Saturday Night: Robin Thicke At Arena Theatre

Photos by Marco Torres

​Robin Thicke
Arena Theatre
February 12, 2011

Is describing a show as an aural roofie politically incorrect? Because Saturday night's Robin Thicke show at the Arena Theatre seemed to put all the women in the crowd into a sexy soul-fog with a syrupy thicke-ness. We even stocked up on some pregnancy tests for ourselves later on this week, because he may have gotten our ears pregnant.

Robin Thicke can be best described as R. Kelly's sleazy white counterpart, or better yet, an X-Rated Justin Timberlake who would rather take you in a bathroom stall than wait for sexy to come back. Thicke also has an air of old-school jet-setting bachelorism about him, in spite of being married to bombshell Precious actress Paula Patton for going on six years.

​The venue was thick, OK, teeming, with couples partaking in their pre-Valentine's nights out, with most guys no doubt dragged to the Arena out of pure devotion and promises of returned favors. But Thicke shouldn't just be for the womens; he's a great showman, even if most of that involves coming to the lip of the stage so women could grab his wedding tackle or stick their faces in his crotch.

He's an adept performer on piano and blessed with a creamy falsetto that is practically lady-bait.

Opening with "Magic", the man laid to waste his assembled crowd. Mixing that suave swagger, clothed in a sharp suit and tie, he was on point from cut one. The parade of women to the stage started soon after, reaching an early apex during "Shakin' It 4 Daddy" from 2009's Sex Therapy, which featured on record an early guest spot from newly-crowned R&B queen Nicki Minaj.

Thicke's "Cocaine" isn't quite the JJ Cale-cum-Clapton version, but an ode to the powder just to the same. It could have come from a Curtis Mayfield album, or at least been on a really underrated David Bowie LP. The allegories between women and cocaine are more than evident on the cut from 2006's The Evolution of Robin Thicke.

The sex and grind were tempered with a few piano-led spiritual blasts from Thicke and his band, including "Complicated," "Angels" and "2 The Sky" which ventured into John Legend territory. They were good detours, and awesomely creepy coming around straight-up bedroom jams.

Well, God did create sex, so what's the fuss? It's actually better than most things he ever laid a hand on.