Chris Brown Makes Live Comeback at Jersey's Powerhouse Concert

Chris Brown headlined radio station Power 105.1's Powerhouse '09 concert at New Jersey's Izod Center last night, marking his first official concert since his February 8th altercation with Rihanna. After performances by The-Dream, Trey Songz, Fabolous, Mario, Keri Hilson and Day26, Brown's live comeback arrived, and the "Forever" singer was greeted with loud applause, MTV reports.

Brown opened his set with new single "I Can Transform Ya," emerging from his fleet of dancers as the crowd went wild (he debuted the track's video earlier this week). The embattled star was cheered when he ventured to the front of the stage and received deafening shouts when he took off his "Beat It"-inspired jacket. The set featured roughly 10 songs, including hits "Wall to Wall," "Take You Down" and "No Air." Brown wrapped up the performance with the one song that even he admits helped keep his career afloat this past year: "Forever."

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Brown had appeared onstage during the Virginia stop of Lil Wayne's America's Most Wanted Tour, but he was performing as a fill-in guest, and didn't appear on the bill. With the pressure of his first concert back behind him, Brown will next embark on his fan appreciation tour, playing to smaller but devoted audiences.

Related Stories:
• Chris Brown Teams With Lil Wayne for "I Can Transform Ya" Video
• Chris Brown Talks Rihanna, "Forever" Wedding Craze in New Interview
• Chris Brown Announces Fan Appreciation Tour

• 
  MUSIC Exclusive Live Chat With Linkin Park and Incubus
• 
  MOVIES & TV Peter Travers: 'The Avengers' Has it All
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Jon Corzine Is the Original Zimmerman
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive Premiere: Tenacious D's 'Tinnitus'

Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter