McKnight is one of those extraordinarily gifted artists who writes and produces his own music and who also has an incredible voice and singing style. Given his artistic range, he easily invites comparison with the legendary Stevie Wonder and Danny Hathaway. But if I were to make the comparison, I would much rather think of McKnight alongside Teddy Pendergrass or Luther Vandross or Lionel Richie, who are all great R&B artists who have mastered the art of creating a mood for romance with their songs.
This I believe, is the reason why McKnight is such a big success here in the Philippines. Filipinos are suckers for romantic balladeers and he is somebody who sounds the way most women imagine their lovers should sound. So when you are a male who cannot even in your wildest dreams sound like him, you do the next best thing for the woman you love. You give her Brians CDs that you can listen to together or if he happens to be in town you go to watch him perform, of course, also together.
His latest album is titled Superhero. No, the guy in the title is not Brian but all those unsung people who do things everyday that go unrecognized and we do have plenty of them. Still, it will not be far-fetched to think of Brian as also a superhero of sorts. The album, so low-key, so rich in texture, so full of expression, so varied in content, is certainly his best to date. All those romantic souls out there will certainly love the joyfully-soaring Love of My Life which comes with Brians trademark falsetto and which is also my personal favorite.
If not, then there are the other cuts in Superhero like When You Gonna Come, Whats It Gonna Be, My Kinda Girl where he duets with Justin Timberlake of N Sync, Whatever You Want, Everything, Get Over You, Still, Dont Know Where to Start where Nate Dogg raps and the title track.
As for the concert, the show is titled Two for the Knight and it stars Mc-Knight and Filipino Songbird Regine Velasquez. This is a special Valentine presentation from Viva Concerts that will be held on Feb. 14 and 15, Thursday and Friday, at 8 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Tickets are priced at Patrons P3,000 and P2,500; Lower Box P2,500; Upper Box A, P1,250; Upper Box B, P600, and General Admission P200.
Take note that there is a special early bird discount of 10 percent for ticket buyers. But this offer is good only until Jan. 25. After that, you will have to pay the full amount. Brian and Regine will perform all their hits and might even do a duet or two. So get your tickets now.
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