Boyz II Men appeared outside Los Angeles recently, and your Most Important Blogger... Ever was on hand to witness the greatness in person.
The concert was not their best ever. I remember the heyday of the mid-nineties, when Boyz II Men were backed by Sony, and they put on ridiculous shows featuring fireworks, dozens of costume changes, mobile stages (I once saw them climb from the main stage to another stage up in the rafters at the Palace in Detroit), and even diamond-encrusted microphones. Yes, Boyz II Men were huge in the 90's, and they had huge shows.
This show was refreshingly smaller. No band. No costume changes. No fireworks. Just three guys (the fourth has retired from music to pursue a career in architecture) with three amazing voices and some of the best pop music ever written.
The show was great. Taking advantage of the small venue, the guys joked back and forth with the crowd. They did something I've never seen before, taking crowd-band interaction to a new level, when they took cell phones from the crowd and sung "A Song For Mama" over the phones to people's moms. Amazing. They sang all their great hits -- "End of the Road," "Water Runs Dry," "I'll Make Love To You" (with their now famous rose-tossing routine) -- and they performed some tracks from their new remake album, Throwback. They've never sounded better. The lack of a band was keenly felt, but these guys can do a capella just fine.
And the most amazing thing about Boyz II Men shows hasn't changed from the 90's. These guys attract people from all walks of life. Seriously. I saw some tricked-out, middle-aged black guys (who looked like reverends from a church) in the same space as teenaged white girls from the OC, along with some punked out indie-style kids with bleached white streaks in their jet-black hair, young ghetto-fabulous black teenaged couples, Asian people old and young, and even a few white dudes in full business suits. Twenty-something women made up the bulk of the crowd, but seriously, everyone enjoys a good Boyz II Men song. This kind of broad-based appeal has been generated by very, very few other musical acts, and it was through this appeal that Boyz II Men helped inaugurate the current domination of R&B and Hip Hop in worldwide popular music.
The guys were fully aware that they're on hard times, and they profusely thanked the audience for helping to keep Boyz II Men in the business for more than 15 years. And some self-depracation showed that they don't take themselves too seriously. The sold-out show was amazing -- and it will be back in Southern California by popular demand later this month. They also have dates scheduled in Atlantic City, Buffalo, Atlanta, and Ontario. Go check them out.
The concert was not their best ever. I remember the heyday of the mid-nineties, when Boyz II Men were backed by Sony, and they put on ridiculous shows featuring fireworks, dozens of costume changes, mobile stages (I once saw them climb from the main stage to another stage up in the rafters at the Palace in Detroit), and even diamond-encrusted microphones. Yes, Boyz II Men were huge in the 90's, and they had huge shows.
This show was refreshingly smaller. No band. No costume changes. No fireworks. Just three guys (the fourth has retired from music to pursue a career in architecture) with three amazing voices and some of the best pop music ever written.
The show was great. Taking advantage of the small venue, the guys joked back and forth with the crowd. They did something I've never seen before, taking crowd-band interaction to a new level, when they took cell phones from the crowd and sung "A Song For Mama" over the phones to people's moms. Amazing. They sang all their great hits -- "End of the Road," "Water Runs Dry," "I'll Make Love To You" (with their now famous rose-tossing routine) -- and they performed some tracks from their new remake album, Throwback. They've never sounded better. The lack of a band was keenly felt, but these guys can do a capella just fine.
And the most amazing thing about Boyz II Men shows hasn't changed from the 90's. These guys attract people from all walks of life. Seriously. I saw some tricked-out, middle-aged black guys (who looked like reverends from a church) in the same space as teenaged white girls from the OC, along with some punked out indie-style kids with bleached white streaks in their jet-black hair, young ghetto-fabulous black teenaged couples, Asian people old and young, and even a few white dudes in full business suits. Twenty-something women made up the bulk of the crowd, but seriously, everyone enjoys a good Boyz II Men song. This kind of broad-based appeal has been generated by very, very few other musical acts, and it was through this appeal that Boyz II Men helped inaugurate the current domination of R&B and Hip Hop in worldwide popular music.
The guys were fully aware that they're on hard times, and they profusely thanked the audience for helping to keep Boyz II Men in the business for more than 15 years. And some self-depracation showed that they don't take themselves too seriously. The sold-out show was amazing -- and it will be back in Southern California by popular demand later this month. They also have dates scheduled in Atlantic City, Buffalo, Atlanta, and Ontario. Go check them out.
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