The country music crossover has become a rite of passage for pop stars.
Beyoncé did a 180-degree do-si-do with the release of Cowboy Carter in 2024. Snoop Dogg has dabbled. And Post Malone has jumped into the genre with both boots.
Ne-Yo and Akon are among the latest hip-hop artists to heed the siren call of pickup trucks and cowboy hats, with Ne-Yo set to release a new country-inspired album, Highway 79, next month and Akon claiming to be remixing his entire catalogue as country songs.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Akon performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
The pair of American R&B heavyweights thankfully left the twang at home for Tuesday night’s sold-out concert at Canada Life Centre. Instead, the co-headliners delivered a setlist packed with 2000s club hits celebrating the height of bottle popping and booty shaking.
Concert Review
Ne-Yo and Akon
Canada Life Centre
Tuesday, June 23
Attendance: approximately 13,500
4.5 stars out of five
Judging by the deafening reception, it’s exactly the kind of nostalgia the overwhelmingly millennial crowd came to enjoy — even if it was a late and long weeknight party.
Ne-Yo and Akon’s global Nights Like This Tour is a co-headlining production, with each artist given equal alternating stage time.
Ne-Yo kicked things off in grand fashion, setting the tone for a loud, fast-paced night.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Ne-Yo performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
The 46-year-old Grammy-winning artist rose from the floor following a Fast and Furious-esque montage. His first act paid tribute to Michael Jackson, opening with a brief cover of The Way You Make Me Feel while wearing a black, glittering King of Pop-esque military jacket.
Ne-Yo and his signature falsetto were flanked by gospel singers, a brass section and a quartet of scantily-clad dancers during energetic renditions of Miss Independent and Champagne Life.
Akon made his appearance following a seamless transition, descending from behind a large two-sided screen dressed head-to-toe in white. Joined by a pair of breakdancers, the 53-year-old singer opened with the title track off his new album, Beautiful Day, before quickly moving on to mega hits Smack That and Locked Up.
Pyrotechnics were blazing within the first 15 minutes and the onstage action didn’t quit for nearly three-hours, save for a brief mid-concert intermission — an arena show first for this reviewer.
The co-stars proceeded to volley the spotlight back and forth through a flurry of era-defining hits and impressive showmanship from the main and supporting acts: suspended pole dancing, soulful choral singing, a live backing band, a dozen outfit changes, more pyro, Akon playing the guitar and the congas, Ne-Yo flying through the air while grinding with an aerial artist.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Akon performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
The crowd of 13,500 people erupted when the duo finally took the stage together for a series of covers. Ne-Yo and Akon led the audience through a singalong of David Guetta’s Titanium, Rhianna’s Take a Bow and other Top 40 favourites, further underlining the late-aughts era in which the night was firmly set.
Things got slow-jammier in the second half but the energy never flagged.
Akon brought a group of fans up for a post-intermission dance party before launching into Sorry, Blame it on Me and Lonely. During the latter he was carried into the crowd like a sultan, seated on a white platform held aloft by a group of beefy bodyguards.
Backed by a string ensemble, Ne-Yo returned with So Sick and Mad while his aerialist once again spun from the rafters while sparks rained down. Things did, in fact, get a little bit country when he donned a cowboy hat and gripped a red Solo Cup during Up Out & Gone, a single off his new album.
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Despite a belated 9 p.m. start — on a school night no less, the audience spent the whole concert on its feet, dancing, screaming and passionately singing along to originals and well-placed covers.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Ne-Yo performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
Ne-Yo and Akon reunited at centre stage for a closing performance of Guetta’s Play Hard punctuated by a spray of streamers and a blast of confetti.
Tuesday night’s show was a top-tier example of what can happen when two artists of equal acclaim share the same bill: sky-high production value, non-stop energy and a bottomless pit of bangers.
Nights like these are worth the price of admission.
eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Akon performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Ne-Yo performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Akon performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Ne-Yo performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Akon performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Ne-Yo performs during the Nights Like This Tour in Winnipeg, Tuesday.
Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.
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