Not just becuz he got a groovy band with John Blackwell on drums and Mike Scott on guitar, nooooo....

It was becuz his performance was cocksure and secure and he controlled most of his material.

Justin Timberlake performed a few new songs and his hits at Paradiso tonight. A funky, stripped down show was carried by the fact he is in control of his material AND his audience. Which, of course, had loads of ladies, but waaay more dudes than I expected.

He won over the audience by sheer force, being charming and having a no-bullshit-attitude. His show was devoid of dance routines, just at the two last songs he shook his bum for real, to the enthousiasm of his audience.

And yeah, his new material is 'different'. I must admit I am not a BIG fan, so there were a few songs I did not recognise, but the stuff I did was a bit more dance orientated. One lovesong was new, if my drunk ass remembers right it was titled My Love, which had him mimicking different kind of loves, which means he pointed at his heart AND his crotch.
The fact I went clubbing after is the reason I forgot the setlist. Sorry about that...

It was obvious he wanted to win us over by making us groove and that worked, most of the time. Just a few times he seemed to lose the audience's interest, both at songs I did not recognise. For the ones there; the first song was performed in purple lights and had a rhythm section to die for and the other was performed in red lights and was the most dance orientated song of the evening.

The overall sound was a good mix between rock and R&B. His eleven-peeps-strong band was too tight and they seemed to work well together. Most obvious were the drums though. Mr Blackwell reigns supreme there.

It was so funny. I walked into the place, spotted one of my best friends in the audience, and I told him the plastic boards around the drums were EXACTLY like Prince's previous drummer. Then I see Mike Scott walk on... hehehe. Then I spot John Blackwell and that was just the start of the evening.

I do not know if the reason I spotted a few Princely influences in Justin's performance (music-wise) was due to the fact of Scott/Blackwell, but he seemed to vary his music a bit. Still heavy on the R&B, but some of his old material was more rock sounding, like Like I Love You, which actually incorporated the Smells Like Teen Spirit melody as final. That sure made my jaw drop (having seen that song performed at the SAME please 15 years earlier), but what surprised me more is that it felt sincere and he carried it off so well.

Overall the fella won me over BIG time with this performance and I can't WAIT until the album hits the shelves. The new material sounded fresh in a world of R&B wannabe's. Justin ain't no wannabe. He moved on to greener pastures.

Go Justin!

PS, forgive me eventual typo's. I just doodled this down at 4am after too many drinks and too many whateva's.

Ooh PS;

Sexy Back live kicked Prince's 3121 performed live. I saw my best friend dance on his own (first time EVER).

Sorry Prince fans.

PS 4 Colin;

Justin is doing a club tour to try out his new material and to work in his new band. The small venue sure worked for me, though. The reason I reallly wanted to see the show in Paradiso...

HamsterHuey said:

Cool.

I am so bummed out I forgot to steal a setlist.

HamsterHuey said:

Thanks for the call.....afterwards!

damn me, I just could not find the time (or babysitter...) to go to this show.....I knew it would be great !!

All hale to the new king

what the fuck?

CinisterCee said:

Been meaning to ask you Cee. What do you think of Justin's new track on a 1-10 level of hotness?

I'm not a Justin Timberlake fan at all, but i've definetly gained a new respect for him ditcing the dance routines, choreography, and hiring some great musicians in John Blackwell and Mike Scott. Justin did attend some 3121 parties at P's Hollywood mansion last winter. However, the only dissappointing thing i have is that Cora Coleman is not John and P's rhythm section isn't what it used to be.

JasonStar said:

Is Cin like the biggest JT fam or something?

badujunkie said:

I just know he digs Timbaland (most of the time) so I was seeing like what he thought of this track. I didn't mean anything by hotness lol

Thanks for the report. I didn't even know he had a new album coming out. I never liked Nsync (sp?) but I will admit I was diggin' Justified a lil' bit. (I friend burned it for me.) I remember seeing Justin on SNL around the time it came out and I was impressed that he actually played piano for one of the songs. He may not be a musical genius like our purple funkster, but seems he does have sense enough to be interested in "real music by real musicians" so I give him props for that.

Do you think having Mr. Blackwell & Mike Scott on tour with him will lend him credibility? (Or will most Justin fans not know they used to play with Prince?)


In response to Bashraka's comment: I completely agree with you about Cora. She is definitely improving, but everytime I see her play (live or TV) it just seems flat/mechanical...Maybe because she's still developing her own style, but she doesn't bring any flava like John or Sheila do. I actually think that the "3121" band (Cora, Josh, Mr. Hayes, etc) seem more like a back-up band. They are all excellent musicians, but I don't get any sense of personality from them or the band as a whole.

JasonStar said:

I liked Justified a couple years back, and alot of that had to do with the Neptunes. The new album is gonna have Will.I.Am, Timbaland, and Rick Rubin which is also enticing.

I've heard better melodies from Timbaland though, and this one is pretty basic with it's semitone videogame riff.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "Happy Holidays" by NSync and 10 being "Rock Your Body", I rate it about an 8.

o.my.gawd that sounds HAWT!

jone70 said:

NO the fans of JT will have no idea who Johnny Blackwell or Mike Scott played for nor will they for the most part care.

JT fans don't care about cred.

John Blackwell left Prince's band to go perform with Justin Timberlake??

Tom said:

Funniest question I've heard all day.

CinisterCee said:

8?
Are we talking production or melody or both?

Happy Holidays-- LOL!

I love that song from Justified btw that goes "youre outta this world but you're not green..." dunno what it's called.

IstenSzek said:

Just-tin Tim-ber-lake

badujunkie said:

8 for the song overall.

badujunkie said:

badujunkie said:

Nothin' Else

After reading this.....it's clear you want to bang him. BAD.

VoicesCarry said:

He ain't that hawt, physically.

HamsterHuey said:

Get back in bed, Herman.

Well, I should have specified; not MY type.

HamsterHuey said:

too old????

HamsterHuey said:

I'm sure.

abierman said:

Don't even HINT at inside info, you meanie.