“I know y’all are used to me taking my shoes off and getting ugly with it, but there won’t be none of that tonight,” Fantasia told the nearly sold-out crowd of The Peabody Opera House.
In a silver, black and gold metallic backless evening gown with sleek finger waves in her hair, Fantasia’s presence was reminiscent of the vintage glamour and elegance of singers like Billie Holiday or Lena Horne. It was a different Fantasia – and it was intentional.
“I want everybody out there to know that there’s nothing that I can’t do,” Fantasia told the crowd before the show got started. It was a bold statement to make on the front end of the show, but she proved herself right by evening’s end – and later reminded them that she said she would while they were in the palm of her hands.
With the posture and decorum of a big band vocalist, Fantasia stood in front of a music stand with her shoulders back and held high. It was a different Fantasia – at least at first.
“Tonight, I bring you jazz. I bring you vocals. Tonight, I am no longer Fantasia,” she said. “I am Mrs. Taylor. Let me take you on a journey – back to when music was mmm mmm good.”
She briefly let loose with a few commercial breaks of the down-home Fantasia her fans love over the course of the night, but was mostly composed and subtle. Still soulful, but noticeably subdued and understated. In doing so, she gave them even more reason to love her.
There were Christmas trees in the background and the holiday spirit in the air as Fantasia dove right into selections from her latest album “Christmas After Midnight.”
The evening felt less like a concert and more like a one-woman show. The performance gave a “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” vibe. Fantasia wrapped personal family stories around seasonal classic music such as “Merry Christmas Baby,” and “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto.”
“Leave it to James Brown to tell Santa Claus to go to the ghetto,” Fantasia said after putting her own spin on the funky black holiday classic.
The journey was also a memory lane that gave insights about her family experiences during the holidays – particularly her grandparents.
She shared an ongoing narrative about her grandfather’s love of “brown liquor.” She brought down the house with her rendition of “Give Love On Christmas Day” – which she told the crowd was her grandmother’s favorite song.
She also infused a few of her non-holiday hits and was true to her recurring theme of using herself as an example of one’s ability to triumph over the circumstances that life brings and come to a place of healing.
The moment for her inspirational message came as the intro to her hit “Lose To Win Again.” She “got ugly” for a moment with an interlude from the EU go-go classic “Da Butt,” and her own “Collard Greens and Cornbread.” She also performed her mid-tempo hit “When I See You” before returning to the regularly scheduled format of the show.
A small choir joined her on stage for “Hallelujah” and “Total Praise,” the Richard Smallwood contemporary gospel standard that she also works into her secular show. The show ended with the black holiday music classic “This Christmas” by St. Louis’ own Donny Hathaway.
Rising singer and actress Demetria McKinney opened the show. She proved herself to the crowd as a vocalist to watch over the course of her brief set – particularly with her Whitney Houston tribute medley.
