Did you see her perform over the weekend? She killed it!
No, I’m not talking about B_____y S____s killing her career (as if) with a fascinatingly amateurish lip-sync of a song that didn’t sound that bad. That performance may have had current popular girl or pop tart du jour Rihanna looking for an umbrella to hide her giggles under (time is cruel), but the wreck factor was predictable amid today’s mania for celebrity ambulance-chasing.
I’m talking about Keyshia Cole, whose show at Mezzanine on Friday served up the kind of thrill you get when seeing someone really talented starting to peak in a way that makes you — and probably her — wonder just how great she can make this thing. After Hurricane Chris and the “One More Chance” remix (and Michael Jackson, Prince, Bell Biv Devoe — and Luther) heated up the club, Keyshia set it on fire with two half-hour sets during which she brazenly covered songs that Mary J. Blige covered early in her career, and — working a blond pageboy — brought an earlier Bay Area soul singer, the legendary Etta James, to mind. Decked out in white, with a pair of tough backup singers and a young band (her guitarist looked straight outta high school, with enthusiasm to match), Keyshia was like a sports-fit young Etta.
