Photo by Torrey Purvey
By Michael Kinney
The Yukon Review
It is easy for an artist to perform when things are going great. When the sound system is perfect, fans are into the show and nothing goes wrong, almost any good singer can put on a magnificent show.
But the truly great performers can do it when their surroundings have turned to chaos and the have no control over it. That is when the true showman steps up and performs.
That is what Oklahoma City fans got to see Monday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Despite thunderstorms, tornado warnings and flash floods rolling through the city, Chris Brown didn’t let the fans down on this leg of his INDIGOAT Tour.
Twice during Brown’s near two-hour performance, the power went out in the Chesapeake as a thunderstorm raged outside. The power outage caused Brown’s microphone to go out along with some of the lights and video background on stage.
The first time it happened, Brown and his dancers left the stage for about five minutes before returning. Almost 20 minutes later, the same thing happened again. But this time, it took place during the middle of Brown singing “With You.”
But before he could respond the fans picked up where Brown left off and continued to sing the lyrics as Brown danced on stage. For many, that was the highlight of the evening to hear an entire arena perform one of Brown’s biggest hits.
“awwww, this filled my heart when the crowd started singing,” said one fan on Twitter.
That moment seemed to energize Brown for the rest of the night. Even as he roamed around on stage talking to the crowd as the fixed the power problem, it was evident he was ready to get back and put on a show.
I have been to several shows where singers have walked off stage and left when things go bad. To see Brown continue to perform on a Monday night in Oklahoma City in front of just a few thousand fans was impressive.
The one time Brown did leave the stage for an extended period was during the intermission. But that is when the concert-goers showed how much they were really enjoying the show They danced in the aisles and in their seats to the songs being played by the DJ.
The energy carried over into the second half of the show as Brown worked even harder. When he went down memory lane and performed small samples of some of his old classics, the fans once again joined in the singing along with him.
All around it was a good show. But what made it go up another level was how Brown responded to adversity. If this had been L.A. New York or Dallas and the arena would have been packed with 30 to 50 thousand fans, it would be understandable why he stayed and performed. But to do it in what many consider a fly-0ver city on a Monday night, that sets him apart as an elite performer.
Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider