On the second evening of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture Evening Concert Series, the Grammy Award-winning Usher Raymond rocked the stage to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his iconic album Confessions.
Building upon the excitement of this weekend, the musician took the audience to church with a stirring performance featuring a beautiful choir. The set began with a montage highlighting Usher’s entire career, followed by the artist hitting the stage to his hit record, “Yeah.” He followed that up with the introspective “Throwback,” and the upbeat “Caught Up.”
Known for his show stopping performances throughout his career—and his Vegas residency—Raymond brought out two amazing entertainers for an intimate dance session before into the song “Bad Girl.” As a master performer, he serenaded the crowd with the record “Seduction” while donning an eye-catching, black mink coat. After the songs “Come Follow Me” and “That’s What It’s Made For,” gave a tribute to some of the legends that impacted him along his journey to superstardom.
Artists such as Luther Vandross and Prince served as an inspiration to Usher throughout his career, and during his set on Saturday evening, he paid homage to them by telling the audience personal stories about the two, before singing amazing renditions of “Please U and “Do It To Me.” Usher also performed a cut from the deluxe version of his chart-topping album, the beautiful duet “My Boo,” which features Alicia Keys. Although she wasn’t in attendance for the set, the audience filled in for her perfectly, reciting the pianist’s lovely lyrics word for word.
Perhaps the most notable moment of the concert was when Usher ran through his tracks “Can U Handle It?,” “Let It Burn,” and “Superstar.” He concluded the Confessions portion of the evening with the album’s title track, which was met with a standing ovation from the entire Caesar’s Superdome.
After a brief intermission, the singer then proceeded to give out tickets to his upcoming World Tour, and ended the set with the song “Lovers & Friends.” For two decades, Confessions has been a staple in R&B music, and continues to withstand the test of time. On this special night in New Orleans, Usher delivered a truly unforgettable performance, further solidifying his place as a legend in the music industry.