All in Nouvelles

What’s better than a tour ? A co-headlining tour ! Chris Brown and Usher combined their forces together to bring us the R&B tour. I attended the first of three concerts that were scheduled in sin city. It was unplanned so it added to the fun ! I was there to go see J Cole and they happened to be there at the same time. Their tour really is the definition of what a joint tour should be like. I will get back to that later.

The first show was on the night before J Cole and the second one was on the exact same night. Not sure if I would have gone only for Usher, Chris Brown made it more appealing to me. It was my third time at the Allegiant Stadium so I knew where to go !

I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers there and a pre-season football game. It’s a spacious and modern venue but getting there from the strip is a bit of a pain. You have to cross an overpass (Hacienda bridge). On a hot and sunny day it is not very pleasant ! That also means that for each game or concert they have to close some roads in order for people to get there causing traffic affecting drivers as well.

There will be some improvements made on ways for people to get to the stadium. It’s been approved and expected to be ready for the next Super Bowl in Las Vegas in 2029. Now back to the concert ! I decided to buy a resale ticket at the last minute. It’s the way I’ve been buying most of my tickets lately.

The sellers tend to lower their prices at the last minute thinking they might not be able to make a sale before the show starts. There has to be a lot of them left for it to work though. If there aren’t a lot of tickets left then the opposite happens and the prices will usually go up.

Like most of the shows that i’ve been to lately a DJ was opening. He was also hosting and making the crowd participate. Not sure if it was because it was one of the rare R&B shows that i’ve been to but I found that there was a bit too much ass shaking. Girls were quick to start shaking their asses as soon as the camera would be on them. Not to mention people grinding on each other.

At the request of the host, some couples were mimicking like they were having intercourse. Would have been ok for a few minutes but it lasted much longer. It is the music of love (and sex) after all. Just not too sure about the fake love making projected on the big screens in front of thousands of people in a stadium… Besides that he did get the party going.

I wondered who would start the show as to me they’re at the same level. I would never have guessed that they would take turns singing songs on their own and together. Don’t remember seeing something like this before. A little bit of Chris Brown, a little bit of Usher and sometimes together.

Which is what i meant when I said that this would really be the definition of a joint tour to me. Chris Brown is the one who officially opened the concert as he started the song Party that they have together. He set the tone for what was coming : lasers, dancers, jumps, backflips, colourful lightings and projections on the numerous screens and stage.

It’s an enormous set up including a main stage with two pits in front of it. There is a diamond shaped path that leads to a smaller stage. There was a lot of space and they used every single corner of it. I found that it was a little dark at times when they were not on the main or the small stage. Maybe some lamp posts along the way would’ve made it brighter.

Taking turns was giving them enough time to change outfits and relax between sets. Each little set had different looks and themes. There was a lot to see at all times. What I enjoyed the most was the dancing. There were a lot of very good and synchronized dancers. They each had a dance crew so that makes a lot of them. They both are talented dancers themselves and they have a style of their own. I saw the influence of Michael Jackson and James Brown in Usher’s moves.

Chris Brown does a lot of spinning ! The singing was good too, I knew most of the songs but not all of them. So far they had an impressive list of special guests joining them on the tour. It would be too long to name them all but one I would have really like to see is Kanye West who showed up at one of the Los Angeles stops. We got a few but the ones that I was the most happy to see were Mario and Tyga.

They really are a good match for a co-headlining tour bringing fans from many generations together. They were able to share a stage in a way that i’ve never seen before. Taking turns doing little sets that felt like one big set. I really had a good time and been wanting to go since they announced the tour. I was able to go without even knowing that I would be there only a few days before.