Sade live review

Time Out New York
Live Review

“Thank you so much for being here,” Sade Adu said, addressing her Newark audience on Saturday night, “All these years, keeping the flame alive.” It’s been ten years to be precise, since the group last toured America; what’s remarkable is that in all that time, Sade hasn’t changed an iota. The singer is still breathtakingly lovely, her face unmarked by lines (and astonishingly unsagged by jowls.) But more than that, the band’s modus operandi remains the same: the London soul veterans are ambassadors for a classy restraint that’s all but extinct in an era of brash skankiness. The songs still sounded ice-cool—the better, even, for being removed from the decade they defined.

Sade is no longer just your mom’s music. Sure there were older couples at the show sharing a smooch, but there were hot young things, too: Perfectly coiffed girls in matching outfits, R&B boys in scruffy jeans whose college smoking sessions were soundtracked by Lovers’ Rock. The show kicked off with a moody, marching “Soldier of Love,” the singer emerging from under the stage clad entirely in black, wrists cuffed in sparkling diamanté. As the crowd roared its delight, Sade smiled assuredly—as if pleased and utterly unsurprised at her reception. She strode the stage in six-inch heels, eschewing a Gaga-style meat dress or Beyonce-style aggro dance routine in favor of smooth wiggles and knowing nods, while her band stood stock still, as if awaiting her next command.

Lightening the mood, “Your Love Is King,” and “Kiss of Life” followed, a giant screen beaming images of Sade running through a field of daisies looking about seventeen (Freckles! At 52!). The show was a solid stream of hits (see full set list below), divided into themed segments. After an opening lounge-style section, a film noir voiceover and sirens chimed up along with old-fashioned neon signage that read first “CHICAGO” and then “KEY LARGO”; a delicious moment when the entire stadium realized that “Smooth Operator” was next. The ’80s megahit sounded crisp, its sax solo positively (and unembarrassingly) thrilling.

Red curtains unfurled from the rafters for “Is It a Crime” and “Stronger than Pride,” and the singer skipped off stage for a costume change. She returned, hair disheveled, barefoot and wearing a red-brassiere-revealing silver gown—looking suitably used for a melancholy “King of Sorrow.” If Sade’s music has aged magnificently, then so have her fans: As she sang “No Ordinary Love” (wind machine on full blast), an older married couple in the crowd danced together in the blue light. Sade closed the show with a sweetly sincere “By Your Side,” as petals fluttered over the crowd, returning for an encore with “Cherish the Day.” Wearing a red silk bomber jacket and gown, the singer stood on a plinth that rose 20 feet above the stage, with a black-and-white New York city skyline projected behind her. Way to own this city.

Click past the jump for the set list



Sade at the Prudential Center
Set list

“Soldier of Love”
“Your Love Is King”
“Skin”
“Kiss of Life”
“Love Is Found”
“In Another Time”
“Smooth Operator”
“Jezebel”
“Bring Me Home”
“Is It a Crime”
“Love Is Stronger than Pride”
“All About Our Love”
“Paradise”
“Nothing Can Come Between Us”
“Morning Bird”
“King of Sorrow”
“The Sweetest Taboo”
“The Moon and the Sky”
“Pearls”
“No Ordinary Love”
“By Your Side”

Encore
“Cherish the Day”