By Darlene Donloe

He simply seduced an audience.

The lights went down, the music kicked in, and then he took the stage.

Dressed in a black suit, white shirt and white tie, and donning his trademark black Blues Brothers-like shades, Maxwell’s set began withTupac’s “California Love.”

Then, he walked on stage to a thunderous applause and made quick order in caressing both the mic and audience as his 10-piece band struck up the opening chords to his hit “Dancewitme.”

Although he was making his debut at the massive Hollywood Bowl, Maxwell loomed larger than the venue as he cast a balladeer’s spell that turned the site into an intimate setting.  

While his presence evokes the sounds and feel of Marvin Gaye and his mentor, Al Green, Maxwell’s seductive appeal is all his own.

“Hello, Los Angeles,” he said as the throng of screaming and adoring revelers leaped to their feet. Holding on to his every note, they simply went wild.

So began a 90-minute love affair between one of the industry’s elegant song stylists and his appreciative, rapturous fans.

To be honest, even if Maxwell never sang one note during his one-night stand at the Bowl last weekend, he still would have received a rousing, unabashed ovation. That’s just how excited his fans were to see the crooner perform his BLACK Summers’Night Tour.

Fortunately for the sell-out crowd, he did sing a note. In fact, he sang a set that included sultry, grown folks music from his four CDs, “Urban Hang Suite,” “Now,” “Embrya” and his latest mega-hit, “BLACK Summers’Night,” which spawned the single “Pretty Wings.” The CD is the first piece of an already-recorded trilogy.

Maxwell didn’t disappoint. In fact, he showed out. He knows when to pause, when to send the crowd into a frenzy, and when to just stand center stage gliding in and out of “Fortunate,” “Ascension,” “Til the Cops Come Knocking” and more. His E-Z side was represented with “Fistful of Tears,” “Cold,” and his popular and mesmerizing cover of Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work.”

The huge stage was consumed to the fullest, hosting not only the band, but also eight large, illuminated flat-screen backdrops projecting his image.

During the song, “Stop the World,” the atmosphere got so steamy, one woman who threw a pair of panties on stage, which Maxwell immediately inspected.

“Thank you for the panties,” he cooed to the delight of the envious. His repartee with the audience was fully welcomed.

“If you ain’t slow-dancing with your girl right now, you crazy,” he said during a pause in “Fortunate.” “And if you ain’t found a girl yet, you crazier.”

As he sang his latest hit, “Pretty Wings,” feathers fell lightly on the crowd — adding a nice touch to the night’s festivities.

No one does it quite like Maxwell. Even after a nearly eight-year break between CDs, it’s clear he was missed and that he clearly had a lot more to give.

His songs, somewhere between spiritual and sensual, tell stories of courageous love, forbidden love, precious love, painful love, love gone wrong and the greatest love. It’s as if he’s sharing his most personal moments with thousands of his closest friends.

Los Angeles was his 74th show on a tour that includes the sultry Chrisette Michele and the energetic and poetic Common, both of whom held their own during their sets.

As the concert was winding down, Maxwell asked, “Anybody want to take me home tonight?”

In my fantasy, sure. But, in reality, he already had me at “hello.”