Ne-Yo Colston Hall Review
Posted on: 2017-09-22
Our rating:
This was a fantastic night which featured a big selection of Ne-Yo’s back catalogue of music and the amount of towels he used to wipe his face and then chuck in the crowd shows he really went for it on the energy front.
The Colston Hall was full of screaming, appreciative fans last night when American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor Ne-Yo came on stage.
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The whole room, which was full of standing as well as a seated crowd, went crazy for this artist who has had number one singles in the USA as well as in the UK. The fact that this show had previously been moved twice (it was originally due to be on in December last year and then in April this year) didn’t seem to have put anyone off of this superstar, who got the crowd excited and warmed up straight away.
Ne-Yo first became recognised in 2004 after he wrote a hit called ‘Let Me Love You’ for singer Mario and he received much critical acclaim for his albums which followed, especially in reference to In my own words, Because of You and Year of the Gentlemen.
The Bristol crowd were ready for him, they were actually positively chomping at the bit and it was good to see a large mix of both men and women with smiles on their faces. There was a real positive vibe about the main hall last night and Ne-Yo was feeding off it throughout his entire 1 hour and 45 minute set.
His first song of the night made the screams go up to another level as the opening music to ‘So Sick’ started up; he then seamlessly moved over into ‘She Knows’ which had the crowd enthusiastically moving to the funky beats.
Ne-Yo’s interaction with everyone was unrivalled as he constantly engaged with us all; the audience really appreciated this and gave out regular yelps of enjoyment as he asked several questions of us and told us what was going on with him. We told everyone to do whatever the music made us do and just enjoy ourselves as the hits continued to flow; he then moved into another couple of crowd pleasers – ‘Miss Independent’ and ‘Because of You.’
Even though it was a large room full of people, this gig felt intimate and that was partly down to the fact that Ne-Yo seemed to speak directly from the heart; he made reference to a couple that had just got engaged before his show when they were at a meet and greet with him. Apparently the man got down on one knee and proposed so Ne-Yo said congratulations to them and dedicated the song ‘One in a Million’ to the lucky lady called Ella.
As the gig went on, Ne-Yo (born Shaffer Chimere Smith) performed some well known hits that he had actually penned for other stars - ‘Unfaithful’ by Rhianna and ‘Irreplaceable’ by Beyonce. He did his shout out to Mario for singing one of his songs and getting him noticed; it was clear that several people didn’t know that Ne-Yo was the songwriter behind these tunes as there were gasps of surprise and glee as he started singing them.
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He spoke about his kids and new marriage briefly before telling us about his new album called Good Man and then performing some songs from it to find out our reaction. The vast majority really loved what they heard and when he asked for people to put their thumbs down in the air if they didn’t like them and a small handful of people actually did, he wasn’t fazed at all. He dealt with it in a gentlemanly manner by just saying “thank you for your honesty.”
As it got to the last twenty minutes of the gig, he asked us if we were tired, at which everyone yelled back no – his answer was: “Good, now let’s get the party started.” The pace was definitely picked up a notch when he performed several energetic songs such as ‘Beautiful Monster’ and ‘Give me Everything’. Everyone seemed very satisfied with the show they got for their money, especially when he ended on ‘Let me Love You’ and then took his top off as he walked off stage after saying: “Thanks for coming Bristol. My name is Ne-Yo.”
This was a fantastic night which featured a big selection of Ne-Yo’s back catalogue of music and the amount of towels he used to wipe his face and then chuck in the crowd shows he really went for it on the energy front. He still remains to be a fantastic showman and Bristol received him with open arms.
Article by:
Kelly worked as a journalist for the BBC for 12 years before she changed careers and went into the field of marketing. Having worked at BBC 6 Music for several years, she is passionate about many different genres of sound. Her other interests include theatre, comedy, books, food and days out with the family (she has a young daughter who she describes as a "whirlwind of fun.") Kelly is married to Vik who is a true Bristolian to the core! She is also studying nutritional therapy.
