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If bald is beautiful, Me'shell NdegeOcello's sold-out crowd Thursday night was the best-looking bunch Bohager's has seen in some time. Smooth pates were a dime a dozen (many belonged to women), and the evening's equally shorn star was most appreciative.
\\"Wow, if I take off my clothes, will you take off yours?" NdegeOcello purred while scanning the audience. "Let's see how freaky Baltimore is. Let's see if you motherfuckers can get crazy."
\\From there, the black, bisexual mother of one broke into a show sculpted with hefty helpings of rock, rap, funk, hip-hop, soul and jazz. And for a show that lasted well past the two-hour mark, the song selection was relatively sparse; NdegeOcello and her ever-tight eight-piece ensemble blew-up each number into groove-happy jams.
\\The just-over-five-foot NdegeOcello is a commanding presence while simply standing at her mike or noodling at the keyboards, but when she finally strapped on her bass (which is almost larger than she is) for "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" she officially owned the place. For the casual radio listeners who only know her as "the black woman in the Mellencamp video," her virtuosity leading the band through an all-out, 12-minute take on "Boyfriend" would have been a revelation.
\\"You want to talk about love? Or do you want to talk about fucking? Oh, I see, this is a fucking crowd. Well, I know that feeling, too." With that tasty proclamation, NdegeOcello eased the relentless revival pace and slipped into "Outside Your Door," adding during the intro, "Mind if we play something slow? I feel like you're all up on each other. It'll be worth your while."
\\Of course, it wouldn't be a NdegeOcello show if the perfectionist performer didn't show a little of her moodier side. After closing the pre-encore proceedings with a gorgeous, wide-open take on "Leviticus: Faggot", the band returned for a new ballad, "Stay." But NdegeOcello decided to return to the stage once again, even after the house lights had been turned on.
\\"They told us we have to leave, but you want one more?" she shouted, playing the bass line for "I'm Diggin' You (Like an Old Soul Record)." When the song morphed into a cover of Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover," though, things got ugly: First NdegeOcello's bass amp went, then her keyboards quit. Shouting "motherfucker" at just about everyone in sight and flailing her arms, NdegeOcello stormed from the stage leaving her band (no doubt used to the theatrics) to close with a flourish. Lesson learned: Ndeg