As a sea of mostly black women made their way into Enterprise Center Wednesday to relive the boy band experience of their generation, the energy was palpable.
Short shorts and tall socks with custom made t-shirts paying tribute to their favorite band or particular member or a throwback “body dress” seemed to be the preferred outfit of the evening . Fans twerked their way through the Ying Yang Twins’ greatest hits. They sang along with Bobby V and Lloyd and gave St. Louis rap star Chingy and his special hometown guests a hero’s welcome. They melted over Mario and generously engaged with concert host Gary “G-Thang” Johnson as he stalled for the main attraction.
But the oldest group to fall into the millennial age group would experience a letdown as the headlining acts on the Millennium Tour fizzled during their time in the spotlight.
Luckily for the St. Louis leg of the tour, homegrown talent picked up the slack. Johnson was clearly happy to be before a hometown crowd and made the most of the moment – especially when he spared no feelings during an impromptu talent show that bought almost enough time and attention from the crowd for headliner B2K to take the stage.
Nobody was safe as G-Thang wandered through the crowd deciding which of the many willing participants he would gift a few seconds in the spotlight. “Look at her, she’s came out here dressed like an [expletive ] Oscar statue. And told a woman she sounded like a “broke down Garth Brooks” after handing her the microphone to showcase her voice.
By the time he wandered through the crowd, the Millennium Tour party was well underway. Things kicked off with Atlanta rap duo the Ying Yang Twins. As far as stage presence, the pair was perfunctory at best. But their catchy tunes turned Enterprise Center into twerk central for the duration of their brief set that included club hits such as “Whistle While You Twerk,” “Get Low” “Wait (The Whisper Song)” and their feature on the Bubba Sparkxxx track “Miss New Booty.”
R&B singer Bobby V kept the energy going as the show quickly transitioned into his set – which kicked off with “Tell Me (In Those Jeans).” With a sizable chunk of his show was from behind his keyboard, Bobby V gave a solid performance that was well received by the crowd – particularly “Slow Down” and his featured vocals on Ludacris’ “Pimpin’ All Over The World” and Lil’ Wayne’s “Mrs. Officer,” which served as the finale for his set.
Dressed in a capri length black snowsuit, singer Lloyd picked right up where Bobby V. left off. In the decade since he’s consistently been in the spotlight, his falsetto vocals have remained intact. He gave fans a taste of what he’s been up to lately by way of 2018’s “Caramel.” The up-tempo track featuring Trina fared well, but Lloyd received the biggest response from his throwbacks – including “Southside,” “Lay It Down” and the Young Money group effort “Bedrock.”
St. Louis’ own Chingy made his way to the stage about halfway through the lineup – and managed to deliver the performance of the night. Dressed in a black t-shirt with the words “They’re” “Their” and “There” crossed out and “Thurr” remaining untouched as homage to his biggest hit, Chingy’s energy and stage presence took the Millennium Tour to the next level. He raised the bar as far as performance expectations. Mario came close to delivering a show comparable to Chingy’s, but couldn’t quite eclipse him. In all fairness, Chingy had home court advantage – which he made the most of by bringing St. Louis rap talents JR and Huey on stage to perform their respective radio hits “Best Friend” and “Pop, Lock & Drop It.” Chingy’s set included “Holidae Inn,” “One Call Away,” “Pulling Me Back” and his breakthrough hit “Right Thurr” which will forever be synonymous with St. Louis hip-hop.
Pretty Ricky, the first of the evening’s two boy bands started strong, but ended up grinding themselves to dust. They hit the stage gyrating to “Grind On Me” and the audience of mostly early thirty somethings reverted back to their teen years – where they hollered at the top of their lungs while watching Pretty Ricky as part of the Scream Tour lineup. That same energy continued with “Your Body.” But about halfway through the set, things fell flat. By the time front man Pleasure P was granted his time in the spotlight, the audience was somewhat disconnected – though they enjoyed a bit of redemption during “5 In The Morning,” which oddly enough featured group member Spectacular giving his best “Magic Mike” impersonation while wearing nothing more than a towel.
Though it started off a bit bland, teen heartthrob-turned-grown-man crooner Mario gave a best case scenario performance that was for the most part a chronological journey through his career. His vocals were tight and so were the spurts of choreography he delivered during the mid-tempo and dance tracks. In addition to favorites such as “Just A Friend,” “Break Up” and even a cover of Keith Sweat’s slow jam classic “Make It Last Forever.”
It appeared that he was closing the show with “Let Me Love You,” but he returned to the stage for an abruptly ended excerpt from “Thinkin’ About You” a 2013 track that featured Nicki Minaj.
The most anticipated act of the night ended up being the biggest disappointment. After a laborious clip that chronicled the era in which they rose to fame and their shocking breakup, B2K was received with unmatched energy and applause. They powered through hits such as “Girlfriend” and “Uh Huh.” But they were never able to recover from a corny rehearsed bit that saw J. Boog answer his phone and berate his girl in front his group and the audience leading into “What A Girl Wants.”
And as a unit, they simply ran out of steam.
“I’mma be honest with you, I’m not 17 no more,” B2K member J-Boog told the crowd. “I’m 32 – and I’m tired as hell.”
Lead singer Omarion was best in show – particularly for the extended solo spotlight he was given to perform “Icebox,” “Entourage,” “Between Us” and “Post to Be.”
The audience left underwhelmed, but not necessarily unsatisfied after the energy went back through the roof for “Bum, Bump Bump.”
