy of the writer.