I Wanted to Love the R&B Tour…But I Didn’t

The Raymond & Brown Tour Recap!

When the announcement came that Usher Raymond and Chris Brown were joining forces for the R&B Tour, I knew I had to be there. On July 3, I made the trip to Detroit for the third stop of the tour at Ford Field – home of the Detroit Lions and another venue I can officially check off my list!

Now let me start by saying this…

I’m much more of an Usher fan than I am a Chris Brown fan. So when these two decided to collaborate, I looked at it as the perfect opportunity. If nothing else, I was still going to get to see one of my favorite performers and finally experience Breezy live for the very first time.

Before we even get to the concert…

Can I tell y’all how thankful I was that I booked a hotel literally five minutes walking distance from Ford Field? Whew!

Parking around the stadium was running anywhere from $80 to $120! On top of that, several streets downtown were blocked off, making the entire area feel like one giant maze. Even trying to navigate rideshare would’ve been a headache. That hotel reservation turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I made all weekend.

I arrived at the venue around 6:15 p.m. for the scheduled 7:00 p.m. start, breezed through security, and had enough time to grab an overpriced hot dog and bottle of water.

No surprise there… But $16??  Good grief.

Anyway… Let’s get to the show.

Here’s my unpopular conclusion…

I did not enjoy it.

Now hear me out.

If you’ve followed Kecia’s Tour Life for any length of time, you know I don’t play when it comes to live music. I absolutely love concerts, and it genuinely pains me whenever I have to say I didn’t enjoy one. I never go into a show looking for things to complain about. Quite the opposite…I want every artist to knock it out of the park.

The tickets listed a 7:00 p.m. showtime.  By 6:55, there were still a lot of empty seats.  I had read that the first couple of tour stops didn’t actually begin until around 8:45, but I always arrive based on what’s printed on my ticket. Better early than scrambling to get inside.

Sure enough…

DJ Mars and DJ Fresh entertained the crowd from shortly after 7:00 until almost 8:45. Don’t get me wrong…  I love a good DJ. They’re supposed to warm up the crowd and get the energy flowing.  But nearly two hours?  That was a bit much for me.

The music selections were actually great. They covered multiple generations and had something for everybody. However, somewhere along the way, the jumbotron became home to one twerking contest after another.  At first it was (not my thing, but) entertaining.  Until it wasn’t.  Some things simply didn’t need to be displayed on a giant stadium screen. One fan even lifted her shirt along with her bra, baring all for the entire stadium.   Yeah…   No thank you. 🙄

The Setlist

When I first saw the reported setlist floating around online, I was excited. We’re talking over 50 songs! My first thought was… “This is about to be a four-plus hour concert!”  Wait…Not exactly.

Instead of full performances, most songs were not complete,  just stopping short to go to the next song. Usher and Chris Brown took turns flowing in and out of each other’s catalogs, transitioning from one hit into another.  I understand why. Between two artists with catalogs this deep, fans naturally want to hear all the hits. But personally, I would’ve preferred hearing fewer songs with some heard in their entirety instead of snippets of almost everything.  Very few songs were actually allowed to breathe.

The Biggest Problem

The sound.  And unfortunately…  It wasn’t just bad.  It was horrible. The bass completely overpowered the vocals throughout most of the night.

Unless you already knew the song by heart—and even then—you often couldn’t tell what they were singing until the chorus kicked in.  If you’re a diehard fan who knows every lyric from both artists, you probably had no problem filling in the blanks. But don’t expect to actually hear the lyrics clearly. This was especially disappointing because this was my first time seeing Chris Brown live.

I honestly don’t feel like I was given a fair opportunity to fully appreciate his performance because I simply couldn’t hear him well enough. Normally, I’d chalk something like this up to stadium acoustics because every venue is different. But after reading reviews from the first two tour stops, poor sound quality was one of the biggest complaints there as well.  Hopefully, that’s something they can adjust as the tour continues because the potential is definitely there.

Special Guests

The surprise appearances included Eric Bellinger and Tank.  I’ll admit… I’m not familiar with Eric Bellinger’s music.  Unfortunately, because of the sound issues, I still left not knowing him or what he sang.  Then Tank hit the stage… Shirtless, of course.  The ladies absolutely lost their minds! I actually know several of Tank’s songs…Or at least I thought I did. Because honestly? I still couldn’t tell you what he was singing.

The Positives

Now, let’s give credit where it’s belongs.

• Both Usher and Chris Brown looked fantastic. The crowd screamed practically every second they appeared.
• The visual production was colorful, energetic, and very well done.
• One moment I definitely wasn’t expecting was Chris Brown soaring high above the audience. That was a cool surprise.

And when Usher sang “Let It Burn”…

• It looked like that stage was actually burning. From where I was sitting, those flames looked very real. Whether they actually were or not, the illusion was incredibly convincing.

One More Disappointment

These are two entertainers who have built careers not only on hit records…but on their dancing.  Yes, they danced.  But not nearly to the level I’ve come to expect from either of them.  Maybe that’s unfair because I’ve seen clips from Chris Brown’s previous tours and, of course, I experienced Usher’s incredible Las Vegas residency, which remains one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever attended by him. So naturally, my expectations were sky-high. Maybe because most songs were cut short, the full choreography just wasn’t a focus because the dancing just never reached that normal “RnB” level. 

Final Thoughts

Walking into Ford Field, I truly believed I was about to witness one of the greatest R&B concert experiences imaginable. Instead, I walked away feeling…cheated and with a pounding headache.  Not because the artists didn’t show up.  Not because they lacked energy.  But because the sound quality made it difficult to fully enjoy what should have been an unforgettable night.

Now, was most of the audience having the time of their lives? Absolutely!! The drinks were flowing.  People knew every single lyric. They sang at the top of their lungs regardless of what the speakers were doing…and dancing every chance they got!

For many fans, this was a dream come true.  And honestly… I’m glad they had that experience. Mine just happened to be different.  Will this be an unpopular opinion?

Probably.

But one thing you’ll always get from me is authenticity.  I don’t base my reviews on hype.  I base them on my actual experience.  And unfortunately…

This one simply missed the mark.