Charlie Puth made sure his tour behind his fourth album, Whatever’s Clever!, is unlike any pop show out there, packed with jazz chords, world-class funk bass, lengthy keyboard and guitar solos, and no choreography or stage gimmickry whatsoever. But his sold-out Friday night show at Madison Square Garden was the most one-of-a-kind concert so far of an already singular tour, thanks to an almost comically eclectic set of guest stars that only Puth would assemble in one place—Art Garfunkel, Jimmy Fallon, Busta Rhymes, and Kirk Franklin.
“Each person I’m gonna bring up tonight has influenced me musically,” said Puth, who wore a Knicks cap for the entire show.
Early on, Art Garfunkel appeared on stage for a version of Simon and Garfunkel‘s “The Boxer,” with help from Garfunkel’s longtime guitarist Tab Laven. Any occasional shakiness in the performance made it all the more moving, especially when Garfunkel took on lead vocals alone for part of the third verse.“I’m your student,” Puth said.
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The next guest was a shades-wearing Jimmy Fallon, who dueted with Puth on a high-energy cover of Toto’s “Africa,” a choice that fit perfectly with the yacht-rock aesthetic of Whatever’s Clever!. Fallon, in turn, introduced Busta Rhymes, who fully took over the show for a while, with Puth and his band backing him for a medley of hits, from “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” to a mind-blowingly precise take on the super-speed flow of his verse from Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now.” Midway through, Busta pointed out the “incredible energy” in the city with the Knicks heading to the finals.
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Toward the end of the show, Puth explained the importance of gospel music to his songwriting—playing some churchy chord changes—and brought out Kirk Franklin. The fired-up gospel star led Puth and his band through“I Smile,” “Lean on Me” (Franklin’s song by that name, albeit with a closing nod to Bill Withers’ composition) and “Stomp,” the Funkadelic-sampling song Franklin wrote for the gospel group God’s Property.
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The rest of the show demonstrated that Whatever’s Clever!, with its live-band feel, is uniquely suited to the stage;Puth’s virtuosic band even includes the same monster-chops bass player, Pastor Funk, who played on the album. Puth rearranged many of his older hits, from “Attention” to “Cheating on You,” subtly or radically to better suit his new approach, cracking them open for instrumental breaks and solos. “You don’t always have to do it in the same way,” Puth said. “But you keep the heartbeat of it.”
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Puth, who grew up nearby in suburban New Jersey, treated the concert as a homecoming and a victory lap. “It hasn’t been perfect in my career,” he said towards the end. “A lot of peaks and valleys. But all of this makes it all worth it.”