Kem goes big, gets personal at Fox Theatre in hometown show with Babyface
On a night that brought his biggest tour production yet, homegrown R&B singer Kem wooed a Detroit audience at a sold-out Fox Theatre on Wednesday night.
“It’s so good to be home,” he said. “There is no love like Detroit love.”
For a capacity crowd of 5,000, this was like Valentine’s Day in April, a night of romantic jams and heartfelt sentiments that featured his friend and longtime touring partner Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds in the opening slot.
Introducing the show, emcee Sherri Shepherd noted the name of Kem’s current outing: The Full Circle Tour.
“Or as I like to call it, the ‘somebody is gonna get pregnant tonight tour,’” said the veteran TV personality, who plugged the daytime talk show she’ll be premiering on Fox in September.
Kem has always cut a suave figure in concert. But Monday’s tight, refined performance, two decades into his career, made clear he has found a new level onstage. The artist who began as a grassroots phenomenon in Detroit, peddling CDs out of his trunk after triumphing over addiction and homelessness, was a confident, seasoned pro at the Fox.
With a full video backdrop and an eye-popping light show, it was by far Kem’s most high-end tour production to date. Joining him was an eight-piece band — including a horn section — along with two backing singers and a pair of female dancers.
He drew songs from across his five-album catalog, along with the new "Stuck on You," Kem's eighth adult R&B chart-topper, from his upcoming “Full Circle” EP.
Kem’s most recent full-length, 2020’s “Love Always Wins,” was a musical and lyrical departure for the 52-year-old singer-songwriter. But Wednesday found him firmly in his tried-and-true lane, serving up the melodic love songs and bedroom burners that earned him a name.
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Hitting the stage in a crisp fuchsia suit, Kem kicked in with a zesty “Love Calls” from his 2003 Motown Records debut as he launched a set of jazzy soul (“You’re on My Mind”), uptempo funk-lite (“Lie to Me”) and soft-lit songs that let him flex his vocal chops (“Why Would You Stay”).
It was a celebration of classic R&B sounds and Kem’s dedication to that musical cause. “This is grown-up folks’ music,” he said during “Share My Life,” before handing the spotlight to his backing singers for their takes on vintage stuff by Shalamar and Patti LaBelle.
The show got personal: Kem dedicated the new “Stuck on You” to wife, Erica Owens — later showing video from their 2019 Hawaiian wedding — and said the pandemic got him reflecting on “the man I used to be.”
Hence the name of the Full Circle Tour, he noted: “For me, this is a new beginning.”
Babyface, syncing up smooth moves with his bandmates, opened the show with a set highlighting a handful of his hit records (“For the Cool in You,” “Every Time I Close My Eyes,” “Whip Appeal”). But his own sparkly R&B soon gave way to a lengthy, crowd-pleasing medley that showcased his songwriting for other artists — the massive body of work that made him an industry giant by the ‘90s.
The lively, half-hour segment was a hit parade: Starting with Midnight Star’s 1982 album cut “Slow Jam,” Babyface and company made their way through more than two dozen of his compositions made famous by brand-name artists: Bobby Brown, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, TLC, Mary J. Blige. The medley ended with a tribute to the late Whitney Houston, the crowd swaying hands with cellphones aloft, and a performance of her 1995 hit “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kem steps it up at Fox Theatre in hometown Detroit show with Babyface
