Usher Brings Down the House for Two Nights at Spectrum Center

At approximately 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, concertgoers at the Spectrum Center counted down from 10 to kick off the first of two shows by R&B icon Usher in Charlotte, part of his Past Present Future tour. He sold out both nights at Spectrum, with all of his upcoming tour dates sold out through October. 

His whopping 47-song setlist encompassed a myriad of Usher’s songs spanning his nearly three-decade career. He opened with an electrifying performance of “Coming Home” before transitioning into “Daddy’s Home” to remind everyone exactly who he is.

From there, he fulfilled every millennial’s dream, walking down memory lane with classic hits from his early albums, such as “Call Me a Mack” (1993), “U Make Me Wanna” (1997), “U Remind Me” (2001), and “Love In This Club” (2008). 

When he performed the iconic dance break from the “U Remind Me” video complete with that famous handstand, the crowd went wild. These moves may have all been from the past but, as the tour name suggests, they’re all very much a part of his present and future. 

Usher teased the crowd at points, even faking an “internal system failure” on the screen behind him just as the first notes of “Yeah” played. By this time, it had been less than an hour into the concert, though it felt much longer. As it turned out, Usher had much more up his leather sleeve before blessing us with “Yeah.”  

When he donned a bedazzled costume and threw on his roller skates, things really got fun, offering a club-like atmosphere. He launched into 2010 party hits “OMG” and “DJ Got Us Fallin In Love” before performing a soulful rendition of “Superstar” (2004). 

He serenaded the audience, hitting some incredibly high notes, and praised the crowd for singing, screaming, and dancing along. 

Incredibly in sync, the crowd responded with “We love you, Usher!” to which the singer plucked out his earpiece, reveled in the roar of the crowd, and mouthed “I love you more. Thank you.” 

Wearing his infamous maroon fur coat, Usher traversed the lowest edges of the crowd hugging fans and shaking their hands while singing “There Goes My Baby” (2010). 

Then he made his way to a section of the arena that he dubbed the G spot, where he made himself a drink and fed cherries to fans, even making it rain with a big stack of money. But no, once again, this was a tease, as the bills were not real money but faux hundreds with the singer’s face that read “In Usher We Trust” — and we do, despite all the tricks.

Speaking of which, the hard-working crew behind the scenes must have fixed that so-called internal system failure because Usher did finally get around to performing “Yeah” (2004), and he gave fans exactly what they wanted — a party to send each fan in the crown home on cloud nine. 

To close the show, he did his rendition of “Without You” (2011) to remind us fans what we’ve meant to him in the past, what we mean to him now, and what we will always mean to him in the future. 

It was an amazing finale, but it left us wanting more in the best way possible — a life-changing experience. Earlier in the show, Usher complained that, “Two nights in Charlotte is not enough,” and we couldn’t agree more. 

Be sure to check out Queen City Nerve’s Soundwave, Charlotte’s most comprehensive live music listing, so you don’t miss out on any shows or concerts coming up. And hell, if you’re looking for something else to do, you can check out our events page as well, which runs the gamut of things to do in Charlotte. You don’t ever have to be bored again. You can check out more of Jeff’s pics and live reviews here.