Maxwell’s Serenade Tour is coming to Indianapolis this month.
Three-time Grammy Award-winner Maxwell announced The Serenade 2024 North American Tour is making a stop on Oct. 9 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Maxwell is joined on stage with special guest two-time Grammy Award-winner Jazmine Sullivan and rising singer-songwriter October London.
Maxwell previously toured with Sullivan in 2008 for her debut album but said it is incredible to be on the road with her again with the addition of an artist like October London, who Maxwell described as being fresh on the scene but refreshing.
“What I would love for them (audiences) to take away is what they brought to me,” Maxwell said, “which is validation, a sense of I belong, a sense that I’m not alone.”
With the Serenade Tour placing an emphasis on R&B and bringing it back to the forefront, each of the artists are in their element.
“The mics are on on this tour,” London said, stressing the importance of real singing without the aid of autotune or “a lot of extra stuff.”
“That creative process and making R&B, you can’t force it,” London said. “We just wanted to bring it back and still pay homage to all the other artists that we grew up on.”
READ MORE: Indy trauma nurse to compete on ‘The Summit’
During the course of the tour, Maxwell will be able to go deeper within his own music catalog to perform songs that have not been played live yet. The artist side of him — that just wants to just create music to see who might connect with it, no matter what — is always “pleasantly tickled” when audiences are happy to hear songs they haven’t heard live before.
London is also introducing new music on the Serenade Tour, as his latest album “October Nights” is set to release in October. Joining London’s set list are two new songs off that album: “A Beautiful Woman” and “Touch on Me.”
This tour marks the return for both Maxwell and London to Indianapolis, the latter of which said he was excited to return to see new faces, have fun and get to know the crowd.
“I’ve been quite a few times, and the vibe is always great,” Maxwell said, “and the understanding of music and its historical value is really kind of, you know, it’s right there in the front for the people of Indianapolis. It’s always so easy to kind of do what we do because they appreciate songs, and they appreciate tradition. They appreciate music.”
Another thing that makes this tour special is the wedding proposals, London said.
“We’re on two or three wedding proposals on this tour,” London said. “Those have been some real special moments to see people vibing out to the music and also get a chance to come along and get down on one knee. It’s very beautiful.”
“The Serenade Tour” stops in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit gainbridgefieldhouse.com/events/detail/maxwell
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
