AP
Seal, shown here performing in 2008. Based on his reception in Grand Prairie on Wednesday night, clearly Heidi Klum isn't the only one in love with him.
GRAND PRAIRIE -- If those in attendance Wednesday at Nokia Theatre found themselves befuddled by British vocalist Seal's persistent success, despite more than a decade passing since his last substantial chart success, they needed only to look at his legs.
It was there, at the base of the small runway jutting out from the stage, where the hands of men and women alike feverishly clasped at his pants, his hands, his feet, his microphone stand -- anything -- to grab just a bit of the man's energy. An oddly powerful sight, but multiply that scene, which Seal tagged as "one big inclusive party," by a few million around the world and suddenly, his unflagging career makes a lot more sense.
Most could probably only point to Crazy or Kiss from a Rose as Seal's high points, but he's enjoyed a string of danceable, slick, global pop hits -- Killer, Future Love Paradise, Love's Divine -- that haven't reached the ubiquity of Crazy or Rose, but afforded him the opportunity to take risks like his latest studio effort, Soul.
In keeping with the trend of established songsmiths taking a crack at some of the legendary tunes in the American songbook, Seal and producer David Foster selected staples like It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World, Here I Am (Come and Take Me) and A Change is Gonna Come; stone-cold soul classics that fit snugly within Seal's limited but powerful range.
Over the course of his fitfully kinetic two-hour set Wednesday, Seal -- whose engaging presence helped power the show past some of its more sluggish moments -- tried his best to channel the grit and spunk of those whose songs he was interpreting. While gifted with a terrific, thorny rasp of a voice, the 46-year-old can't approximate the feral power of a James Brown or the smoldering pathos of a Sam Cooke. The end result often felt a bit like R&B night on American Idol.
But left to his own catalog, Seal fared much better, crooning of utopian ideals and swooningly romantic love; inoffensive in the extreme, albeit devastatingly stylish. He's not to every taste, but those who adore Seal do so unabashedly, adding a whole other dimension to the lyric "Here I am baby/Come and take me/Take me by the hand."
