Usher was the biggest pop star of the '00s. But with fans of R & B-inclined pop, it's often a case of what have you done for us lately? For Usher, um, not much. He might seem as passé as his protégé Justin Bieber. (Remember him?)

Usher released his last album, "Looking 4 Myself," in 2012, and he was supposed to drop "UR" this year, but the album has been delayed indefinitely. Nonetheless, he decided to undertake the 27-date UR Experience Tour, which landed Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center. Maybe 7,000 people showed up — and Usher himself almost showed up. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Sure, the 36-year-old hit the stage at the half-empty arena but there was no emotional core, no momentum and no real pulse for most of his 110-minute show. To be sure, there were rewarding moments, especially with his dancing early on. He's gone to school on Michael Jackson's locking and popping moves and made that style his own. (Not to mention that such tunes as "Caught Up," with its staccato bursts, and the brand-new "She Came to Give It to You" had musical echoes of Michael as well.)

But by the time Usher had switched to his gold lamé sneakers (preceded by the sparkly black ones and the red high-tops, which were clearly his dancing shoes) for the last third of the show, he'd pretty much abandoned his dance moves. His main move at that point was ogling a handful of female fans invited onstage to dance solo during the overlong, show-derailing "Bad Girl." And that was followed by an unnecessary drum solo.

Thankfully, Usher didn't keep his feet quiet on the ensuing "Good Kisser," a new number with more of a funk dynamic and some snazzy horns, and on the dance-club smashes "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" and "Yeah," easily the night's biggest crowd pleasers. The night's most exciting number was "Twisted," one of Usher's lesser singles from 2011 that sounded like "Play That Funky Music" performed by Sly & the Family Stone.

Frankly, the horn parts and the sophisticated, jazzy vocal harmonies by the backup singers were the most consistently impressive musical aspects of the evening. Despite strong support from his nine musicians, eight dancers and three singers, Usher never summoned palpable passion on his ballads, often letting fans sing large chunks of "Burn" and other favorites. Too often he cut songs short even if they weren't part of medleys. "Confessions," one of his pivotal romantic numbers (he fesses up to cheating on her), was the shortest confession since Adrian Peterson pleaded "no contest" in court.

Usher’s performance Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul was less than inspiring, says reviewer Jon Bream. It lacked momentum, but it did have a few good moments.

Usher tried to work the crowd by pitting his "Day 1 fans" vs. his "Original Fans." But the screams/cheers in the D1 vs. OF competition felt forced and clichéd. He just really had difficulty sparking the crowd until the closing dance hits. (He had been more consistently inspired in his previous Twin Cities arena shows in 2011, '04 and '02 in front of capacity crowds.) And he saved his money move — taking off his tank top to show off those famous abs — until the curtain call, which lasted maybe 10 seconds.

Despite Usher's pronouncement that this was the loudest audience on the tour so far, his words rang hollow. (Um, Ush, you mean a sold-out Madison Square Garden wasn't louder with more than twice as many people?) For much of the concert, the St. Paul crowd seemed about as unenthusiastic as Usher himself. He wanted to go "Yeah!" but mostly the audience went "Ehh."

Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719