Photo by Kahrima Winston
Leon Bridges has been here before, but somehow he still managed to come home again on Friday night to a sold out crowd at Summerfest, and that’s what it felt like: a homecoming.
In 2018 during Bridges’ first visit to Summerfest, he was a breakthrough, “old-school singing” artist on his second body of work. Now in 2021 he’s a full-on soul singer and delightful performer, three albums in and at the top of the list of today’s most popular artists.
Bridges brought the funk with him. A headwrap on his head mirrored the style of musicians like David Ruffin and The Temptations, while also wearing a black jacket like on Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Bridges entered the stage full of distinctive energy and stage etiquette.
The first song was “Shy,” but Bridges was anything but. He came out dancing and shouting, especially during the steamy “Steam” and he went edgy, Michael Jackson-esque edgy on “Bad Bad News” from his second effort, Good Thing, before mellowing it down to some of his hits. Bridges was anything but good on the night. He was bad.
Photo Credit: Kahrima Winston
The singer crooned and danced to the crowd like a true showman and took on a string of his popular songs, such as the uptempo “Beyond,” the soulful “Coming Home,” the inspiring “Brown Skin Girl” and his latest, “Motorbike.” Bridges showed off his Gold-Diggers Sound, the new album released in July.
The crowd ooh’d and ahh’d all night and became an intricate part of the show when Bridges and his background singers played call-and-response with the audience during the Prince-inspired “You Don’t Know.” This was after a break in the show for his tribute to all of the victims of racism and police brutality.
Bridges said, “I’m looking for something sweeter,” and he found it in a beautiful live performance of “Sweeter,” a dedication to George Floyd and all the black citizens who have fallen victim to the police brutality that has swept the country. Bridges sang of hope and change, “Hoping for a life more sweeter.” Things got sweeter with the voice of Bridges putting a soft and touch on the powerful message. After the tribute-song he shifted the performance to “Born Again,” “Smooth Sailin’” and “Flowers.”
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The performance was in the home stretch, and amongst the last few songs was the ode to his hometown of Texas, “Texas Sun.”
As his last song of the night, Bridges settled on one of his first hits, “River,” and his live rendition proved to be a real compliment to the studio recorded version. The song is an obvious ode to Bridges’ inspiration, Sam Cooke and his legendary song “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Bridges proved in his style and voice to be a descendent of Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and the other architects of R&B and soul. As he sang, “Take me to the river…” and “I wanna go…,” everyone in attendance could feel the inspiration as well as the bridge to the future that Bridges is building for those historic artists and his generation.
Bridges’ sold-out performance left a smoke in the air that was felt long after he left as fans stood around and chanted for an encore. The performance was something to resonate with and carry over into a weekend in Milwaukee before Labor Day.
