Concert Review
Anthony Hamilton
Bruton Theatre, Dallax TX
April 5, 2024
"When I tell you to keep pushing and don't give up, listen...I was just a little country boy who wanted to sing his songs onstage. Look at where we are right now."
From anyone else, that proclamation may have seemed hokey, but it was Anthony Hamilton who spoke those words, turning his debut performance at Dallas' Bruton Theater at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters into a sermon-filled soul revival in front of a sold out crowd on Friday night.
Concert Review
Anthony Hamilton
Bruton Theatre, Dallax TX
April 5, 2024
"When I tell you to keep pushing and don't give up, listen...I was just a little country boy who wanted to sing his songs onstage. Look at where we are right now."
From anyone else, that proclamation may have seemed hokey, but it was Anthony Hamilton who spoke those words, turning his debut performance at Dallas' Bruton Theater at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters into a sermon-filled soul revival in front of a sold out crowd on Friday night.
For nearly an hour and a half, Hamilton stood at center stage and took fans through established and newer favorites: with his trio of harmony-dropping background singers and tight four-piece band, "Cool" and "So In Love" got them on their feet, grooving and reciting verses word for word. "Best of Me" and "Point of It All" were so well-loved, in fact, the crowd nearly drowned out his buttery trills in their singalongs.
Warm and humble throughout, Hamilton showed easy connection with the audience and a hearty appreciation of soul classics that inspired his own: his lauded rendition of Luther Vandross' "Superstar" was intertwined with another Vandross classic, "So Amazing," his Nappy Roots collaboration "Po' Folks" blended into Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands" and when he sat on a stool and delivered "an apology to all the ladies for doin' them wrong," "Her Heart," Anthony healed relationship wounds all over the venue.
Not that his gritty tenor was the only prominent voice heard that night: the triple threat singer, songwriter and producer Claude Kelly made his Dallas debut on stage with Anthony as they sung their collaboration under the moniker Louis York, the tender ballad "Alone Alot." He prefaced his testimonial "There's Something About Jesus" with words of motivation: "You ain't gotta stay stuck, keep pushing because the blessing is ahead."
And when he closed with "Charlene" and couldn't get her back fast enough, he interpolated the ending with Bobby Womack's "If You Think You're Lonely Now" and left a standing ovation in his wake. Not bad at all for a Charlotte, NC-born and church-raised 'country boy' with a dream.
By Melody Charles