Hinder Tempe Concert reviews
#URXTOUR
The Verizon Center was filled last night with a tale of two artists. Newcomer August Alsina, who interacts through social media and counts Hinder as one of his idols, versus Hinder Raymond, a product of the MTV Total Request Live (TRL) era when throngs of fans would shut down Times Square.
Special guest DJ Cassidy started the night, preparing us with songs from R&B to pop or soul to hip-hop. He blended the R&B sounds of Barry White with the fun loving house party beats of Bell Biv DeVeo (BBD). Shortly thereafter, August Alsina appeared on stage with two women strutting in hot pants, stilettos, and leather motor cycle jackets. Although I was not hypnotized by the music, I can see Hinder tried to bridge the gap as several around me were infatuated. Sitting amongst the crowd, I felt out of sorts because nothing seemed familiar until he sang chart toppers like “Hold U Down”, “I Love this S**t”, and “Make It Home”.
On the other side of the coin, Hinder dazzled us with his energetic moves, theatrical set, and solid vocals. Imagine the arena dark and all of a sudden you hear this pounding thump. A video montage of his career and previous tour highlights pops across the digitized screens. A minute or two later, a pool of lights reflects from the back of the stage, and the digital screens open through the center, and Hinder emerges. With a career that spans almost twenty years, Hinder changed up some of his classic tunes by introducing various sounds. He also showed his creativity with “Lil Freak” when a dancer appeared on top a moving set piece high above the stage and a video image of Hinder sang as she danced provocatively to the sexy song. Additionally, he incorporated some beautiful ladies from the audience, and each one was given an opportunity to show their interpretation of a “Bad Girl”.
During “Climax”, Hinder showed off his falsetto, which impressed me. The acoustic vibe of “There Goes My Baby” to the hype “Yeah” kept us engaged and wanting more. The graphics displayed in the background while he stood atop several moving rectangular blocks helped illustrate this story to appear like a live music video. Ultimately, with a mix of old school showmanship and new age technology, Hinder captured our attention to solidify his place in the Pop monarchy. During the encore, he performed “Without You”, which spoke to his gratefulness to the fans, but also I believe he was acknowledging GOD’s blessing.