Music > Live Reviews

Ne-Yo

Norfolk Showground

25/11/16

RnB legend Ne-Yo kicked off his UK tour last night, aptly filling out the huge Norfolk Showground venue for a multi-million record selling artist. His performance was slick and smooth, and everything you’d expect from such a big name.

The crowd consisted mostly of screaming girls, accompanied by their boyfriends who probably enjoyed it even more than they’d like to admit. Doors opened at 6 but Ne-Yo himself didn’t come out until nearly 9:30, a frustratingly large gap which of course led to the massively overpriced bar being packed. The lack of a support artist was also disappointing, but warm-up DJ Miller rolled through a decent selection of chart toppers and urban throwbacks to build a party atmosphere.

When Ne-Yo finally appeared, he did so with heap-loads of drama, strobe lights flickering and a montage of the man himself on a huge screen at the back of the stage. Launching into Let Me Love You, screams from the crowd rivalled the speakers as he strutted around, trilby hat pulled low over his face with a sparkling white waistcoat to match. Ne-Yo is a seasoned performer and he knows it, popping and sliding Michael Jackson style with effortless cool.

Once you get to Ne-Yo’s level every song you play is a massive hit, which makes it easy to perform live. Party bangers Time of Our Lives and Beautiful Monster turned the venue into a club, whilst RnB megahits So Sick and Mad were given emotion and silky vocals. The live band managed to boost the energy without losing those classic RnB sounds.

Although Ne-Yo might’ve been quiet for a few years, and his newer Pitbull style party tracks are nothing on his older stuff, what with 2016 being what it has been a noughties throwback night can’t do any harm at all. And what better artist to lead it than king of the genre Ne-Yo, who proved he can still work a live show seriously well.