On a starlit evening in Boston, the hypnotic voice of Canadian R&B sensation Daniel Caesar filled a sold-out show at the MGM Music Hall. Caesar is currently on the “Superpowers Tour” to promote his most recent album, Never Enough, released in April on Republic Records.
Based out of Toronto, Daniel Caesar has been an active name for over a decade, releasing his debut EP in 2014 and the follow up less than a year later. Caesar’s debut full-length, Freudian, was the singer’s well-deserved big break, earning him multiple award nominations and even a Grammy for “Best Part.” The singer has collaborated with other big names in R&B; he was a credited songwriter on SZA’s “Broken Clocks,” and featured on Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” which ended up winning the Best Pop category at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
Three large LED screens bracketed the stage with various visuals, beginning with live streamed footage of Caesar backstage with his band before they walked out to greet the crowd. Caesar arose from the shadows and fog to the screams of a sold-out music hall to perform “Ocho Rios,” the intro track of his new album. The singer stood on the edge of the stage to sing with the crowd before getting on a raised platform in the center of the stage and dropping six white curtains to surround the platform.
Caesar continued with songs from Never Enough, transitioning into “Let Me Go” and “Disillusioned” whilst behind the ominous curtained platform. Acting just as a silhouette on stage, Caesar slowly paced the platform and carefully gestured at the crowd with waves and points. The time behind the curtains allowed the crowd to be a part of the performance, but also focus almost exclusively on the music and the experience that Caesar’s band was providing; there was little to watch, but plenty to hear.
Breaking from the new material, Caesar performed his song “CYANIDE” just as the curtains dropped and the stage exploded with energy. The atmosphere shifted entirely in the building and anyone that might have been standing still before certainly was not anymore, while Caesar prodded the crowd to sing the words as he held the microphone out to them. Following the spectacle of “CYANIDE”,” the lights went down as just a single spotlight illuminated a keyboard on stage where Caesar played a solo rendition of “Loose,” holding the crowd like putty in his hands with nothing more than his voice.
The “Superpowers Tour” closes out October 19th in Philadelphia and resumes in Australia and Asia later this year.
CATCH DANIEL CAESAR ON TOUR HERE!
LISTEN TO DANIEL CAESAR HERE!
