I Love the 90’s Tour w/ TLC, Blackstreet & more – July 29th 2017 – Verizon Theatre – Arlington, TX
One of my most beloved eras of music of any genre – the early 1990’s that spawned so much great Hip-Hop and R&B music.
Absent of violence and misogyny & tons of unnecessary cursing – just timeless, inspired songs that make you dance, laugh, think & feel good. Hard to not argue the current relevancy of the lineup & that most can no longer tour successfully on their own, but bring a bunch together and it’s a party and THAT’s the point. Now in it’s second year, this tour continues to ride a wave of nostalgia that’s usually always at it’s strongest in it’s second decade removed, it returned with a new lineup of some of your fave R&B, Hip-Hop artists from that magical time.
So for fun (& NO ONE should take this too seriously) I thought it would be fun to assign a rating system this year.
Now we are only really gonna be featuring bands that we haven’t covered before & the scores are your basic 1-10 system (everyone gets a 10 just for getting up there) and the scores are only compared to the other bands of the evening. Meaning, this isn’t an overall score throughout the universe or comparative to other acts of this genre of otherwise. In other words, let’s have some fun.
Snap = (3)
C+C Music Factory = (4)
So we went last year & they paired 8 acts down to 6 which was good for length & also potency & that also means that there was really no real stinker in the bunch. They also rotate the lineups depending on which city which is pays dividends to this tour.
So the only act I’d say that noticeably not as on par with the rest were the openers C+C Music Factory, a group I didn’t think I’d ever get to see live or still had the ability to perform.
But here’s the funny thing: To show how little I knew I never realized that Snap is an entirely different act with like NOTHING to do with C+C!
Their hit song The Power sounds so much like Gonna Make You Sweat that I thoughts it was all the same thing & was wondering why they came out separate.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that it was still as little strange that a female member of C+C came out solo & then after she left THEN Freedom Williams took the stage as the venue was starting to fill up.
Freedom joined C+C in the ‘90s as the group moved from a dance club fave to mainstream popularity with their breakthrough hits,& he performed both, along with a DJ.
Everyone who played prior to headliners TLC knew they were there to play their hit tracks and utilized their slotted 15 minutes accordingly. Maybe lacking some of the more energetic moves of their youth, but still doing the best the can with what they got.
Tone – Loc = (6)
Who doesn’t like Ton-Loc? He’s as irresistable as his two early 90’s hits Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina.
His sense of humor & self-awareness & laid back attitude still in full display and he was getting down with the crowd, bringing a large percentage of the female audience up onstage with him.
Blackstreet = (9)
Sporting flashy black leather jackets to carry out their in-union dance moves, Blackstreet were the clear winners and in my opinion had it going on the most in spite of competing with TLC’s big budget stage show.
Yep, they did “No Diggity,” then they brought those roses out and created a “pick me” frenzy that had the ladies going bananas.
Naughty By Nature = (7)
Only my second time seeing these New Jersey legends live, the first time in a much more intimate setting where they joined me after for a great episode of TrickyKid Radio that you can stream right here.
Now in a much bigger venue in a more high profile setting they were truly in their element and came out swinging.
If I had any complaint at all is that they were the only act that seemed angry and didn’t seem to mind giving off a pissed off vibe which was totally out of place given the party atmosphere & all the acts where harmless and that appeal is why they were on this type of tour in the first place.
There was a slight break in order to get ready for TLC, the only act that night using a live band as part of their set, and when they finally came out, after multiple DJ spins of other hip-hop classics, and awkward ads for an upcoming hip-hop cruise the ladies, their band, and four dancers took the stage.
TLC = (8)
Whereas last year’s final act Salt-N-Pepa were the clear headliner, thanks to lit as fuck sets from Kid N Play and Rob Base it still felt like a collective reveue. This year with main act TLC (that’s two girl groups in two years leading the way, how’s that for girl power?) & their high-end production arena show (everyone else was playing it like a club) it truly felt like this was a TLC with just a bunch more openers than usual.
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas looked fierce in their sleek black outfits, and they sounded even better. They went through all the hits, from “No Scrubs” and “Creep” to “Baby-Baby-Baby” and of course “Waterfalls,” with power. Their dancing was on point, with Chilli really bringing it in that department. The dance crew and band were ferocious, keeping the show jumpin’ until the end. They didn’t forget about their own deceased member, Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes, via an on-screen photo montage spanning their years together. They also did a couple songs from their upcoming new album, which touched on themes about staying true to yourself and issues like cyber-bullying.
Good times.