Apparently, we're nostalgic for the '90s. So hungry that we'll eat up a low-budget revue of R&B group En Vogue and rappers Naughty By Nature and Tone Loc.
Their "'90s Explosion" show at the ¾ full Mystic Lake Showroom on Friday night was fun but remarkably short on production values: No band for En Vogue and no DJ for Tone Loc. And Naughty By Nature devoted at least half its set to hits by others including 2Pac and Notorious BIG.
It seems odd to see name hip-hop acts – even passe ones – turn into cover bands, so to speak. Between his smashes "Funky Cold Medina" and "Wild Thing," Tone Loc delivered the most raspy-voiced rendition of the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight."
Naughty's DJ Kay Gee introduced their set with snippets of Journey, Queen and the Jackson 5 hits before rappers Treach and Vin Rock got down with "O.P.P."
Treach saluted 2Pac and Biggie by saying it was cool to play their songs back to back even though there would be some haters on social media.
Treach dissed Donald Trump a few times, broke out a bottle of Hennessy (which he shared with one fan) and let the crowd sing along to Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It." And, like Tone Loc before him, Treach invited a bunch of woman onstage to dance for Naughty's closing number, "Hip Hop Hooray."
At least En Vogue had enough hits to fill 50 minutes. The quartet is trimmed to a trio, with original members Cindy Herron-Braggs and Terry Ellis plus relative newcomer Rhona Bennett, who could win a Whitney Houston look-alike contest.
Sometimes the harmonies sounded thin and neither Herron-Braggs nor Ellis had a knockout voice but their hits still connected. Both the sounds and the words – full of liberated messages -- resonated with the crowd of mostly 40-somethings..
From the opening "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)," to the closing "Free Your Mind" (I missed the live guitar but loved the singers' sassitude), En Vogue was in sync with this crowd.
Their medley of hits by fore-sisters who inspired them – Aretha, Chaka, Tina, Patti, Donna – was an energetic, inspiring detour. The one new number – "Déjà Vu" from an album due this fall – was unmemorable pop-soul.
Too bad a tour like this couldn't land, say, MC Hammer to headline and up the production values – and the nostalgia.
