Is Sade Adu Dead

Sade rules Garden with poise and style

BOSTON  —  After a 10-year hiatus from the North American concert stage, Sade came. She sang. She danced. She looked radiant. She conquered.

With the hypnotic sound of her elegant, alluring pipes unfolding in serene sonic tapestries of neo-soul, jazz and pop, the 52-year-old Nigerian-born, British-raised Helen Folasade Adu (aka Sade) first seduced music lovers in 1984 with “Diamond Life.” And despite more than 25 years passing since her stellar debut, this sexy, exotic chanteuse with the silky, smooth operator voice and cool Anglo-soul is as entrancing as ever, as evident throughout her two-hour, 22-song set Wednesday night at TD Garden that included plenty of highlights, as well as a one-song encore.

In this day and age it is so refreshing to see someone who can actually sing and doesn’t rely on parading around in her underwear to get attention. From the get-go, Sade literally rose from the stage as a welcome vision of sheer (and ageless) beauty, decorum and class.

Backed up by a smoking-hot eight-piece band (including saxophonist-guitarist Stuart Matthewman, bassist Paul Spencer Denman and keyboardist Andrew Hale, all of whom have been with her since the early ’80s), Sade was totally engulfed by the sensation of amour and sang of the intricacies and eccentricities of its eternal embrace. With the sound of air raid sirens, bombs bursting in the distance and military drumming that would have been at home at last year’s Roger Waters’ “The Wall” concert, Sade, a five-star general in today’s pop market, emerged with her band and kicked into a crunchier-than-the-studio version of “Soldier of Love.”

Dressed all in black and cat-like in a sheer shirt, patent leather sleeves, tight-fitting trousers and stiletto heels, Sade slinked on the stage doing one of the sexiest military marches one had ever seen. Wearing her hair pulled back into her signature long ponytail and sporting bright red lipstick and silver hoop earrings big enough for a miniature poodle to hop through, Sade proved she is still a captivating presence — and that’s before she unleashed those smoky, alluring pipes.

The striking black silhouettes of dancers seemed to pop off the screen dramatically, interacting with the singer on the taunt and tempestuously orchestrated “Love Is Found.

Sade live -- and stunning as ever -- at New Jersey's Izod Center ...

I’ve never seen so many people fill a venue so big to see so little. But then again, Sade ’s little is a lot.

Last Friday (June 24) the band, led by veteran British Nigerian songstress Sade Adu, stopped at New Jersey’s Izod Center. She surfaced from beneath the stage just after 9pm, in a sheer black shirt, matching pants and heels, and bathed in purple lighting, to sing her last album’s title track, “ Soldier of Love .”

To pack a venue as large as the Izod, one might think that there would be more to Sade than what the audience got that evening. There was no glut of costume changes nor were there any elaborate dance sequences like you’d expect at, say, a Beyoncé concert.  In fact, Sade never even broke a sweat (I was eight rows from the stage, close enough to have seen a bead on her brow or forehead—had there been one).

The beauty of her show was in its simplicity. At 52, Adu is gorgeous and elegant. Her gentle sways and slow struts during “ Kiss of Life ” were sexier than anything I’ve seen from performers half her age. Her moves were smoother and effortless, not contrived and fixed.

Definitely go. Fantastic show. I went reluctantly as I am not a huge fan but my husband is. In was blown away by the stage production, how strong her voice still is and bybthe fact the wasn’t a dull moment. Her band was phenomenal and the videos playing in the background enhanced the experience and worked seamlessly with the live production. One of the best concerts I have seen. And this is coming from a non-fan. Well, I’m a fan now!

I was there Friday night at the Izod and her concert was amazing! I went in with low expectations since her songs are so low key, but live and in person, they have a lot of soul and depth. I’d definately pay my money to see her again. She’s still gorgeous if not more after all these years!! Her opening act John Legend was just ok, good not great.

Newswatch, Nigeria's weekly magazine

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