Miguel Wears 'Wildheart' On His Sleeve In An Intimate Live Set In NYC [Photos, Recap + Full Video]

Shot By Vickey Ford for Okayplayer/Sneakshot

Sweat and sex already oozed from behind the mic stand as Miguel, the evening’s star, made his way to a dimly-lit 16 x 12 stage at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge last night. But the West Village bandstand could barely contain the effortlessly charismatic r&b star as he squealed and squalled through a hit-loaded set, celebrating the release of his third studio album Wildheart with NPR’s First Listen Live and 200 some-odd onlookers, all at a frenzy as the lights went low.

The evening commenced on a familiar note, opening the show with Kaleidoscope Dreams standout "The Thrill," then following through with a barrage of new joints from the new project, teasing bonus tracks from the record like "Simple Things" to entice the uninformed ear, even saluting longtime supporters with a quick and lovely rendition of "Girls Like You." And of course, there was a wholehearted nod to Rae Sremmurd in a brief, but very dope, recital of "No Type" for the casual trap enthusiast.

With so much newness commanding the audience's ears, it would have been easy to keep this intimate set to the record's highlights (of which there are many,) but the electric performer and his funky-rock squad (supported by J*DaVeY's own Brook D'Leau on keys) didn’t shy away from crowd favorites like “Pussy Is Mine” and the encore’s kaleidoscopic reprise, consisting of a steel-toed “How Many Drinks” redux, blended with a bit of Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools." And then the breakthrough ballad everyone was waiting to hear, “Adorn,”was met with the crowd’s own and heaps of adoration in reply to every ooohh and ahhh.

Most surprising was not the set list, however. Rather, Miguel’s crowning moment was the decision to play a show, free of charge for those with the quickest click, at one of the city’s premier venues. And there was perhaps no better way to ring in a record that’s as highly anticipated as anything that’s graced the musical landscape in 2015, flooded with a level of richness and focus unseen in the last decade, so we’re happy to say that we were there to bear witness to the awakening of this brooding, swooning Wildheart, finally in full-bloom and strutting harder than ever. Swipe through the gallery up above for some shots from the evening and hit the link below to watch last night's full performance in all of its sweat-soaked glory.

>>>Watch Miguel's Full Performance In NYC Last Night (via NPR Music)