Maxwell at DAR, Tapping Into Something Soul-Deep
Maxwell's sold-out show at Constitution Hall kept security guards busy.
(By Seth Wenig -- Associated Press)
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Fear not, security guards at DAR Constitution Hall: Next month your venue hosts a variety of tame holiday concerts by military bands, and the fiasco of Monday night's Maxwell show will be a distant memory.
The men and women tasked with protecting the historic building and its guests had the unenviable task of wrangling Maxwell fans clamoring to be near the soul singer/sex symbol, who has been out of the public eye and ear for seven years. They even endured humiliation as Maxwell, in the middle of the treacly signature ballad "This Woman's Work," demanded that the guards abandon their posts, knowing that his followers weren't going to let seating assignments, trained security professionals or decorum stop them from getting closer to the newly shorn object of their desire.
Love for Maxwell, whose last album was 2001's "Now," is so enduring that he sold out his three-night D.C. engagement despite the fact that, as Maxwell himself said, he has "no album, no single, no nuttin'!"
Still, during his years of absence, Maxwell has managed to do something other than get a haircut. He has written songs, a few of which were even ready for public consumption: the airy, mournful "Pretty Wings" and the bouncy "Help Somebody," both from a rumored three-album project.
By the end of the night, it was clear the singer still has one of the most tender, unwavering falsettos in the business, and a heart to match. He followed "Til the Cops Come Knockin'," "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" and "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever" with a sincere apology to the building's security guards.
-- Sarah Godfrey
