The Dallas-based pop singer SoMo held court at South Side Ballroom Friday night before hundreds of screaming fans, most seemingly hell-bent on seeing him shirtless. Part sweet-voiced R&B crooner and part overtly sexual stage provocateur, SoMo (aka 28-year-old Joseph Somers-Morales) was more than happy to serve up both sides of his persona. After career-making YouTube fame, two mix tapes and a major-label LP, the approach is still serving him well. Here are five observations from SoMo's homecoming edition of the "Fallin' Up Tour."
THE HOME CROWD HAD HIS HEART: "I live in Dallas, still, and home really is where the heart is," the Denison-raised singer said Friday shortly after he took the stage with his small band. "It's so good to be home." Yet, SoMo didn't need to say anything -- he was outwardly giddy from the get-go, traversing the stage with a perma-grin and jumping down into the crowd to mingle whenever he got the chance. And the people -- the ladies, to be exact -- hung on his every word. Anything he said, no matter how arbitrary, was met with screams.
HE DID HIS THING ON A FANCY SET: It's good to be SoMo in more ways than one -- his stage production has evolved to incorporate a large set piece with places for band members, mood-lighting rigs, smoke machines, a performer's perch and light-up steps to take him there. The set gave SoMo plenty of options and positions from which to perform on Friday, and he took advantage of all possibilities. I was surprised, though, to see him just kind of saunter onto his perch at the beginning of the show, without any dramatic reveal. He has plenty of smoke and a band to help create an impactful entrance -- maybe that's something to work on? Doesn't he want the screams to be even louder?
'MY LIFE II' GOT ITS PROPER INTRO: SoMo's latest mix tape is a sequel to the 2012 collection of melodic, catchy originals that helped him break out and get a his deal with Republic Records. Like those first tunes, the tracks on this year's tape are simple, remarkably accessible forays into love and lust. The first four songs of the set on Friday (and a few more throughout) proved that SoMo's fans have been listening to My Life II on the regular. They moved their arms up and down to "Bad Chick" and sang the chorus of the frenetic jam, "Why Wait." There were also selections from SoMo's self-titled debut album, which made it to No. 1 on iTunes after its release last year. "Do It All For You" became a highlight simply for showcasing the singer's heart rather than his libido. Same went for the gorgeous ballad, "Red Lighter."
THE YOUTUBE FAITHFUL WERE GREATLY REWARDED: What's interesting about SoMo is that while he's a gifted writer of pop melodies, he's as much or more more loved for his ability to interpret the work of others. Maybe that's a product of the countless cover renditions of popular songs that set his YouTube page on fire years ago. Fans have come to expect him to balance his own material with plenty of hot takes on other people's songs. On Friday that meant more than a handful of covers, including singalong-assisted versions of the Weeknd's "Earned It" and J. Cole's "Power Trip" as well as a full-throated vocal on Drake's "Hotline Bling." All of the choices -- even a sensual snippet of the jazzy classic "Feeling Good" that should have been extended -- flowed seamlessly with SoMo's bedroom-ready material. Several fans spotted dancing suggestively by themselves were apt evidence of the show's sultry mood.
PART POP SHOW, PART 'MAGIC MIKE': As though the sexy tunes weren't effective enough, the 28-year-old singer felt compelled to shed layers of clothing throughout the concert. Maybe "compelled" is too soft a word -- at one point when the dude took off his outer shirt to reveal a see-through tank top, the women began shouting, "take it off! take it off!" But SoMo knew just how to keep them wanting more, at times bordering on stripper tactics in teasing them. Toward the end, they finally got what they wanted when he put them all on pec patrol. He certainly caused undue stress for all the dad-bod-clad sorry sacks in the room (like me), but why worry about those guys? SoMo wouldn't be SoMo without his loyal ladies.
