BY LEROY CHAPMAN JR.
Surprise headliner Johnny Gill opted for a full stage show, with sequined dancers, flashing lights, two drum solos and a bright red tuxedo.
But what wowed the crowd Sunday night at the Fox Theatre were the stripped down performances from opening acts El DeBarge and Eric Benet.
For those two, there were no dancers. No elaborate stagecraft.
On a stand-in-front-of-a-mic-and-deliver kind of night, DeBarge and Benet, delighted a sparse but enthusiastic crowd by skillfully negotiating their way through the ballads that made them famous.
DeBarge answered any questions about whether the 53 year old, who has struggled with incarceration and addiction, can defy time and trouble.
He breezed through hits from his hey day as the lead singer of the DeBarge, delivered a soulful cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" and reminded how he was once among the kings of the falsetto with the Quincy Jones-helmed "Secret Garden."
Benet, who had been billed as the headliner, unfurled a smooth, crowd-pleasing version of his hit "Chocolate Legs" to get the crowd going before powering through "Spend My Life With You."
After a brief detour into new material, he closed with an athletic, pleading rendition of "Sometimes I Cry" that had him in need of an energy drink afterward, he told the audience.
Perhaps Gill should've packed an energy drink. After dancing and drumming his way through most of his set, an out-of-breath Gill would turn his signature ballad "My, My, My" into a singalong.
Bad choice on a night meant to showcase the voices.
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