On another chilly Wednesday in February it was up to the dream combination of Craig David and guest performer Lemar – which was no doubt a dream collaboration of many R&B lovers in the early 2000s – to warm the cockles of the excited audience in Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. As expected from the smooth R&B duo, they thawed everyone out with their excellent vocals and throwback party atmosphere.
Providing the opening act for the evening was 2000s R&B sensation Lemar. He took to the stage on his own and it was evident from the first new notes that he didn’t need anything else on stage. He delivered a great set which combined songs from his discography such as “Dust” and “What About Love?”
Whilst also infusing some crowd favourite covers of “Burn” by Usher and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” before finishing with “If There’s Any Justice In The World”. Suffice to say that the only criticism towards this set was that it wasn’t long enough…but the best was yet to come.
During the short interval between Lemar and Craig David, DJ Patrick Nazemi took to his DJ decks to get the crowd warmed up for the upcoming headline act. He effortlessly got the crowd pumped by playing a short 30 minute set which combined all manner of 90s/early 2000s hip hop and R&B with the likes of Coolio, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Biggie all making appearances.
In addition to this, the heavy hip-hop beats were taken back to their roots with a short stint in some 70s disco, featuring The Jackson 5 and Marvin Gaye.
This short but sweet set really got the crowd raring and ready to go which made it abundantly clear why he’s the head resident DJ at Ibiza Rocks, a place where Craig David will be heading again in May & September for his famous TS5 pool parties.
With the TS5 pool parties 4 months and many thousands of miles away, Craig David’s current focus is on his commitment tour which started with an immensely high energy combo of his newest single “SOS”, his 2000s banger “Rewind”, “Ain’t Giving Up” and the first rendition of “Fill Me In”.
He paused briefly to give thanks to the audience for being there and explaining why the tour was named the ‘Commitment’ tour, firstly it’s the name of his upcoming album, secondly it’s a reminder of his commitment to delivering an excellent show with the best atmosphere – something which he absolutely nailed.
He then continued his set with a cavalcade of hits from various albums such as “What’s Your Flava”, “Warm It Up”, “Walking Away” and mixing in some of his new songs to really infuse genres such as garage, R&B, afrobeats and big room dance hits.
All of the songs were accompanied by his band, which included two drum kits, guitars, key-tars and a trio of backing singers (Laura V, Izzy Chase and Shean Williams) who were key perfect and helped build the party atmosphere.
It wouldn’t be a Craig David show – or one of the best live experiences – without a short TS5 set. In short, during this time, Craig David wheels out some old school DJ decks and turns the party atmosphere up to 11 by turning the arena into a big night club and live singing over the top of a whole host of crowd favourites.
These included Whitney’s “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay”, Robin S’ “Show Me Love” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bills Bills Bills” to name but a few. Taking a brief respite, Craig David then returned to the stage for a sublime encore which included “Rendezvous”, “Fill Me In / 16 Remix” and of course, “7 Days” to end the evening.
I’ve seen Craig David on three separate occasions now over the past eight years and every time he provides an excellent evening that I would implore everyone to try and experience at least once. Each evening has felt remarkably different whilst also delivering the same thrilling atmosphere.
It’s clear at this point in his career that he has absolutely perfected this live formula and his identity as one of the best entertainers around whilst championing a specific R&B flavour to each of his albums. I can’t wait for the newest album and the next time he’s on tour I’ll be trying my best to get tickets and I would heartily recommend any and everyone to attend as well.
Word and photography by Sam Huntley
