COMSTOCK PARK – You could have argued that Big Sean, LMFAO or Mike Posner should have been the headline performer for “Party in the Park” presented by WSNX-FM (104.5) on Thursday night at Fifth Third Ballpark.
Detroit rapper Big Sean is peaking since the release of his debut album last month.
LMFAO, which features DJs Redfoo and SkyBlu, son and grandson, respectively, of Motown record label founder Berry Gordy, has the smash dance hits and the stage presence to be the masters of any party.
The promoters got it right, though, putting Posner in the closer’s slot, putting the perfect exclamation point on a fun-filled summer night for the all-ages crowd of more than 8,000 bumping and grinding hip-hop fans.
Posner is a huge talent just beginning to tap into his full potential.
The 23-year-old from Southfield, whose sound is equal parts pop, dance, hip-hop and rap, has an undeniable appeal and command of the stage that puts him in a different stratosphere than Big Sean or LMFAO.
He isn’t just a cool performer behind the microphone.
Posner, playing his first live show in the U.S. since returning from a European tour, is a full-service entertainer who seems just as comfortable rhyming and rapping as he is playing the piano or pounding on a bass drum to stir up the crowd for a rousing rendition of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
“I can’t tell you how special it is to be back in my home state,” he told the audience.
He opened his 11-song, nearly one-hour set with the platinum-selling single, “Please Don’t Go,” off his debut album “31 Minutes From Takeoff,” released last summer, and closed it with another platinum seller, “Cooler Than Me.” In between, he showed some surprising vocal range and some musical chops that suggest he just might be an up-and-coming Justin Timberlake with a touch of Eminem blended into his DNA.
Sure, his pop anthems are infectious, but there’s so much more happening here.
He had the audience singing, dancing and clapping along on “Cheated,” “Do U Wanna?” and “Bow Chicka Wow Wow,” and left female fans melting on the ballad “Falling” with him seated at the piano.
That much had been expected.
He launched into a sizzling version of ELO’s “Evil Woman” from the 1975 album “Face the Music,” which is about as cool as it gets since neither Posner nor 99.9 percent of his fan base had been born at that time.
It ended up being the best surprise of the night.
“I got a little hyper on that one,” Posner quipped.
A more animated Big Sean joined Posner on stage for “Smoke and Drive” and “Cooler Than Me” to close the performance. Both songs sent the audience into full-blown boogie mode, which, in turn, inspired both Posner and Big Sean to participate in a little impromptu crowd surfing, and resulted in Posner losing his T-shirt.
LMFAO cranked out an non-stop assault of party rocking hits.
It’s a group that understands what it means to have fun. On a hot summer night, it used a fire extinguisher to fluff up the fros of its band leaders and help cool off performers on stage and fans at the front of the stage.
It packed the most pure entertainment of all the performers into its set.
Big Sean is a rap artist on the rise, but it wasn’t until he returned to the stage near the end of Posner’s performance that he truly hit his stride. His set was full of profanity and graphic sexual content, but much of it seemed forced. He just hasn’t achieved the stage presence of LMFAO or Posner.
Other performers, including IYAZ, combined to make it a fun-filled summer night at the park.
Source: mlive.com
