Date: Wednesday, October 1st

Location: Mansion Nightclub, New York City

This past Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to check out the New York stop on Heineken’s Red Star Soul Concert series. The event, which took place at NYC’s trendy Mansion Nightclub, featured DC crooner Raheem Devaughn and BET reality show star Keyshia Cole. Upon entrance, it was evident that inside the venue was just as busy and crowded as the outside. As many (including myself) scrambled to the bar to load up on free Heinekens. The DJ spun crowd favorites to get everyone ready for the show’s headliners.

First up was Raheem DeVaughn in what was a stirring approximately 30 min set of live music. Raheem sang with a vigor and intensity that was much bigger than the confines of the nightclub. He interacted with the women in the audience and at one point later in the set left the stage and performed amidst the crowd on top of a table. He closed his set with the crowd favorite “Customer.” DeVaughn left the stage to a rousing show of appreciation by audience.

After what seemed like a short eternity, Ms. Cole finally took the stage. In Keyshia’s close to one hour set,  she went through slightly abridged versions of all her hits. At one point during her set ,she took some time to speak about her upcoming third studio album. Keyshia alerted fans that they could expect a new single from her shortly. Keyshia looked and sounded immaculate. She gave an impassioned performance of her hit “Let It Go” to end the night on an incredibly high note. Even Kiko, the hater, has no choice but to award the New York stop on the Heineken Red Star Soul Series a huge A+.