Cincinnati Music Festival sets the tone at Paycor Stadium: 5 standout moments from Friday

Paycor Stadium took a ride back to the 90s and 2000s with a stacked lineup of soul, funk and R&B artists on Friday night.

After Thursday night's electric "Celebration of Hip-Hop" concert featuring icons like KRS-One, MC Lyte and EPMD at Andrew J. Brady Music Center, the Cincinnati Music Festival took over Paycor Stadium Friday night.

Seasoned R&B artists Maxwell, Ne-Yo, Fantasia, October London and The Original Lakeside kicked off the festival's two-night stint at the stadium.

The excitement continues at Paycor Saturday night, with iconic boy band New Edition headlining the show. Fellow artists KEM, En Vogue, Coco Jones and Stokley will also help close out the weekend of music.

But before then, here are the highlights from Friday's outstanding performances.

5 standout moments from Cincinnati Music Festival's Friday shows at Paycor

The Original Lakeside takes us back to a funky 'fantastic voyage'

Dayton's funkiest bunch, The Original Lakeside, stepped out in their finest pirate voyage garb to get the party started at Paycor. With many in the stadium still shuffling to their seats, the group consisting of Stephen Shockley, Marvin Craig, Norman Beavers, Fred Alexander, Jr., Thomas Shelby, Otis Stokes, Fred "Timbales" Lewis, Eddie Guyton, Johnny Rogers and William Shelby nevertheless commanded the stage, offering funky dance moves and flawless musicality.

Their 1978 track "All the Way Live" stood out as a showcase of their harmonious vocals paired with groovy electric guitar riffs. Amid flexing their still-nimble knees in coordinated dance moves, the band members halted their dancing to deliver a few bars, in pure unison, of the iconic chant featured in "March of the Winkies" from the 1939 film "Wizard of Oz."

Though a few decades have passed since the band struck their biggest hit, "Fantastic Voyage" released in 1980, the members proved their vocal prowess, quality of movement and groovy instincts remain timeless and perfectly synched.

October London makes the crowd swoon

The soundtrack of the night fast forwarded to present-day R&B soul with the entrance of October London, who laid the beat back with his sultry croons.

Clad in a full white silk suit, the artist, who signed to Death Row Records by Snoop Dogg just in 2022, stepped out with one last puff of his cigar before treating the audience to his molasses-smooth baritone vocals.

The highlight of his set came toward the end of his 2023 track "You Look Better," in which his band cut out completely and he leaned into pure vocal improvisation, creeping up the scale to deliver a crystal-clear tenor riff that seemed to pierce through Paycor. Adorably, London matched his steamy, swoon-worthy vocals with some boyish chatter to the crowd after the applause settled.

"I'm an Indiana boy all day ... Midwest till the day I die," London said amid the pool of purple smoke enveloping the stage.

He looked up to the sky above the stadium and spotted a helicopter, saying "Even the helicopter is coming over they must know my album is coming out."

Fantasia is a vision in gold

Fantasia, the Grammy Award-winning vocalist who broke into the industry as the winner of "American Idol" in 2004, embodied divine femininity in head-to-toe gold sequins, backed by two singers also in gold.

The trio posed a refined powerhouse sound to Paycor, with the gritty bass of Fantasia's set vibrating through the cement steps of the stadium. Though she delighted the audience with dynamic renditions of tracks like the 2013 "Without Me," the standout performance came with her cover of "Proud Mary," made famous by Tina Turner in 1970.

As the familiar bass clicks of the soulful hit rolled in, Fantasia flawlessly delivered the beginning vocals of the 70s classic, swaying her hips and flexing her seemingly-endless vocal capabilities. By this time, the sun has set on the Ohio River, the trombones are blaring and Fantasia is treating us to the classic "rolling on the river" lyrics with earnest soul and striking fervor. Near the end of the cover, Fantasia tantalized the first few rows of the audience, challenging them to drop it low as her band powered through the booming final chorus of the song.

She put her hand up to her forehead as she surveyed the crowd's drop-it-low skills. "Y'all got good knees," she said.

Ne-Yo commands a banging throwback

The energy of the night hit its peak when Ne-Yo, the triple-threat singer, dancer and producer took the stage in a cherry red suit and matching red fedora tipped over his eyes.

The multidimensional performer brought the audience back to the land of 2000s R&B, with the same smooth vocal trills and electric dance moves that distinguished him as a pillar of the contemporary R&B scene. His opening performance of his 2008 track "Closer" set the bar high for a lineup of banging throwbacks, showcasing a handful of dancers all sporting the same cherry red color. Playfully interacting with the dancers, Ne-Yo flexed a flawless musicality and expert stage presence that commanded every inch of Paycor.

Throughout the opening song, Ne-Yo effortlessly ripped into tenor riffs as he brought us back to the time of boomboxes and low-rise jeans.

Maxwell closes the evening with a lovers' serenade

Sporting a laid-back look of white sweats and a khaki fisherman hat, the night's headliner, Grammy Award-winning R&B vocalist Maxwell, closed out the evening with simplicity and class.

The singer, who rose to fame following the release of his critically-acclaimed debut album "Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite" in 1996, delivered no-fuss, clear-cut renditions of his classic tracks like the 1999 "Fortunate." To match the moody lover's serenade, the Paycor cameras cut to couples in the crowd swaying with buzzing serenity.

The highlight of the set came when the singer stopped his band mid-intro when it appeared someone in the pit of the audience was clamoring that the bass was too loud. Maxwell waved his hands, shushing his musicians and teasingly zeroed in on the audience member.

"We'll stop this whole show just for you, everyone in this arena for you," the artist said jokingly. "Are you too hot? Should I scratch a little lower or higher?"

After a few more laughs, Maxwell eased into the next track, adding some playful riffs like "the bass in this is too high."

It was a healthy reminder that the night was about good old-fashioned, sometimes-chaotic, always-exciting live music.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Music Festival sets the tone at Paycor Stadium: 5 standout moments from Friday