Khamari, Gabriel Jacoby
Toad’s Place
New Haven
March 7, 2026
The first thing I saw at Toad’s Place Saturday evening was a guy gently placing his girl up on a ledge so that she could see the show better. She looked down at him affectionately. He looked up at her adoringly.
Ah, I thought, this is a show for lovers.
The lovers sold out Khamari’s show for his To Dry a Tear: Part II tour, in fact, and the around-the-block line snaked behind businesses on Broadway. Khamari delivered a performance that justified the insanity. His caramel smooth vocals were gorgeous, especially when paired with his hypnotic guitar playing. Throughout the show, the band backing him was dynamic, shifting easily between spare intimacy and fuller, groove-driven arrangements. Supporting him on his tour was his cousin and fellow guitar-playing R&B artist Gabriel Jacoby.
Khamari set the emotional temperature early with the brooding “He Said, She Said,” a slow-burn meditation on romantic collapse that doubled as a showcase for his restrained yet expressive guitar work. Pulling from his albums, A Brief Nirvana and To Dry a Tear, he continued the evening singing about the ache of heartbreak; the search for love, redemption and happiness; his artistry; and the pitfalls of youth. His voice sounded as great against stark backdrops as when riding pulsing beats. His stage presence was understated but magnetic. As Khamari performed, he seemed as swept up in the music as his biggest fans.
Loud screams erupted at the opening chords of the popular “Doctor, My Eyes.” The crowd sang the chorus passionately: Doc, I’m only 20 something/Would you, would you?/I’m way too young to feel this numb, yea/Would you, would you?
Cell phones rose across the venue like tiny lanterns, their glowing screen obscuring the stage as fans tried to capture the moment.
They screamed again for “Head in a Jar.” Few thrills compare to hearing an artist deliver beloved songs back to back, and the audience responded accordingly. Voices rang out across the room as fans echoed the song’s melancholy hook about emotional captivity: ‘Cause you keep my head in a jar/Here on your nightstand/I’ll spend my life left/With my head in a jar. Khamari appreciated the accompaniment. “Y’all sound good tonight.”
The crowd proved my initial impression correct – this was a show for lovers. When Khamari looked mischievously at the audience and yelled, “Anybody out there single?” there was a roar that filled the room. That kind of full-throated response could only come from real yearners. After all, one does not need to be coupled up to be a lover.
Khamari smiled at the animated reaction and introduced “Lonely in the Jungle.” It’s a bluesy yet mournful bop about a relationship gone sour. In the song, he dramatically asks, If there’s a God in this lonely jungle/Why haven’t my prayers been answered? Anybody in the dating scene right now can tell you he could actually stand to be more dramatic.
A couple of people in the audience demonstrated the horrors of the dating scene as they intermittently demanded Khamari take his shirt off. Much to the chagrin of the admirers of his strong arms, he did not oblige. He seemed to prefer to let his music do the seducing.
And seduce it did. Throughout the set, Khamari revealed himself to be a careful student of R&B, his music sounding familiar in the best way. “I Love Lucy” had the atmosphere of a Frank Ocean track. “Drifting” soared on a euphoric sample of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” And “Sycamore Tree” lovingly interpolated D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”.
The whole night felt like a celebration of true R&B and soul.
