IN THE STREETS & ON THE WEB

Chris Brown & Trey Songz "Between The Sheets" Sold Out Barclays

Chris Brown's bad boy reputation may have turned off the pundits of the press, not to mention any number of potential fans.

But his sold-out Barclays Center concert Monday pointed to a core audience that remains unwavering.

Unsurprisingly, they bent in an overwhelmingly female direction. The name of the tour — as well as its full line-up — ensured that leaning. It's dubbed "Between The Sheets," the better to highlight its focus on the beefy bodies, and over-heated vocals, of not one, but two R&B studs. Brown shared the billing with fellow soul star Trey Songz.

Each began their sets by bellowing, "What's up ladies?"

Brown followed that with a line to the men who accompanied their girlfriends. "You must be brave," he said.

The double star line-up reflects a certain retrenchment for Brown. "Sheets" represents his first full-length U.S. tour since the "F.A.M.E." show, three and a half years ago. In the time since, Brown has had quite a bit of fence-mending to do.

Monday's show arrived after a two-week delay, reflecting the latest in a long series of controversies surrounding the star. Originally, "Sheets" was set to take place at Barclays on Jan. 29, but Brown had to push the dates back after a judge's ruling that he serve the full run of his latest community service sentence. As recently as last June, Brown spent time in jail for parole violation.

If anything, those controversies have provided a deeper bond for his fans. It's an enticement to both mother him, and to bask in a forbidden frisson.

Accordingly, they swooned for Brown's every bump, grind and vocal cry.

They reacted just as ardently to Songz.

The stars divided their generous two hour, 15 minute show into five sections. The headliners each delivered two sets, reserving a mano-a-mano segment for the center of the night.

The singers have performed together before, including a cameo on Brown's latest album, "X." At Barclays they recreated their duet from that disc, "Songs on 12 Play," which grindingly recalls the early, smut-filled hits of R. Kelly.

Neither Brown nor Songz tend to go as low as horn-dog-in-chief Kelly. While they can certainly be explicit (Brown in songs like "Strip," Songz in ditties like "Bottoms Up"), they tend to leave a little more to the imagination. They also indulge more romance.

Songz sets skewed towards slow jams, with purer R&B. Brown lets more pop into his music, as well as flashes of EDM.

Perhaps more importantly, Songz showed more skin, while Brown demurred.

The two stars also contrasted the genders of their backup dancers — Songz used women, Brown men. Brown himself danced — skillfully and often — while Songz did not. But the former's limber motions came at a cost. While Songz sang strongly, and consistently, Brown often relied on backing tapes. At times, more of his singing came from tapes than from his throat.

Brown switched that up in the tandem set. The stars, positioned on opposite sides of the stage, sat in plush red chairs that looked like something Tim Meadows' "The Ladies' Man" character might have used in a Saturday Night Live skit. The swanky setup cemented the show's place in a long history of R&B "ladies' night" tours, conducted by artists from Teddy Pendergrass to Usher.

At Barclays, the artists provided further excitement with some guest star cameos: Songz' second set featured Ne-Yo, Brown's boasted 50 Cent.

But for all the image-mongering of the night, singing remained the star. Both artists are gifted vocalists, with creamy timbres and agile skills at phrasing. When Brown let those qualities show, it became clear that — beyond the baggage in his life — his trills and yelps can earn the fans' ardor alone.