“Oh no he didn’t!” “You betta’ do it Boy!” “LAWD I can’t take it, he’s killin’ me!”

If you can’t imagine Anthony Hamilton eliciting screams, palpitations and impromptu flashes of lingerie (more on that later), then you were absent from the building when he brought his gospel-grown, funk-fringed, down-home soul sangin’ to a recent show at Dallas’ House of Blues.

Backed by a full band, a trio of background vocalists and over a decade’s worth of hits, the 42-year-old NC native was a hard-hitting, yet humble showstopper, kicking off with crowd favorites like “Cool,” “Woo” and “Comin’ From Where I’m From,” which earned word-for-word echoing from the packed venue as he tore into each note. Whether he was intertwining RUN-DMC choruses into “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” flipping “Woo” into “No Diggity” or pouring a flawless falsetto into the heart-stoppingly tender “The Point Of It All,” the audience was putty in his hands for his entire set. Some ladies got so carried away that they used their undergarments to offer him a not-so-private show from down front. “Heeey, I’m workin’ now, don’t get me in trouble,” Mr. Hamilton chided them. “It’s pretty and it’s clean, but…come on now.”

Perhaps in an effort to cool off the ardor, the set list turned spiritual: “I’m ’bout to get real ig’nant, sorry….hope you got your good shoes on.” Tear-choking ballads like ” Can’t Let Go,” “Charlene,” and “Pray For Me” were delivered in perfect, passionate pitch, wrapped up in a joyous bow when he wrapped the evening with the jubilant “So In Love,” holding out the mic as the ladies sung Jill’s parts and giving everyone a chuckle as he put a hand to his hip and in a high-pitched voice, pantomimed Ms. Scott’s spoken bridge: “First thing in the morning, when I open my eyes and see you, I feel like a breath of fresh air. I can feel like I can fly….”

http://www.soultracks.com/concert-review-hamilton-house-of-blues