CORINNE BAILEY RAE w/ ALITA MOSES LIVE MAJESTIC THEATER MADISON, WI SEPTEMBER 25, 2025

 CORINNE BAILEY RAE
w/ ALITA MOSES
MAJESTIC THEATER
MADISON, WI
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025

It is extremely difficult to put into words...but I am going to try.

On the night of Thursday, September 25, 2025, I experienced what I unquestionably know was one of the top three concert experiences of my entire life. 

Now, compared to others, I have not seen as many  shows but I have seen a healthy amount and I count my lucky stars, that I can easily say that I have never seen what could be considered a "bad" show. Even the one that I feel was a bit of a disappointment--that would be a mechanical, uninspired 1987 performance from Sting's "...Nothing Like The Sun" tour, a night on which he exited the stage to give an acceptance speech for a Grammy he had just won--was not a bad concert whatsoever. 

All of that being said, for every concert experience that I have had and has enriched my life experience, Corinne Bailey Rae and her band scaled and reached a powerfully high pinnacle after which, I exited the Majestic and waked back to my car feeling...transformed.

My own relationship with the discography and music journey of Corinne Bailey Rae is scant at best. Yes, I was more than aware of her huge hit single and signature song "Put Your Records On" (released February 20, 2006), but at that time, it never reached me for no other reason than that was not the music that I was listening to an absorbing. And so, none of her subsequent material ever made a blip upon my personal radar.

That is, until Questlove entered the picture...

Everything began with an Instagram post. 

As a means of self promotion for his outstanding podcast "Questlove Supreme," Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, famously the drummer/bandleader of The Roots, in addition to being a celebrated author, Oscar winning filmmaker, world class DJ and renowned musicologist, announced that his latest guest would be none other than Corinne Bailey Rae, who herself was releasing her fourth album entitled "Black Rainbows" (released September 15, 2023), a work of which Questlove was unable to contain his excitement and admiration. For me, an endorsement from him meant that I needed to listen and possibly make a new discovery for myself.

The interview was superlative. Corinne Bailey Rae, whom I was surprised to learn is British and possesses a speaking voice that reminded me of Kate Bush's speaking voice, was a fully engaging and loquacious guest who exuded warmth, and therefore, a magnetic appeal to listen to. Yet, it was her stories surrounding the genesis of the album that moved me profoundly and gave me an emphatic push to find her album.  

Corinne Bailey Rae's "Black Rainbows" is a dialogue between herself and the historical Black artifacts discovered by her during visits to Chicago's Stony Island Arts Bank, owned and curated by artist Theaster Gates. Further, the album becomes a dialogue between her interpretations of the artifacts and us, the listener. Her stories of Gates, the Arts Bank and the vast collection of works just upended me, largely because this location is based in a part of Chicago where I was born and raised and still, I never knew of its existence! The emotions I felt as she spoke were conflicting as I did feel a sense of shame for my ignorance while also feeling excited to finally know plus marveling that it took the work and discoveries of a Black British woman to essentially show me to myself. 

Finding her album became an imperative.

Upon purchasing and listening to the album, I was amazed as the sonic journey of "Black Rainbows" felt to be worlds away from her signature song. Certainly, pop, soul and R&B elements remained but throughout, Rae makes sharp stylistic detours into punk rock, funk, avant garde sections and Afro-futurism making for a dynamic listening experience that demands as easily as it invites repetitions.

Once announced that Rae would be making a tour stop in Madison for her "Black Rainbows" tour, I knew I had to attend, especially as my city--predominantly White-- is not typically the location for Black artists, especially of her ilk, as well as one who is not on quite the same pop cultural radar as she was nearly 20 years ago. Despite my lack of knowledge of her full discography, "Black Rainbows" the album and Rae the artist and human, reached me in a profoundly deep space, so much so, I felt that I needed to be there when she performed. 

Maybe it was a way of sending her a "Thank you."

The night's opening performance was delivered by singer/songwriter/bassist Alita Moses, accompanied by guitarist Kyle Boden, both of whom are members of Rae's current touring lineup. Moses, adorned with a floral gown while barefoot, was beguiling in her earthy elegance as she unveiled a brief selections of songs that exquisitely set the table to the full evening ahead, while simultaneously showcasing her own songwriting which bridged the gaps of the intimate and universal in matters of the heart. 

Once the show began in earnest and Corinne Bailey Rae entered the stage, I had this odd feeling that she was somehow approachable, or better yet, familiar. She inexplicably reminded me of my cousin--truly a "big sister" to me--due to her appearance as Rae reminded me of her in look, style and size. She felt like a friend.

Yet, it was mysterious with what ultimately occurred throughout the night. Because, while Rae always remained directly with her bandmates and her audience,  she was al so elevated, hovering just this far ahead or above. Not through any sense of self importance. But one where she was unquestionably in full command of her art, her creativity, her inspirations and the atmosphere she was inhabiting with us. Corinne Bailey Rae's journey of this night became our journey as well and through it, she led us during every moment, at times like a shaman or a preacher weaving an exquisite spell. 

Clearly, I did take a few photos during the performance but truthfully, I restrained myself, desiring to be as connected as possible and even further, it almost felt disrespectful as something else was happening. Not one moment felt to be canned or even pre-meditated as Rae felt to be so unshakably present, devoted to every space she, and therefore all of us in the audience, existed in. 

At a point, I spied the set list taped to the floor paces away from me and perhaps one or two songs were dropped, I am imagining because Rae was so committed to each moment that if she was inspired to lead her band mates to elongate songs to her inspired desire, they did so. If Rae felt moved to march around the stage rhythmically blowing into a whistle, she did so. If Rae was inspired to allow silence to linger in the air, she did so and everyone followed creating moments that were less than a whisper quiet. I swear that I could hear myself breathing in a packed room of a nightclub. If Rae felt inspired to lead the audience in an extended call and response, as if at a revival meeting, she did so. If Rae felt inspired to lead un in an extended vocal outro or handclap punctuated chant, as she did on both "Green Aphrodisiac" and "He Will Follow You With His Eyes," respectively, she did so. All of this and more occurred and never was anything self-indulgent. It was watching living art in action, creating in real time.

I find myself returning to words like "inspired" and "command" because this is precisely what Corinne Bailey Rae demonstrated so effortlessly. And still, she remained spontaneous, displaying herself as a force of nature, an enveloping force of defiant compassion in a world depleting itself of this essential element seemingly every second. If she were able to unearth more compassion into this world through sheer force of will, I believed it to be so this night. And often, as applause broke out after a song, I found myself only really being able to place my two hands together in a "thank you" pose for I was moved that deeply. It was all I had in me. 

Maybe something was in the air in Madison that night, especially as Jon Batiste was also performing in my city that night not terribly far from where I was and friends who attended spoke rapturously about a certain revivalist spirit to Batiste's show. For me, Corinne Bailey Rae's concert reached that inexplicable space where the night became transcendent. I feel the need to be clear about this description for it goes beyond having great songs performed at their best, which they undoubtedly were. Remember,  my familiarity with Rae's music catalog consisted of only "Put Your Records On" and the "Black Rainbows" album. Much of her material was foreign to me. 

Yet, and still, EVERYTHING worked powerfully and even so, it is still kind of difficult to explain.

I guess I can only express how the night felt to me...

It felt...like the caress of the Fender Rhodes keyboard doubled with the Moog bass.

It felt...like being inside of the audience on a Cannonball Adderley recording.

It felt...like what church should be but, at least, for me, never was. 

It felt...like the Chicago Summer heat of my Mom's favorite car, a blue Buick Skylark, as she drove me to swimming lessons.

It felt...like the golden hue of nostalgia in memories of myself as a child sprawled on the basement carpet floor, reading the large lyric booklet and listening to Stevie Wonder's "Songs In The Key Of Life" (released September 28, 1976).

It felt...like the warmth of childhood.

I could feel my molecules shifting. I could feel my heartbeat slowing. I could feel soulful solemnity. I could feel a spiritual calm or peacefulness. 

I did not imbibe and I do not partake. I was clear eyed and clear headed all night long. And still, I could feel SOMETHING was happening in that space and inside of me that travelled far beyond attending a concert. At the outset of this posting, I remarked that Corinne Bailey Rae delivered one of the top three concert performance I have seen in my life. The other two? I am grateful to share with you that seeing The Flaming Lips felt like taking a voyage inside of a rainbow and emerging on the other side. The second time that I saw Dweezil Zappa, he and his band reached a plateau that it felt as if the spirit of Frank Zappa was in the room!!! 

What Corinne Bailey Rae delivered was pure. It was truth. It was art. It was love.

It was REAL.