Eutopia In The Crowd: Trey Songz At Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theatre

Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images

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I’m an R&B chick. I grew up on a heavy dose of Jodeci, Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige and R. Kelly. For the past few years I’ve been trying to adjust to this new form of R&B. It’s a little a bit of everything: dance, pop and sometimes rock.

But good ol’ fashioned rhythm and blues soothes my soul like my mom’s homemade chicken soup. Last night I got a heavy dose of it at the Chapter 5 tour at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Elle Varner graced the stage first. This new comer has a voice to die for, a face of a super model and her style is trendsetting (the blazer, leggings and bandu top were everything) but the coolest thing about her 15 minute set was her dad. Her dad is the keyboardist in her band and the look on his face anytime his baby girl belted out a note was priceless.

After Elle, Miguel ripped the stage. I’ve loved this man since 2010 but now I’m a groupie. His swag, voice, face and body (he was shirtless for the last 7 minutes of his set) are phenomenal. But the thing that stood out the most was his professionalism. He had to deal with a horrible sound system, J. Cole beginning late and missing his set with him. On top of all that, Miguel dropped his mic stand in the middle of “All I Want Is You.” But he recovered quickly and amazingly.

My first Trey Songz experience was in Oklahoma City in the summer of ’07. I hosted an in-studio interview/performance for Trey. He was a 90lbs, humbled and super quiet kid with cornrows. What a difference five years can make. Trey cut off those braids and now he is the definition of confident, sexy and talented. The only thing that hasn’t changed in the past five years is his effect on the ladies. Lot’s of panties, bras and wedding rings were thrown on the stage.

Trey performed a 90 minute set of R&B hits. During his set he brought out Young Jeezy, Fabulous and my new obsession Trinidad Jones, plus an on screen appearances by T.I. and Diddy. We also got an exclusive look at Chainsaw Massacre 3D starring Trey (out January 3). The face and sound of R&B has changed which is good but after witnessing Elle, Miguel and Trey’s epic performances last night, classic R&B is back and here to stay.

–Eutopia, 92.3 NOW