Donell Jones Brings Friends, Avant, SWV, Jon B & Lil’ Mo to Concert

Kevin Benoit

This past week Donell Jones released his latest album, Lyrics. Over the weekend, he gathered up a few friends in R & B for a grown and sexy R & B show to remember at The Paradise Theatre in the Bronx. Some of the biggest names in R & B over the last two decades hit the stage for what was titled, the ‘Where I Want To Be‘ concert. Jon B got the night started, followed by performances from Lil’ Mo, Avant, SWV and finally Donell Jones himself. Check out pics from the Donell Jones concert below…

Lil’ Mo did her biggest hit to date, “Superwoman,” as well as “Forever” and a couple new songs. Her voice and her stage presence were enough to captivate the audience, but whoever she couldn’t convince with her voice, she dazzled with her oufit.

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Now they said that this was Donell Jones’ show, but I had a hard time believing that. Avant totally dominated this show, making it his event. Although he was the middle act, he performed as if no one would touch the stage after him, and not really caring that he was only supposed to be on stage for a limited amount of time. He made sure to remind the crowd, that he had a lot of albums and a lot of hits. And from the sounds of the cheers and with everyone singing along it didn’t seem that anyone minded that he had gone over his alloted time. Avant performed everything from “Separated” to “Nothing In This World” to “4 Minutes” to Read Your Mind” to “Sailing”. I don’t think most of the people in the audience remembered just how many hit records Avant actually has, but he was sure to reintroduce them to every one. His band backed him up, taking the crowd along a ride with every note and Avant returned the favor by making sure to introduce every member to the audience. In true stage domination, Avant left the stage but returned for somewhat of an encore, doing a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” pretty much ending the chances of any of the other acts outperforming him.

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New York City natives, SWV seemed to bring out many friends and family for their first show in the city in a long time. There was no doubt that they were trying to please the crowd with their slightly updated versions of “Rain,” “Anything,” and “Weak.” After all these years the ladies still look lovely and their voices are still amazing.

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Donell Jones was the headliner, but by the time he hit the stage, the audience was pretty worn out from the 4 hour concert. They’d been dancing in aisle’s, kissing and cuddling in their seats, drinking by the case load, and in true Bronx form they were ‘leaning back’ between sets with music from the DJ. Turns out many of the audience didn’t want to hear ANYTHING but songs from Jones’ 1999 debut album, Where I Wanna Be. It’s not that Jones doesn’t have other hits, but many in the crowd loudly admitted to not knowing them. Jones made the most of it though, performing “Where I Wanna Be,” “Shorty (Got Her Eyes On Me),” “U Know What’s Up,” and “All Her Luv” from the debut. Those who stuck around also got to hear his new single, “Love Like This” as well.

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The night was one to remember and a very good look for R & B. Not many times do you get so many hit makers on stage at the same time, but when you do, it makes you wonder… What the hell happened to R & B?

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Images Credited to Sonya for smileforsonya.com

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