Review: Usher, Lil’ Jon and a packed Curtis Hixon Park score huge win for Tampa

(See more photos at the bottom of this post)

The line to get in wrapped around the block. Many surely didn’t get into Curtis Hixon park to see R&B superstar Usher close out a weekend of free concerts as part of the College Football Championship’s week long takeover of downtown Tampa, but that wouldn’t matter. The 38 year old crooner’s voice could be heard all the way in Beach Park, and one thing became very clear as the water and wind carried the sound of songs like “U Got It Bad” and “Confessions” more than five miles away — this was a huge win for Tampa.

Three nights of concerts went off without a hitch (although activists with Food Not Bombs were arrested in unrelated events just blocks away on Saturday), downtown Tampa shined and the Beer Can building even became a 31-story jumbotron that could be seen from more than a mile away.

Earlier, a chatty Gavin DeGraw warmed up the crowd with hits like “I Don’t Wanna Be” and “Not Over You” while keeping himself warm in two jackets, and UK songwriter Jamie N Commons did his best to entertain a bundled up bunch of early comers.

It almost went awry for Usher though. Without in ear monitors for the first fifteen minutes of the set, he barely sang and hovered very close to the center of the stage. Thankfully Lil’ Jon was there to run interference. Yes, the 45 year old pimp cup packing pastor of krunk was on hand to keep the crowd hyped (it’s amazing what effect LMFAO’s “Shots” will have on a crowd of ACC and SEC fans) and his presence added a pure party element to an already entertaining night. They had Curtis Hixon jumping for their collaborative 2004 smash “Yeah!,” and while the set was devoid of early classics like “You Make Me Wanna” and “Nice and Slow,” Usher made up for it once the monitors went it by belting out another song from his 2004 Confessions LP, “Burn,” acapella.

Usher even touched the topic of the country’s recent presidential election for a bit (Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah — who did a short stand up set before Usher — didn’t shy away from the issue at all).

“When I look out into this crowd I don’t see color, all I see if love.” Usher said at one point. “If we’re going to move forward and continue to grow, then we need to come together under one accord and embrace each other's differences — you all want a better America, don’t you?”

It was a bold move, especially considering the audience (Florida, Alabama and South Carolina all went red for Trump although Hillsborough County did go blue), but it was fitting for what felt like a bold move forward for Tampa.

The city hasn’t hosted a sporting event this big since the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII way back in 2009, and a lot has changed in Tampa’s cultural landscape since then. The first ever Gasparilla Music wouldn’t even arrive at Curtis Hixon Park until 2012, and the College Football Championship concerts borrowed many elements (like the VIP setup and even the projection on the Sykes building) from the festival, now in its sixth year [full disclosure: this writer worked for Gasparilla Music Festival from 2013 until August 2016].

So, as football teams from Alabama and Clemson clash at Raymond James stadium on Monday night, crews will continue breaking down the massive stage and perfect production that filled downtown Tampa with music for three nights. And while we won’t be hearing the music from these College Football Playoff concerts any more, you can bet that the reverberations — just like Usher’s voice travelling up and down the Hillsborough on Sunday night — will be heard for many years to come.

This article appears in Jan 5-12, 2017.