Brian McKnight Tickets

Taking to the stage for the first of four nights at London’s Jazz Café, legendary crooner Brian McKnight brought his musicianship full force for a romantic night of songs from his huge back catalogue.

In a career spanning over twenty years and with the singer’s new album ‘Just Me’ hitting stores TaleTela was thrilled to go down to Camden and see one of the world’s most formidable live artists honour his inspirations and seduce the ladies...

Dressed casually in a green shirt and jeans Brian McKnight started the night singing ‘Shoulda Been Lovin’ You’ accapella from the balcony of the Jazz Café in London, and made his way down to the stage as his fans screamed wildly for the star. In full command his velvety smooth voice the audience erupted into applause when the 42-year-old displayed his effortless control over his falsetto, which travelled crisply over the venue’s sound system.

With such a vast back catalogue the singer wasted no time taking to his piano to accompany this rendition of his classic track. The room was initially silent as the star wielded a mastery over his musical abilities, and every time a loyal fan would scream his name, the crooner would give a cheeky smile and later added: “I might have to take my time with this track, there are so many lovely ladies with me tonight.”

All McKnight had to do was play the opening notes of songs like ‘Love Of My Life’ and ‘The Only One For Me’ and the venue - mostly full of couples - erupted. McKnight was on a purely romantic vibe and anyone who could not stand nearly two hours of love songs would’ve hit the exit. Nevertheless, the musician was mostly charming and made repeated attempts to keep the audience involved, saying: “Thank you so much for spending your Saturday night with me.” It turns out that McKnight is a bit of a showman and divided up the musical treats with entertaining stories about how his songs came to be.

The confident singer proceeded to perform songs from his numerous influences, imitating his idol’s most famous traits like Nat King Cole’s soft baritone, and jokingly Stevie Wonder’s head shaking inflection at the piano. McKnight also gleefully covered Jeffery Osbourne’s ‘On The Wings Of Love’ and paid tribute to Luther Vandross with ‘A House Is Not A Home’ adding: “Luther Vandross we loved you and you are missed, thanks for paving the way.” The whole room sang along when he began to cover Michael Jackson's 'Rock With You,' and moved on to his guitar for the next part the gig.

The singer would repeatedly break up the show’s romantic overtones with comedy quips like: “You gonna learn some things about me tonight that you didn’t necessarily want to know about me!” Then after telling the crowd that his mother said that he shouldn’t use his singing talent to pick up girls ever – and so he doesn’t - he began to strum ‘Cherish’ inviting an excited fan onstage to serenade live. The ladies swooned as McKnight got started on ‘Crazy Love’ and broke into a quick succession of scale busting vocal runs.

It became clear to see how McKnight got his own short-lived talk show candidly confessing: “People think that I write songs for women, but I don’t, I write them for men, because we don’t know what to say,” and then launching into his Antonio Banderas accent, which he innocently observed that everything sounds sexy in, even “Where can I find the bathroom?” At times the show felt like a The Brian McKnight Show recording but before you knew it, to the fans delight he performed, ‘Come Back To Me’ and ‘Still.’

In such an intimate venue the singer’s attempts to keep his show interactive worked, and members of the audience would sing at the top of their lungs the lyrics to his love songs like ‘Do I Ever Cross Your Mind’ and fan favourite 'Back At One.' McKnight didn’t hit a bum note all-night and continued with a polished performance of ‘One Last Cry.’ At the end of the gig the singer asked the audience to shout out any requests, which he later regretted, but like the perfect gentlemen the singer handled the furore and sat at his piano once again to perform ‘6, 8, 12’ and ‘Home’ before giving the peace sign to the audience and saying: “Thank you London, God bless you!”

Despite the relaxed atmosphere, McKnight’s presence and the quality of the songs sung ultimately the gig was for fans only and those who can’t wait to pull out all of the stops next Valentine’s day.

Brian McKnight Performs In Miami On 'Just Me' Tour