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In fact, it was the female-dominant audience of just over 12,000 that did a major portion of the heavy lifting during the ɫɫ�� R&B singer and songwriter’s 90-minute performance, almost overwhelming him as they sang every word of the opener “Ocho Rios” from his latest album “Never Enough,” and engaging in a call-and-response of the catchline, “You’re my saving grace, grace, grace, grace, grace.”

Little wonder that for his first major arena trek — one that will eventually take him around the planet — Caesar has coined it his “Superpowers World Tour.”

Caesar’s superpower: connection, and the ability to touch his fans’ heartstrings with short, well-written ballads and midtempo numbers that, frankly, reduce them to screaming hormones.

It’s a curiosity because, on the surface, it seems to take Caesar little effort to achieve this effect. As a performer, he’s a great singer with an extended vocal range who, as he demonstrated again on “Ocho Rios,” has a pretty appealing falsetto.

But he doesn’t dance. He doesn’t run. There is no physical energy that is part of the show’s appeal.

A good test of this enigmatic appeal of his occurred early in the set during more “Never Enough” numbers: the slow-burning “Never Let Me Go,” “Disillusioned” and “ɫɫ�� 2014” — a transparent curtain dropped around a slightly-raised rectangle platform that was positioned centre stage, obscuring the crowd’s vision of Caesar as he continued to perform surrounded by the shroud.

For a trio of tunes — including a duet with Mustafa The Poet that occurred during “ɫɫ�� 2014” — all the audience could view was Caesar’s darkened silhouette.

It lasted a little longer than one would anticipate, and just as some begin wondering if they’d ever see a clear view of the headliner for the remainder of the evening, the curtain dropped and a couple of women standing beside me almost dropped to their knees with excitement as they screamed at the top of their lungs, their cellphones capturing what was a moment of glory in their minds.

Then, for “Cyanide,” the fans got to see plenty of Caesar’s face as a camera man followed him while he strolled the stage singing the number.

Again, no sweating. No physical exertion. Just control.

His performance alternated between standing behind a mic to sing on that raised stage; occasionally strapping on his Telecaster or an acoustic — his cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” lit up Scotiabank Arena with cellphone lights. He played keyboards twice, and had a three-piece band placed as far back on the stage as was humanly possible.

His popular songs from a three-album deep catalogue that includes 2017’s “Freudian,” 2019’s “Case Study 01” and the 2023 Polaris short-lister “Never Enough” drew explosive cheers of recognition each time the first chord or two were played.

Surprisingly, though, there didn’t seem to be any deviation from the original recorded versions — something you think he might have entertained now that he was in a concert forum.

The most entertaining visuals were provided by the LED screens that surrounded the stage and were suspended above it — and the most effective use of those screens was displaying the words of “Entropy” as a lyric video, one of the more topical songs that Caesar has composed that show he isn’t just a one-tricky pony restricted to romantic subjects.

When it was time to play one of his biggest hits — “Best Part” — it was the audience who came to his rescue and performed the role of his absent partner H.E.R. in terms of singing the lyrics, while a video camera panned the faces in the crowd. There was an eruption of cheers when two males kissed for the lens, with the rest of the applause reserved for the entertainer.

A similar situation occurred for “Get You” and “Always,” although Caesar sang much more of that concert-ending song than the public.

One side note: a lot of Caesar’s tempos are identical, and here’s hoping that he introduces a few R&B songs with quicker tempos in the future just to break up the monotony.

For example, the slightly more dramatic “Shot My Baby” was such a refreshing change in the 22 song set that it stuck out like a sore thumb — and that’s a good thing.

Opening the show were a couple of acts — Moses Sumney, a Ghanian-American R&B stylist who figures that the employment of a strong falsetto can easily camouflage the weakest of repertoires — and an inspiring pairing of local R&B singer Charlotte Day Wilson and jazz-driven Grammy winning instrumentalists BadBadNotGood, which offered mixed results.

Day Wilson has a soulful R&B voice, but seemed to start a little awkwardly with the band, taking a few numbers to find her groove. While she sounds great, she still needs to work on her stage presence, at least when it comes to performing in front of large audiences. As much as she’s all about the music, being an entertainer requires a bit more than just walking around aimlessly on stage while everyone else does their thing.

Thank God for BBNG drummer Leland Whitty, who took the microphone and breathed some life into the crowd to bring them into the set, which was fabulously performed by all involved.

The other problem? Day Wilson’s two backing singers were submerged in the mix during their 30-minute set, so unless one was part of the standing general admission crowd, they weren’t heard. Unfortunately, someone was asleep at the sound board when it came to monitoring their volume.

The collaboration between Day Wilson and BBNG — “Whisper” was the set highlight, but a future tour featuring this R&B/jazz configuration would be most welcome, as things were just beginning to gel when their allotted set time ended.

While Day Wilson and BBNG charmed the crowd, it was the Juno and Grammy winning guy raised in Oshawa with whom they were truly smitten.

They were clearly there to hail Caesar, and he did not disappoint.

Daniel Caesar

Three stars out of four

Scotiabank Arena, Oct. 13