John Legend performed his first of 2 shows in as many days at the Ravinia Theatre in Chicago. We were on hand and captured some HQ video footage, editing many of his songs into one long medley.
John Legend, amidst camera phones and screaming fans, surprised the 3400 people packed into the Ravinia Festival Pavilion by singing Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” and entering behind the audience from Gate 5. Lucky for this coffee sipping John Legend fan, Gate 5 happened to be where I was standing when the 6-time Grammy winner, dressed in an eye-catching white ensemble, stood on a platform facing the hundreds lounging in the lawn in front of him.
Legend battled through the mobs of fans reaching for him in the aisle and settled on stage in front of a full band featuring a 3-person jazz band, 3 backup singers, 2 guitarists, a drummer, and a man on keys. A mic stand and Legend’s preferred instrument of choice, a piano, lay front and center with a video screen stretching across the entire stage in the backdrop. The Ravinia crowd remained on their feet, clapping and dancing through Legend’s first four songs as he started with hits like “Used To Love U” and “Heaven”.
The audience took to their seats as Legend slowed it down and fluctuated between the mic and the piano. The crowd rose once again, inspired to “Slow Dance” once Legend brought up a lucky woman from the front row to do just that on stage with him. The reaction almost made Legend inaudible as the pair had a natural chemistry with Legend even taking a knee and proposing to her before serenading her with a rose.
Soon after, John Legend brought out India.Arie for a duet of the soothing “Good Morning”. The two played off each other like one would expect with India.Arie holding her powerful last note, noticeably impressing the crowd around us in the process. But then it was time for John Legend to get the crowd moving again, performing his most recent upbeat hit “Green Light” sans co-star Andre 3000. Legend leaped up to the piano for its unique conclusion, taking a bow for what seemingly was his last song of the night.
However, Legend appeared from behind the video screen in a full tuxedo a few moments later to the sold-out crowd expecting an encore. Having seen Legend two times previously, I was expecting an emotional rendition of “So High” – his closing record of choice both times. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised with his most well-known hit “Ordinary People” as Legend crooned the classic to a crowd eager to sing along. “Ordinary People” evoked the most emotional and beautiful moment of the concert as Legend let the sold-out crowd sing “taaake it sloooow” a capella – truly an unforgettable experience. Legend rode out to an abstract version of “Stay With You”, improvising on the piano and in his ad-libs.
TIME Magazine recently featured John Legend as one of the 100 most influential people in 2009. One look around at the sold-out Ravinia Festival and it is easy to see why. People of all ages and cultures were brought together by John Legend and judging from the tweets, everyone came away a happy camper. Don’t worry Chicago, he will be back again tonight to do it all over again.
Shout to Gowherehiphop
