Line-up

Venue

Rockefeller

Badstugata 2, 0183, Oslo, Norway

www.rockefeller.no/

Capacity: 1,350

View upcoming concerts

Additional details

Doors open: 22:00

Concert in your area for Funk & Soul, Pop, and R&B.

Find out more about Pop.

Cupid biography

Lafayette, Louisiana’s Cupid has built up a fantastic reputation as a singer and songwriter in the R&B world since 2000, including having a Guinness World record to his name for the largest line dance assembled with 17,000 people in Atlanta.

Born Bryson Bernard, Cupid’s love music began when he started to sing in a church choir, due to the influence from his father who was a pastor. He landed an athletic scholarship in track and field to go to the University of Louisiana, however, he found himself leaving the team to create a singing ensemble that went by the name, Fasho, but would later become Fifth Element. Unfortunately, Fifth Element disbanded and Bernard started to embark on a solo career, singing at talent shows, and weddings. He started to be known as ‘Cupid’ due to a cover of Sam Cooke’s hit single, ‘Cupid’ that he would do at shows.

2001 saw Cupid land his first airplay with his debut single “Do Ya Thang”, which was self released and self promoted. It was later released on a full-length studio album in 2002 through ASAR Entertainment. The following album, “The King of Down South R&B” was released on July 26th 2005. Following a couple of national tours after the release of that album, Cupid began to record his third album, fortunately, just before he released the album, he signed to Atlantic Records. His third album was called “Time for Change” and he led with the single “Cupid Shuffle” which peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. Since the song was released, it has been certified double Platinum.

His music has made it to the soundtrack of the movie, Step Up 2: The Streets, Nancy Drew and P.S. I Love You.

Live reviews

Warning: If you despise any form of physical activity including dancing, then this is not the gig for you. I'll be honest, I went to the gig with little to no expectations. I left with the inability to stop my legs from moving. That's what the self-styled Dance Party King could do. The night ended up being less of a 'gig night', and more of a night out. Forget all the media hype about the Guinness World Record that (New) Cupid broke for a second. Forget his disastrous audition in the third season of The Voice. Forget the hilarious song titles and lyrics for a second; of course, these ARE part and parcel of Cupid's act, but they short-change his ability as a performer and musician. Yes, his songs are very catchy. Yes, the Cupid Shuffle is still popular today, but I was surprised at how much more Cupid is capable of. With an impressive vocal range, the R&B singer from Louisiana infected the audience with the boogie cravings easily, whilst making it clear he was there to have a good time too.
Despite being apparent in his lyrics, there was absolutely no need for dance instructions - the entire crowd knew exactly what to do when he started tracks like 'Do It With Your Boots On', 'Teach Me How to Wobble' and the infamous 'Cupid Shuffle'. The groove was infectious, and despite being incredibly unfit, I felt compelled to wiggle along to most of the songs, most notably 'The Wham Dance' with the brass instrumentation. It was clear that the audience were having a good time, moving 'to the left, to the right' as one smooth unit. I'm pretty sure the only bodies not dancing in that building that night belonged to security. Cupid also performed some of his more sensual songs, such as 'Dance On The Mattress', which was a good showcase for his musicianship. He reminded me of super-smooth Trey Songz, albeit as the more comedic, less serious version. If you're looking for quality lyrics and true R&B/soul musical substance, look elsewhere. In short, if you do end up going to see Cupid live, you'll probably end up going home to teach your friends all the moves to his songs, just so you can drag them along next time. I know I am.

Report