Keith Sweat glistens at Lynn Auditorium

The crowd heading inside Lynn Auditorium on Saturday night was fixed up to the nines. Men looked fresh in suits and ties. Ladies were sparkling in sequins and spandex, hair done and makeup on point. The fancy, mostly 40-plus crowd was there to see R&B singer Keith Sweat, who transformed the venue into a VIP lounge for grown and sexy folk during his provocative two-hour concert.

Sweat (yes, that is his real name) first hit the top of Billboard’s R&B chart with his 1987 debut album Make It Last Forever. The multi-platinum artist took the Lynn audience on a journey through his 30-year career as a singer, songwriter and producer with an 18-song show. From the moment he stepped on stage singing his 1990 hit “Make You Sweat,” the 1,500-plus fans in attendance were on their feet and aisles were packed with dancers. It appeared everyone in the house was out to have a good time, including Sweat.

Early into the show, Sweat asked that the house lights be turned up so he could see everyone and share a playful, but declarative, statement about what his sexy songs incite: “Someone here is going to get pregnant tonight.”

He seemed somewhat preoccupied with the act of babymaking and found one couple in the crowd that was already six months along. He joked, “I hope you made that baby to a Keith Sweat song.”

Sweat also shared another factoid about his music.

“I don’t do lip-syncing,” he boasted several times.

Clad in head-to-toe black, the 56-year-old crooner with a devilishly-handsome smile didn’t need a backup track. He looked and sounded as crisp as he did in the early years of his career. His vocals on slower jams like “Get Up On It,” “Nobody,” “Twisted,” “Freak Me” (the 1993 hit that he wrote and produced for the group Silk) and “I’ll Give All My Love To You” (a crowd favorite) were sultry, smooth and showcased a surprising range as he switched from tenor to falsetto. And his more uptempo tunes “Keep It Comin’” and a cover of Johnny Kemp’s “Just Got Paid” demonstrated Sweat’s mastery of the New Jack Swing sound, and moves, that he helped pioneer in the 1990s. His background singers, 5-piece band, rapper/hype man and dancers were equally skilled, adding much depth to the performance.

Midway through the show, Sweat briefly disappeared for an outfit change. Dressed in all-white everything, he surprised the crowd while singing the seductive “Test Drive” by inviting several single ladies and a few couples to join him on stage. The group remained on stage for the rest of the show, either dancing or sitting on leather couches in the living room-like setup.

Sweat closed the show with the most successful single of his career and, judging by the crowd’s spirited reaction, the most popular/best song of the evening -- 1988’s megahit “I Want Her” (with a few lines of  Cameo’s “Candy” sneaked in at the end of the song).

Though it’s much too soon to determine whether the Lynn area will experience a population boom nine months from now, one thing’s for certain: Keith Sweat delivered a charming, energetic performance of nostalgia-filled R&B greatness. If anyone in attendance was not already enamored, many fans were born that night.