Usher – Rogers Arena – May 25, 2011
During a show in which Usher paid tribute to his idol Michael Jackson, the audience was more than ready to anoint a new King Of Pop title. Usher has many similarities to the iconic Jackson; child star, amazing dancer, great pop/r&b hits, millions of adoring fans…but so far has managed to keep his career (other than a few incidents) about ‘the music ‘. Me, along with friends, Brian and May, I and 10000+ other fans were treated to 2 full hours of the music as Usher sang and danced his way through his whole catalogue.
From the moment he rose above the crowd, in his futuristic armour, to land on the large multi-tiered stage he was dancing the entire night. Every bit as capable as his back up dancers the star was worked right into the routines, nothing was simplified for him. This 
was a pretty amazing feat considering how many other stars have trouble singing and dancing while staying in perfect sync. The dancing was superb throughout the show, whether slow or fast every move onstage was choreographed and executed perfectly. The audience made their very best effort to dance along too, everyone in the arena was on their feet ready to dance along with their ‘King’! The crowd’s energy was enhances by great video montages on the very advances digital screens used as the backdrop and curtain of the stage.
Although this was officially the OMG Tour
promoting his Raymond V Raymond album, the songs performed covered most of his career. Nice & Slow, You Remind Me and Yeah from his earlier albums sounded great alongside current hits; DJ’s Got Us Fallin’ In Love, More and OMG. Slow emotional tracks like Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) fit nicely with sexy Trading Places (which saw a girl pulled onstage for some ‘audience participation) and alongside upbeat dance tracks like Love In This Club. 
With such a host of great songs over the last 18 years it’s hard to believe Usher is still only 32 years old. There’s so much more ahead of him and in store for us as he continues to create great tracks for years to come.