On July 15, I had the privilege of going to my first concert with my mom. I’ve been waiting for the day that I could see any of my favorite artists such as Alicia Keys or Jill Scott in concert and I was able to see Scott perform at the National Harbor.
For those of you who don’t know who Jill Scott is, she is a singer-songwriter, poet, and actress who has released five studio albums such as Who is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1 and The Light of The Sun and starred in movies such as the two Why Did I Get Married films and Baggage Claim.
I did not become a Jill Scott fan until recently. Back in high school and even now, she remains one of my most played artists on my phone. She’s also the only artist I seem to like every single song she releases.
When I got the news from my mom that we were going to Scott’s concert, I was enthralled. I was not expecting to go to a concert this year, but I am glad that I got to experience one for myself since everyone else I knew had already been to one.
Before Scott appeared on stage, two other female speakers spoke. One of them, I saw on one of the TV screens outside of the theatre and the other, was a poet who used a lot of colorful language during her poem describing her sexual desires.
It was a little awkward sitting through the second speaker who was not afraid to use explicit language in her poem. However, it didn’t help that after she departed from the stage, we had to wait a couple of minutes before Scott herself appeared on stage.
As soon as Scott walked on the stage, I immediately got goosebumps. I’ve seen a few celebrities up close before, but not one that I would consider a favorite of mine. Scott was stunning in a black jumpsuit with a long black cardigan with her hair styled like the picture shown above accompanied by backup singers and backup band members.
As she started speaking into the microphone, I could not even cheer her on nor mutter a word, I was in a complete state of shock. Although Scott was late coming on stage, the concert moved along quickly as she sang a few of her most famous songs such as “A Long Walk” and “Fool’s Gold.”
In addition to performing, Scott also called out President Trump during her song, “Gettin’ in the Way”, and the white people who have called the police on black people this past year and gave encouraging advice in terms of relationships.
The audience, for the most part, was sitting down either singing along or recording the show with their phones. But, at times, you would see some people get up and dance along to the music as the lights surrounding the stage changed from green to blue and pink to purple.
(Photo courtesy of Micaela Shirley.)
I did not start dancing until her song called, “It’s Love” came on. Although I felt weird getting up and dancing in front of the people sitting behind me, I wanted to live in the moment, so I stopped thinking about the people around me and enjoyed the performance given in front of me.
Like all good things, the concert was starting to end around 11 p.m. At this point, Scott was giving a shout out to her backup band members and vocalists who seem to enjoy the praise they were getting from both Scott herself and the audience.
Once she got around to introducing and praising everyone, she thanked her fans for coming out to the show and swiftly left the stage, leaving some people to stay behind in their seats and others leaving the theatre.
My mom and I were one of the couple of people who ended up leaving the theatre, only to find out not too long after that Scott came back on stage and give an encore performance.
Nonetheless, I had a great time at the concert and look forward to seeing Jill Scott again or another talented artist such as Bruno Mars soon.