In an evening that could have been an introduction of R&B group TGT, the All-White Affair concert fell along the same lines of a regular R&B revue featuring Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank at The Chaifetz Arena Saturday night.
Instead of capitalizing on the audience for the sake of promoting their new project, they played it safe by presenting familiar favorites from other artists when they came together. And audiences saw what they’ve always seen from the singers from their solo careers thanks to segmented performances of their respective hits.
TGT were for the most part entertaining –but failed to make the most of the moment due to the heavy emphasis on their individual talents.
The evening began with El DeBarge, who – as usual – wowed the audience with his pristine falsetto on DeBarge hits like “Stay With Me,” “Time Will Reveal” and Switch classics such as “There’ll Never Be” and “I Call Your Name.”
Ginuwine would be first at bat as far as the TGT experience and kicked his segment off with “Same Old G.” He is clearly the weakest link vocally as he relied on vocal assistance from background singers over the course of his performance of “In Those Jeans,” “Anxious,” “One Chance” and other songs from his nearly twenty years as an R&B heartthrob. By the time he closed his segment with his breakout hit “Pony” he had abandoned singing all together for the sake of body rolls and other seductive dance moves.
Tank would be second on deck and offered the strongest performance of the evening. He was able to transition in and out of upbeat and high-energy to smooth balladeer much to the audiences delight through “Shots Fired,” “I Deserve” and “Please Don’t Go.” He slowed things all the way down and stepped behind the piano with an intimate performance of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” for his finale.
Tyrese received plenty of love thanks to a strong St. Louis connection as the anchor leg of the solo component of the concert.
He was vocally sound as he returned to the hometown of his parents and siblings for the first time in years , blending his own music with his notable hook appearances like “Pulling Me Back and “What U Like.”
The only downside of his set was the fact that his signature slow jams such as “Excited,” “Have I Told You” and “Sweet Lady,” were reduced to snippets before he closed his show out with “Stay.”
