Concert Review: Versatile Jamie Foxx charms crowd, commands stage
From Frank Sinatra to Jennifer Hudson, the track record for musicians-turned-actors is pretty impressive.
Actors, though, have not been able to answer the challenge. Bruce Willis, Eddie Murphy, Don Johnson, Minnie Driver, Keanu Reeves -- the record bins (remember those?) are overflowing with the vanity projects of otherwise successful performers.
Actor/Comedian/Singer Jamie Foxx listens as concertgoers chant his name at FedExForum.
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Unique among his compatriots, however, Texas native Jamie Foxx seems likely to beat the trend. The 41-year-old began playing piano at age 5, and was a professional musician long before he broke into acting and comedy as a cast member on "In Living Color" in the early '90s.
And with the release of his second studio album, Unpredictable, in 2005, just months after he won an Academy Award for his astonishing performance as Ray Charles in "Ray," Foxx became only the fourth Oscar winner -- behind Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Barbara Streisand -- to log a No. 1 record.
The sheer hugeness of his accomplishments is not lost on Foxx, who kicked off his concert Friday night with a video montage celebrating his resume. It was perhaps an attempt to bump up the star power of a concert that, at only two-and-a-half hours with the first 30 minutes given over to side-splitting comedian and emcee Speedy, felt a bit thin. The crowd, roughly 3,000 people this night, also seemed paltry, though, to be fair, in other markets Foxx has been playing small theaters -- not cavernous arenas like the FedExForum.
The empty seats did little to dampen the star's mood, though. Undeniably charismatic, Foxx was never less-than-commanding and charming when he was on stage.
That could have been more often, as he surrendered it several times to the deejay, including for most of a Michael Jackson tribute that, nevertheless, climaxed satisfyingly with a mash-up of the gloved-one's hits.
The inclusion of Jackson's classics as well as a mini-set in which Foxx recreated his impersonation of Charles for renditions of "What'd I Say" and "I Got A Woman," only served to underscore the unevenness of his own material. For every genuinely great song, like "Extravaganza," there was a throw-away like "Digital Girl," with its downright silly lyrics.
Fortunately, the show never settled in any one place long enough for it to matter. Part smooth R&B love fest, part comedy show, part house party, the concert seemed designed to showcase Foxx's astounding versatility. In the final dash to the finish, he finally jumped on the white piano that had sat on stage all night, conspicuously un-played, and showed some of the chops he's been nurturing since childhood.
It was a frustrating half measure that underscored the half-baked nature of Foxx's musical career to date. While trying so hard to show he can do everything, he ends doing nothing really well.
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