The singer Maxwell celebrated the release of his new album, blackSUMMERS’night, along with 20 years of creating some of the greatest baby-making music at the Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut last week. But it was a comment that the Brooklyn-born singer made in response to the killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and five Dallas police officers that has gotten much attention.
“I just want the bullets to stop,” he said to a thunderous response from the crowd. He discussed some tweets that received negative responses earlier in the day, in which he posted quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Nelson Mandela. The singer, who is of Puerto Rican and Haitian descent, also added “Black lives do matter” before performing his hit “Lifetime.”
The crooner, dressed in a gray suit with a matching tie, was accompanied on stage by one female background singer and a seven-piece band that included two horns, a drummer, keyboard player and two guitar players.
Whether singing or talking, Maxwell has always had a way with words, especially when it comes to the subject of love. While giving props to some of the singers of today, specifically mentioning trap music, which he likes to turn up to, he also mentioned staying in his lane musically, consistently working with the same team for 20 years.
He performed many of his classics including “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)”, “Sumthin Sumthin,” and “Fortunate.” He also performed more recent hits like “Pretty Wings” and his current single “Lake By the Ocean.” He joked before he performed some of his 1990’s classics, “Imagine an afro pick and an afro,” his signature look in the ’90s.
Maxwell also performed a stirring rendition of his cover of “This Woman’s Work” and also took the audience to church briefly with the gospel classic “Let the Church Say Amen.”
Foxwoods has upcoming events that include performances from Lil’ Jon to Kool and the Gang and a star-studded list of comedians including Jerry Seinfeld, Wanda Sykes, and Sinbad.
