Concert review:
Bobby Brown performs successful performance successful 2014. The R&B prima brought his catalog of hits to the Pearl Theater astatine the Palms connected Saturday, July 11, 2026. Photo by: Shutterstock
By John Taylor and Ebony Stephens
Friday, July 17, 2026 | 2 a.m.
Bobby Brown opened his performance Saturday astatine the Pearl Theater astatine the Palms with an unexpected heavy chopped — “Starmaker,” a 1982 way from the TV bid “Fame” — signaling aboriginal that this would beryllium much than a regular nostalgia run.
Brown, a cardinal fig successful New Jack Swing, the late-1980s blend of R&B and hip-hop helium helped bring into the mainstream, built a acceptable that balanced heavy cuts with the hits that made him a solo star.
Backed by 4 set members, 2 dancers and 4 vocalists dressed successful coordinated achromatic and achromatic provided the frame. Brown supplied the narrative. He moved from “Starmaker” into “Doesn’t Anybody Know,” the opening chopped from his self-titled 1992 medium “Bobby,” easing the assemblage into a mid-tempo groove earlier the night’s heavier machinery kicked in.
It kicked successful hard with “Don’t Be Cruel,” the 1988 L.A. Reid and Babyface-produced smash that spent six consecutive weeks astatine No. 1 connected the Billboard charts and has sold astir 12 cardinal copies worldwide. The assemblage responded to the opening synth bassline the mode Brown’s crowds ever person — instantly and loudly. He followed with “Good Enough,” “Two Can Play That Game,” “That’s The Way Love Is” and “Get Away,” the Teddy Riley accumulation that gave Brown a showcase for the footwork that made him a star.
He brought his oldest son, Landon, onstage and lowered the somesthesia with “Rock Wit’cha,” a Babyface co-write that holds up arsenic 1 of the amended dilatory jams of its era. He moved onto “Tenderoni” (aka “Roni”), the sweet, mid-tempo emotion opus that solidified the word successful pop-culture lexicon.
He past transitioned into “On Our Own,” the 1989 “Ghostbusters II” soundtrack deed that had the full country jumping, earlier launching into a tribute conception that honored Michael Jackson (“Rock With You”), Rick James (“Give It To Me Baby”) and Prince (“Purple Rain”), each accompanied by projected photos and a assemblage sing-along. The conception closed connected a radical representation of each 3 — a quiescent acknowledgment of the philharmonic satellite that shaped Brown and that he, successful his ain way, helped define.
“Let’s bash thing new,” Brown said earlier performing “Set Me Free,” a soulful R&B way from his 2012 medium “The Masterpiece.” It held its own. Then came the closing sequence: “My Prerogative,” the signature anthem Brown wrote arsenic a nonstop effect to his departure from the legendary R&B radical New Edition, followed by "Every Little Step," the Grammy-winning person that sent the country retired happy, arsenic 2 of his children joined him onstage for the finale.
At 57, Brown isn’t going to deed each enactment the mode helium did successful 1988. He knows it, and the assemblage knows it, and nary of it matters much. The charisma and stagecraft are intact, the catalog is bulletproof, and a nighttime built astir this overmuch philharmonic past doesn’t request to beryllium cleanable to beryllium worthy the ticket. It was.
Ebony Stephens is simply a freelance writer successful Las Vegas.
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