Alfredo Flores, award-winning D.C.-based freelance event photographer

PHOTO STORY

Alicia Keys at Verizon Center

Photo Credit:Alfredo Flores, Special to Metromix

You can’t fault the fans at Verizon Center for going a bit stir crazy minutes before Alicia Keys took center stage. The rumors that persisted pre-show came true as First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha took their seats, and the pandemonium began. The mood subdued just a bit as Keys emerged from two giant screen video boards, locked in a cage, yearning to break free. Her personal demons keeping her trapped in the intro for “Love is Blind,” and she broke loose from her inner prison with “You Don't Know My Name” to start off the D.C. leg of Key’s aptly named “Freedom Tour”. These powerful uplifting ballads are indicative of why Keys has become one of the top R&B artists of all-time, having sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Opening for Keys was R&B crooner Robin Thicke.