Anita Baker's latest live performance is catching a little heat after she apparently got testy with the audience out in Texas -- parts of which were captured on video.

The legendary crooner was doing a show in Houston's Toyota Center Friday night and playing to a pretty solid-sized audience ... but at certain points during the gig, AB appears to have gotten into it a bit with some folks down in the front row.

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There are 2 videos, in particular, that are circulating online right now -- one shows Anita telling some people right below her near the stage to stop recording ... in the middle of a song.

There's another moment where Anita could be seen/heard asking for security to boot folks.

Overall, this seems to have left a bad taste in people's mouths -- with some online complaining that Anita was more concerned with arguing with a select few ticket-buyers than doing the best job she could onstage. Others claimed she seemed to miss some lyrics ... and alleged her performance, overall, was relatively short-lived and somewhat sloppy.

Now, there's a good handful of people defending Anita ... saying the folks in the front row were, in fact, acting up and testing AB. Others said the performance, at large, was great.

Of course, the larger backdrop to this is the Babyface feud she was in earlier this year while on the road -- during which she got into it with both him and his fans in the Twitter-sphere.

Anita's got another show tonight in Dallas, then she comes to Cali next for her final two. Here's hoping she can go out with a bang -- sounds like the tour's been a little bumpy.