Tank and Leela James – Working Overtime To Revivify R&B with “Savage X The Soul” Tour
House of Blues, Chicago, IL, USA, October 19, 2017
Two soul powerhouses thrilled a sold-out crowd at House of Blues in Chicago last Sunday. Dubbed the “Savage X” for crooner Tank’ new school R&B, love ballads and sexy bedroom tunes, and “The Soul” for singer Leela James’s throwback neo-soul, contemporary R&B hits the show is a perfect date night.
Tank and Leela James are on a propulsion all the way up with current singles spinning on pop, hip-hop and R&B radio. “Don’t Want You Back,” is James’ new breakup anthem. And Tanks “When We” is a certifiable cuffin’ classic, so stimulating that the hook puts you in a daze. Along with a catalog of hits from their decade-long careers Tank performed new hits from his Savage album, and Leela from her current Did it For Love EP.
Leela James sauced on stage dressed in a sexy black flowy one-piece with her signature big curly hair. She had a full band with two backup singers as she instantly hyped the crowd with her rendition of Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s hit, “All the Way Up”. James is one of the most charismatic performers I’ve seen since Badu. She greeted the crowd asking who had been to church then calling them heathens for attending her show the same night.
James performed a ton of cuts mixing seamlessly between ballads and slipping into a love therapy session with cuts like “Hard for Me “and “I Remember“.
Check out Leela James singing “Hard for Me” in Chicago!
At one point Leela James sang to the crowd, “what happened to real music?” She broke it down singing, “when you can sing, you don’t need autotune!” She dedicated her cut, “This Song is For You” to the audience and took them back to the 80’s with her cover of Womack & Womack “Baby I’m Scared of You.” Then came a dope interlude where each band member showed their solo chops and Leela reemerged sans her glittery stiletto boots to closed with her classic “Set Me Free.”
Leela James’ unique smoky vocals have deep-soul feeling reminiscent of Billy Holiday, mixed with Aretha Franklin and throwback hip-hop. Her timeless songwriting is what her grown & sexy fans relate to, and what keeps her tour dates sold out.
Tank jumped on what was nearly an empty stage jukin to his current trap soul hit, “Savage”. The hook says, “Once 
she see the sauce, now you know she gotta have it – I got a bad habit of turning good girls into a savage.” He proved to be 100% correct as many of the same ladies hugged up with their men exchanging romantic glances during Leela’s set were screaming and salivating once Tank hit the stage. James joked about it earlier that night when she told the ladies “most of you are just here to see Tank take his shirt off.”
Tank put the moves on the crowd right from start first getting them fired up with his up-tempo cuts like “She Wit the S***” and “Everything” featuring Trey Songz and Ludacris, then smoothing it out with “F It Up,” and “Sex Music”. Fans lost it when Tank took his shirt off early in his show and performed his sultry ballad “Scream.” Tank then sang a slew of romantic cuts putting the audience in a zone with “Good Thing,” “Can I” and his newest hit, “When We,” – all shirtless.
Check out Tank performing “F It Up,” and his new hit “When We.”
Once Tank put his shirt back on, he performed some of most popular cuts – “They Don’t Know” featuring Wale, “Please Don’t Go” and “I Deserve.” He closed out his set joking with the audience about stripping and ‘free sex’.
Tank put on an engaging one-man show and though it would’ve been great for him to sing with a band, his 
commanding stage presence and intimate vocals moved the ladies to swoon, and the fellas to admiration.
Tank and Leela James’s Savage X The Soul Tour is a soundtrack to love, soul, sex and agony. Perhaps because it’s been a while since I’ve been to an R&B show with great live vocals, that I wanted more.
The two R&B superstars continue their tour hitting Charlotte, Memphis, Atlanta and New Orleans. The show is a perfect couple’s night out and men shouldn’t worry about Tank’s 12-pack abs much because the voluptuous Leela James is also a marvel.
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