Concert Review: PJ Morton, Paul Tour
December 24, 2019
Earlier this year, PJ Morton released his seventh studio album, PAUL. On Sunday, December 22nd, PJ Morton played a sold out show at Philadelphia’s Theater of the Living Arts (TLA), accompanied by Brik.Liam and Asiahn, in support of his recent release. After the show I reviewed their performances, and shared some of my thoughts from the night!
1. The idea of trajectory was on my mind a lot throughout the night; being able to see artists and music I love start to blossom. I remember seeing Brik.Liam perform while in college, on campus and around Atlanta. I remember how he would do live mashups of songs - songs that you wouldn’t necessarily think fit together - but it was super dope, and he made it work. A few years later - 7 to be exact - I’m watching him take that same approach, but now he’s mixing his own songs, and people are singing lyrics he wrote. I interviewed Brik.Liam 3 years ago, and even since then, I can see how he’s sharpened his skills as a writer, graphic designer, singer, performer. He’s the consummate artist that’s only getting better with time.
2. The first time I saw PJ Morton in concert was in 2014. He was performing upstairs at World Cafe Live (WCL) in their restaurant section which seats about 120 people. A few years later, PJ Morton came back to Philly performing in the downstairs portion of WCL, which holds about 650 people, and he packed that out. Now, in 2019, PJ Morton played a sold out concert at the TLA, which holds approximately 1,000!
3. PJ Morton aka the “Live Show Killer” comes in a long tradition of musicians and performers. From Stevie Wonder, to his upbringing in the Baptist Church, you can feel all of his influences in his shows.
4. Brik.Liam is one of my favorite male vocalists. He has a really rich, and clear, lower register, and his approach to note placement is exciting - you think he’ll go one place, but he ends up somewhere else. I think the best of example of this was when he performed his song Liquid (Someotherdude), where he modulated several times, singing the hooks in falsetto, placing each note meticulously.
5. One of the cool things about PJ Morton is that the people you see on stage with him have been with him for years. In particular, Edward Clark (drums) and Brian Cockerham (bass) have formed a really special bond. The connection between the bass and drums is crucial, it’s the heartbeat and low end frequencies of music, and the synergy between the two makes every song feel incredible.
6. Speaking of the band — Shemaiah “Pork Chop” Turner — played that guitar like he was back home in Louisiana! Turner was PJ Morton’s accelerator, whenever the song needed to go to another level, it felt like Turner took them there. His guitar solo on “Religion” was otherworldly!
7. In the early years, PJ Morton handled all of the piano/keys parts, but in the past few years he’s been joined by other pianists on stage, in particular, Caleb Sean. Sean’s virtuosity and versatility added a great deal to the show, especially on songs like Ready and Don’t Let Go that feature his vocoder.
8. Songs that feature other artists can get a little dicy when that artist isn’t there to sing it. But Tiondria Norris! Norris, one of PJ Morton’s background singer’s, sang Say So, a duet that features JoJo, and she absolutely killed it!
9. Undoubtedly, the best moment of the night was when PJ performed Everything’s Gonna Be Alright. There was foot stomping, there was screaming, there was (almost) shouting, there was call-and-response, and there was a reprise. It got good to PJ, and it was good to us in the audience. It was a spiritual experience, to say the least.
10. This was a great show! I’ve seen PJ Morton live about 5 times (second time this year!), and it seems like he gets better each time. I’m glad he’s getting the recognition that he’s long deserved!
