All it took was a glimpse at her image or the mention of her name during Wednesday's “Good Morning Gorgeous Tour” stop in Cleveland to ignite the crowd. The anticipation for Mary J. Blige’s first proper concert in Northeast Ohio in six years was magnetic.
The same adage has applied to Mary J. Blige for more than three decades. All it took was a glimpse at her image or the mention of her name during Wednesday night’s “Good Morning Gorgeous Tour” stop in Cleveland to ignite the crowd.
The anticipation for Mary J. Blige’s first proper concert in Northeast Ohio in six years was magnetic. The atmosphere at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was one of a massive party. There was a DJ spinning soul classics , friends and family reuniting with each other. People dressed to impress as an emcee encouraged them to “make babies tonight.” The festivities began with opening acts Queen Naija and Ella Mai both putting on stellar sets. The latter’s stage presence was nothing short of immaculate as she led singalongs of hits “Boo’d Up” and “Trip.” But the main event was, of course, MJB. Chants of “Mary! Mary!” rang out as the lights went dark just after 9 p.m. Blige emerged on stage in a sparkling blue outfit with smoke, flames and dancers behind her. The set opened with snippets of recent songs like “Amazing” and “On Top” before focusing heavily on classics like “You Remind Me,” “Changes I’ve Been Going Through” and “Real Love.” The older the song, the bigger the reaction from the crowd. And Blige fed off their energy, breaking out spontaneous dance moves as her blonde hair whipped around. Blige’s set was divided into three parts, structured around wardrobe changes . The 10-minute breaks felt a little clunky, as recordings of Blige’s music played with corresponding videos on the stage’s massive big screen. Yet, each time Blige reemerged, the audience reacted as if the show had just begun. It was singalong after singalong with fans handling nearly as much of the vocal duties as Blige, which was both good and bad. Blige often held her mic towards the crowd instead of singing some of her most popular songs like “Real Love” herself. If a singalong is your thing, more power to you. But it would have been nice to hear Blige remain the focus of biggest tunes. It’s also likely that your favorite MJB song was short-changed. Blige’s set was loaded with more than 30 hits. However, very few of them stretched behind one verse. If you were expecting five minutes “Mary’s Joint” , it didn’t even reach the halfway point. When Blige did commit fully to a song, it was mesmerizing. She emerged from under the stage to deliver a stunning performance of “Good Morning Gorgeous.” It was clear Blige was saving her energy for specific songs. The night’s best moment came with a back-to-back run of “Not Gon’ Cry” and “I’m Goin’ Down.” Not only did Blige hit every note with her signature showcase of heartache and vulnerability. But she went on an a capella run after “Not Gon’ Cry” that brought the house down. That led to a show-stopping performance of “I’m Goin’ Down.” Blige’s iconic cover of the Royce tune is built for such moments and didn’t disappoint. It concluded with Blige being lowered down to the bottom of the stage for another wardrobe change. Everything after that felt like icing on the cake. The latter portion of the set was highlighted by bouncier songs like “Enough Cryin’” and “Family Affair.” If fans had any energy left, they spent it dancing during the concerts final half. Blige’s performance ran about 90 minutes , but spanned every era of her career. That should be enough to hold fans over until the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul’s” next trip to Cleveland. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.
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