Maxwell’s ‘Silent Serenade Ensemble’ Rules Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre: Every Song From the Setlist

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, the landmark debut album from R&B icon Maxwell, and the three-time Grammy winner is celebrating in advance.

On Sunday evening (Sept. 28), Maxwell played the final night of The Silent Serenade Ensemble, a limited run of intimate shows across the two East Coast cities most closely intertwined with his life and career: Brooklyn, New York and Washington, D.C. After three consecutive nights at MGM National Harbor in D.C., Maxwell brought his show to his hometown at the historic Kings Theatre.

Kicking things off with tons of enigmatic smoke and a full run of Kehlani‘s “Let Me Down (San Diego Interlude),” a track from her 2024 While We Wait 2 mixtape, Maxwell steadily built up the crowd’s anticipation before finally taking the stage with 1998’s “Gravity: Pushing to Pull.” Over the following 90 minutes, Maxwell treated Kings Theatre to a remarkable show filled with seductively masterful vocals that flaunted his instrument’s health and range, an incredibly tight, a mostly homegrown band and orchestra, and a career-spanning setlist that properly honored his three decades of R&B innovation.

Of course, Maxwell also trotted out a few of his now-signature onstage dance moves, as well as the viral mashup of his own “Fortunate” and Beyoncé‘s “16 Carriages,” a single from her Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album. With every shoutout to the 718, the incomparable mélange of cultures, styles, and sounds that comprise Brooklyn coursed through each minute of Maxwell’s thrilling set.

Coming on the heels of last year’s Serenade Tour, this recent run of dates featured completely new arrangements of his classic hits (“Fortunate” and “Pretty Wings” both made appearances) and deeper cuts (2001’s “Silently” was an easy highlight), backed by a crisp string quartet, knockout organist and pitch-perfect background singers.

Although Sunday evening was a time of celebration and reflection, Maxwell’s heartwarming humility and infectious energy only made the crowd ready for another hour of R&B greatness. If anything, this remains the biggest question following his hometown show: When on Earth will Maxwell release blacksummer’sNIGHT and complete the trilogy he kicked off 16 years ago?!

Here’s every song Maxwell played at his excellent Silent Serenade Ensemble show at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre.