
(Update: Also watch some video clips here.)
"Enjoy you summer, because I'm gonna take over fall!," cheered Justin Timberlake when he waved his audience goodbye and left the stage on Saturday at the intimate Paradiso theatre in Amsterdam. Amidst tight security, the singer was in the Netherlands to showcase his new album "FutureSex/LoveSounds" in front of a few hundred fans, reporters, international label executives and other V.I.P hot shots. The new disc is the follow up to 2002's "Justified" that sold over seven million copies worldwide. Besides writing up my impressions of his gig and new songs, I recorded audio and video as well that I will post soon. Keep checking this blog for that. I posted more photos on Flickr.
After listening to Timberlake's new single "Sexy Back" last week, I was curious what his new songs would sound like. Fans that were getting a little uneasy after hearing the singer's new Timbaland produced groove can relax. "Sexy Back" is not like any other new album track he performed. I'm pretty certain that "Sexy Back" is intended as a shock song: a single to grab radio time and get people buzzing. New songs he performed include "My Love," "Till The End Of Time," "What Goes Around," "She Knows" and "Sexy Back."
With his charismatic stage energy, sexy dance moves and flawless vocal delivery, watching Timberlake perform live is a real joy. After previously seeing him in concert with N*Sync and together with Christina Aguilera during his last world tour in 2003, there's no doubt in my mind that this Memphis native was born to be an entertainer.
At the age of 25, Timberlake has the gift to inject his pop music with a sense of soul and stamina that is unusal for an artist still so young. In many ways, Timberlake is like an old black soul trapped in a white man's body. In fact, arguably one of his greatest contributions as a pop star is that he takes his polished popsoulfunk to a whole new and diverse generation of music lovers. "Music is music," Timberlake once said. "It's the universal language. And whether you're gay, straight, black, white, you know, whatever, you like what you like."
He introduced this very special showcase in Amsterdam by greeting the crowd and explaining that he was looking forward to sharing some of his brand-new tracks from "FutureSex/LoveSounds." "I hope you like these new tracks, and if you don't well then fuck you," he said in his endearing, pseudo bad boy manner.
(Full review after the jump.)