Heady mix of sounds in John Legend’s PH stopover

Legend’s understanding of his songs and their arrangements, coupled with his adroit piano-playing, allowed him to bend the melodies at will.

Sometimes, you want to get lost in love; bathe in it till it overflows,” singer-songwriter John Legend said from the Smart Araneta Coliseum stage at the recent Manila stop of his “Darkness and Light” concert tour. “And sometimes, you want to forget what’s going on around you.”

John lamented that, these days, there are people who have a deeper relationship with their mobile phones than their lovers.

“Sometimes, you got to turn them off. We get so obsessed with ‘likes’ that we forget about love,” he continued in a flirtatious singsong. “But tonight, we’re going to focus on love.”

His little spiel didn’t exactly dissuade the audience from hoisting their phones up. But, at least, they remained firmly pointed at him, as he tickled the ivories and jived to the sultry beats of his songs, which he delivered with a silken tone that enveloped every note.

He isn’t one to jump onto musical trends, and has, over the course of his career, stayed true to his roots—R&B, pop, gospel and soul. And in his two-hour set, John dallied from one genre to another, at times weaving them all together to produce a heady mix of sounds.

He took the crowd to church with his opener, “I Know Better,” a gospel-tinged piano ballad, amplified by passages of organ music. He spun around, urging the fans to dance with him during the funky “Penthouse Floor.”

He shuffled, swaggered and leaned back, all the while cooing oh so sweetly to “Tonight (Best You Ever Had).”

Legend’s dexterity stood out.

John swiveled his hips to the march-like cadence of the brooding “Made to Love.”

On the other hand, “Darkness and Light”—about bodies “melting into one” and a “touch” that “thrills to the bone”—best showcased his strengths as a vocalist.

John’s voice had enough heft for belting out high notes, but it was his dexterity and stylistic improvisations that stood out.

In conveying the song’s sensuously funky vibe, John played around with its dynamics, shifting from airy whispers, to lush falsettos, to piercing interjections—all with uncanny precision.

Meanwhile, his understanding of his songs and their arrangements, coupled with his adroit piano-playing, allowed the 39-year-old artist to bend the melodies at will and insert creative runs in the most unexpected places.

The 27-song repertoire was composed mostly of tunes from his latest record, but John made sure to dish out some of his most popular hits, like “Save Room,” “PDA (We Just Don’t Care),” “Ordinary People” and “All of Me”—the No. 1 hit dedicated to his wife, Chrissy Teigen—which easily elicited the loudest sing-along of the night.

Legend’s voice had enough heft for belting out high notes. —PHOTOS BY MANUEL CHUA FOR WILBROS LIVE

He likewise performed “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” a collaboration with Meghan Trainor; “Beauty and the Beast,” whose 2017 version featured him and Ariana Grande; and an a cappella cover of Sam Smith’s torch ballad “Lay Me Down,” which reaffirmed his confidence in his instrument.

But, while music allows you to briefly take your mind off what’s happening in the world, it isn’t an escape.

Among the many songs of love—and its pleasures—he sang that night, were anthems that reflected this political and social stance.

Old footage of racial segregation against African-Americans and the civil rights movement in the United States were shown on the big screen behind him as he played the anthemic “Wake Up Everybody.”

In “Slow Dance,” he cheekily changed a line into “Forget about that Trump s**t.”

His final song, “Glory,” which won for him an Oscar for best original song, was dedicated to everyone who stands for “peace, justice, equality and against racism and bigotry.”