106 KMEL’s Holiday House of Soul Review

‘Twas a few days before Christmas, and the Bay Area’s home for hip-hop and R&B station 106 KMEL held the Holiday House of Soul at the Warfield in San Francisco. KMEL holds this annual holiday treat for music fans to see some of their favorite artists. This year wasn’t any different as the artists shut the Bay down and came out with a few surprise guests. The show featured an R&B-studded line-up including Netta Brielle, Adrian Marcel, SoMo, Sevyn, Mario, and Jeremih.

The perfect way to open a show in San Francisco is bringing rising sensation and Bay Area native Netta Brielle to get the crowd pumped up. She performed hit songs from her latest Will You Go With Me? mixtape including “More To A Kiss” and her party anthem “It’s the Weekend.” A defining moment in Brielle’s career from being in the audience at past House of Soul shows, to now performing at one and inspiring others through her own music.

Next to take the stage was another Oakland native, R&B’s new heartthrob Adrian Marcel. Many of his female fans quickly ran to the front of the floor just to get the feeling of Marcel serenading to them. He came out to his own rendition of Al B. Sure’s “Night and Day” and then took the audience on a 7 Days of Weak whirlwind. He performed a few songs from his latest EP including “My Life” and “Waiting.” To show his love and appreciation for performing at home, he surprised the audience by bringing out his friend and singer Rayven Justice. Justice kept the party going by performing his smash hit, “Slide Thru.” Marcel then continued his song set and anyone familiar with his music knows he sings many soulful and sensuous ballads. However, he left the audience with something they could dance to as he sang his newest single, “2 AM.”

The KMEL hosts then introduced newcomer and YouTube sensation, SoMo. He is well known for recording covers of other artists’ songs, which also played a big role in how he got discovered. Therefore it was only fitting for him to take the House of Soul stage and perform his own renditions of Ginuwine’s “Pony” and J. Cole’s “Power Trip.” SoMo took his fans on a nice “Ride” with his slick sound.

Singer and songwriter Sevyn then graced the stage as she opened with her debut hit, “I Like It.” She then paid homage to the late songstress Aaliyah by singing her rendition of “Come Over.” Her background dancers brought up a couple lucky fans to the stage as they danced for them as Sevyn sang her cover of Chris Brown’s “No BS.” She also performed singles from her latest EP Call Me Crazy, But… including her hit song with Breezy, “It Won’t Stop.” Throughout her energetic performance, she couldn’t forget to shout out, “BAY ARREEEEAAAA” to keep the crowd at a high momentum.

Soulful vocalist Mario came out to the stage and through all the venue’s speakers as he opened with his song, “Music for Love.” Hard to believe that Mario dropped his last album four years ago, but he gave the audience a taste of what the game has been missing as he performed his latest songs, “Fatal Distraction” and “Somebody Else.” He took his fans down memory lane as he sung his debut hit single, the Biz Markie-inspired “Just a Friend 2002.” His heartfelt and passionate sound was heard throughout the Warfield venue as he also sang songs from his albums Go, Turning Point, and D.N.A. Mario made sure to leave a lasting impression on his fans and how much love he has for them. After he performed his song “Let Me Love You,” he handed out roses to a few lucky ladies in the audience.

Headlining the holiday show and giving the audience some Late Nights sessions was Jeremih. He performed his hit songs including, “773 Love,” “I Like,” and his latest single hitting the airwaves, “All The Time.” Jeremih showed his love for the West Coast as he surprised the audience with new artist TeeFLii to perform his song, “This D.” Jeremih couldn’t close out the show without singing his biggest hit to date. If one didn’t know how multitalented Jeremih was before the show, they sure found out. He took his talents to the keys as he played the piano to his debut single, “Birthday Sex.” 106 KMEL leaves the melody of giving their radio listeners a soulful music show as a holiday gift every year.