James Taylor at the Riot Room

By NADIA PFLAUM

For this one, I need to set the scene:

Ces Cru is on stage at the Riot Room on Saturday night, and the foot of the stage is a blender of bobbing heads, flailing hands and charmingly scruffy college girls dancing. Most of the guys in the crowd are wearing the hip-hopper’s uniform of an over-sized printed tee, dark jeans and sneakers. It’s chilly outside but steamy and moist inside, in every sense of the reason that people get grossed out by the word “moist.”

And then there’s this guy, standing safely behind the eye of the dance party, eyes glued to the stage, mouth agape and wondrous: