John Legend • November 20, 2025 • Maverik Center
Reviewed and Photographed by Marlo Matamoros
John Legend brought his Get Lifted 20th Anniversary Tour to The Maverik Center on November 20th. John Legend is a 13-time Grammy winner who has had a huge impact on music. One of the earliest songs that I can remember listening to from John Legend is “Green Light,” which features another impactful artist named Andre 3000. Love In The Future is one of my favorite albums. It features his most-streamed song titled “All of Me” with over 2.9 billion streams. This album was released in 2013, and I have been listening to his music journey since.
Walking into the arena, I was amazed by the stage design and knew that we were in for a great show. I haven’t been to many shows where the headliner doesn’t have an opener, but I remember thinking that John Legend has an extensive library that he could easily cover a 2-hour set. I was excited to cover this concert because of the impact he has had on the music I grew up listening to and the artists he has collaborated with.
The photo policy for the night was shooting 3 songs from the soundboard. It was great because I was able to see the whole stage from there. John Legend would hit the stage 15 minutes after 8 to a packed arena. He walked out to the piano that stood at the center stage.
He began to play his prelude and “Let’s Get Lifted”. The stage design and lighting were on another level and were purposeful and different for every song. He would go on to perform “Without You” and “Heaven” as I photographed. I was excited that this was an anniversary tour because it would give us the opportunity to listen to the music that shaped his career.
John Legend had his bandmates on stage with him, who played drums, saxophone, and guitar. He also had background singers on stage with him who would soon have their own performance during an intermission, performing a cover of “Sweet Love”. After the intermission, John Legend would go on to say that it’s good to be back in Salt Lake City on this 20-year anniversary tour.
Legend shared a story about being in a choir as a kid and going to his grandmother’s home afterwards. He would share stories throughout the night, giving background to the songs he would perform. One of my favorite parts of his set would come up next. He would go on to perform “Everything Is Everything”, “Jesus Walks”, “Encore”, “Selfish”, and “American Boy”. I enjoyed this because this was the music I remember listening to. Hearing some of the stories behind them was something new to me. Everyone in the arena was interactive throughout his whole set, but I remember how energetic they were while John Legend was performing all these throwbacks. These songs include the names of Lauryn Hill, Kanye West, Jay Z, Slum Village, and Estelle.
After this portion of the concert, he would go on to perform “Ooh Laa” off his Bigger Love album, which was released in 2020. He would perform some songs longer than others, and this was one of them. This song was great to listen to live, especially from a production standpoint. John Legend would mention this about the song in an interview: “Oak Felder, the lead producer on this track, … had this idea to bring doo-wop and trap together … we recorded our own sample version of ‘I Only Have Eyes for You’ … and pieced everything together.”
Following this song, he would perform another one of his classics underneath a spotlight that lit his piano center stage, titled “Ordinary People” from his 2005 Get Lifted album. This song and album are the reasons why everyone in the arena was there. He said this about the song and the album, “It sounded so different than anything else that was on the radio because it was a straight, stripped-down piano ballad and me singing about love and real life,” he said. “That really just launched my career. That was the reason I won Best New Artist [at the Grammys]. That was the reason Get Lifted was R&B Album of the Year.”
John Legend brought a fan onto the stage to dance with him right before the encore. He then thanked his band on stage right before exiting. You could feel the anticipation that filled the arena as we all hoped he would come back out to perform “All of Me” for his encore. He indeed did come out to perform the song. The lyrics were sung around the arena as the night ended.
I am grateful that I was able to be a part of this special and intimate night in Utah. Hopefully, we get another tour soon, and I encourage anyone given the opportunity to see him live to do so!
