ST. LOUIS — Fans are still talking about Usher's highly-anticipated two-night tour in St. Louis earlier this week. The "Past, Present, Future" show delivered an immersive experience highlighting three decades of pop hits and R&B classics.
The show opened promptly at 9 p.m. and ended almost to the minute at 11 p.m., which was likely appreciated by the hoards of 40-plus fans dressed to kill but who also needed a full night's rest to meet their family's demands the next day. Giddy mid-life women danced and sang like they were back in the "clurb" from the late 90s and early 2000s. Of course, Usher's catalog includes more recent songs, but those tracks from two decades ago hit different.
"I was a big fan of Usher when I was younger," one mom told me. "But there was something about seeing him perform at last year's Super Bowl that made me want to come out for the concert." Plus, St. Louis finally had a good concert on the weekend -- double bonus, she noted.
Another mom texted me three days later to let me know she was still thinking about the concert. "I'm still on Cloud 9," she wrote.
The concert opened with Usher's 2010 hit "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" where he seemed to pay homage to the late Michael Jackson, mimicking his signature moves in a sparkling black suit. He dazzled through performances in perfect pitch, though it proved difficult to hear above the boom of the speakers and the intensity of women screaming. The entire crowd seemed to be living in the moment together as the music would dip in and out so the crowd could be heard singing in harmony. Phones flung in the air and stayed there, but listening later showcased the unmatched voice control Usher possesses even while he's roller skating, dancing, and giving out cherries.
Do we even talk about the cherries? Let's just say there is a set in the middle of the concert that is not exactly PG-13. Sitting next to a woman in her late 60s proved to be slightly uncomfortable as well. Usher comes out to the stage in a red fur-ish coat and looks for fellow ladies wearing red. He hands out cherries to women who can sing along to "There Goes My Baby" and shows Usher they could be his girl for the tour stop. Usher even playfully asks, "Who's gonna be my #1?" Aside from the explicit undertones, it's a lively part of the show that had the crowd rolling and women hoping no one from their workplace finds their experience later on social media. Couples also joined in for the fun. One St. Louis woman wore cherries on her shirt, and her plan got her on the big board.
Aside from the music itself, Usher gives the crowd an artificial intelligence experience where you see younger and present versions of Usher Raymond IV in what looks like a Zoom chat, talking about growing up without his dad. His real life intertwined with his albums over the years flashing on the screen in the background.
"We may not always be exactly what you want," said Usher in the pre-taped Zoom call with younger versions of himself. "But, you're going through something to get to something. And though we may not always be good-good, it's good enough."
The video fades and Usher ends the night with the song "Good Good" -- and asks the crowd, "St. Louis? Are we good-good?!" The crowd screams.
The concert itself was an anthology of three decades of music excellence. If Usher was a pivotal performer in your lifetime, you left feeling complete hearing so many of his songs, even from the debut album that he released as a teenager. If you went as a casual fan, you likely left feeling incredibly impressed by his musicality, his ability to move a crowd, and his gift to entertain. St. Louis got to share the Usher experience for two nights. His PPF tour concludes in Miami for three nights in December.
