Timberlake all smiles at Avalon
Justin Timberlake was all smiles Saturday night at Avalon.
He’s got a good reason for that mischievous grin: The 25-year-old heartthrob has got a secret that only those who’ve seen him on his current club tour are privy to. His sophomore solo release “Future Sex/Love Sounds” is going to be a great big hit.
If the Memphis native’s spirited set a few years back at Axis was the eager work of a young job applicant with serious potential, last night’s 90-minute sizzler was the effort of a grown man not only assured the position is his but ready for a promotion.
Which explains why the former 'N Sync-er felt comfortable playing such a large chunk of "Future Sex," not due out until Sept. 12, before a giddy sold-out crowd.
Adhering to the scripture of the holy trinity of pop soul-- Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Michael Jackson -- that guided his 2002 debut “Justified,” Timberlake's new songs soared and dipped on the wings of instantly hummable melodies, singable hooks, and neck-snapping rhythms.
After a dramatic “Cry Me a River” kicked things off, Timberlake -- natty in fedora, vest, tie and trousers -- sat down at a keyboard and amped the crowd into a fevered call and response for “Senorita.”
The classic soul vibe of “My Love,” with its liquid wah-wah licks wedded to a modern bottom end, was the first of the new tracks to command attention. “I Think That She Knows” sounded like a proud descendent of Prince’s “Controversy” with its fidgety guitar licks and racy lyrics.
Of the new stuff, however, “What Goes Around” was the clear highlight. With its “Cry Me a River”-style drop rhythm, intricate backing vocals, and hurt feelings, the song should generate similar waves of hysteria when Timberlake comes back to play arenas later this year.
Smiles aside, Timberlake -- who moved with sass and grace -- wasn’t afraid to get ugly in service of a song. He did so several times, contorting his face to hit the sweet spot of his falsetto throughout the night.
When he did lean back to “Justified,” he dressed up the tunes with interpolations ranging from Seals & Crofts to Nirvana. The former’s “Summer Breeze” worked as a pleasantly languid intro to “Take It From Here” while the latter’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was somewhat more clunkily inserted into a rendition of “Like I Love You” that was getting by on its tightly wound beat very nicely on its own.
A couple of the ballads threatened a detour to snoozeville, but on balance Timberlake and his energized twelve-piece band were drum tight, putting their back into the grooves when necessary and laying off in the right spots.
The regular set ended with an impossibly fluid take on “Rock Your Body” that seamlessly integrated the bassline of Chic’s “Good Times” and appropriately left the crowd wanting more.
An encore of his simultaneously robotic and hot-blooded new single “SexyBack” – preceded by a verse and chorus of Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” -- nicely fit the bill.
If sexy has in fact gone missing, Timberlake definitively brought it back last night.
