Let the music begin

Finally,

an hour and half after the fact of the scheduled show time,

En Vogue

took the stage. Decorated as a bag of M&Ms with 16 inch

ponytails, the ladies came out in true colorful form. However, the

ladies sounded as if they gargled with knives…and the crowd wasn’t

moved. Thankfully, as they lapsed into more familiar songs such as

“My Lovin (Never Gonna Get It)” and “Giving Him Something He Can

Feel” they were able to regain ground. Closing out the set with

“What’s It Gonna Be” and “Free Your Mind,” En Vogue truly reminded

us of why we fell in love with them in the first place. Next up was

the silky smooth Eric

Benet. Unlike The Princess & The Frogs En Vogue, Benet

came out vocally strong out the gate. However, I was a bit

disappointed that his set went almost exactly as it did when he was

at the Fox with

“mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;”>Fantasia

in January. I

mean c’mon. I think there was definitely enough time to maybe

refresh the set. However, in the end, I do believe Benet did his

job – which is apparently a signature of singin’ to the high

heavens.

“mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;”>Fantasia

also suffered the

same shortcomin’ as she opened with the same medley of songs she

did when she headlined a few months ago. However, Tasia knew she

had the audience in the palm of her hand regardless as her swollen

feet made their usual appearance within minutes into her set.

Decked in a black body suit with no spanx to speak of Fantasia

wailed the house down. As she screeched through “Free Yourself” and

“Collard Greens and Cornbread” – all the while leavin’ greasy

footprints all over the stage – the crowd ate it up like Sweetie

Pies on a Sunday. As the clock struck midnight,

“mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;”>Charlie Wilson

choo-chooed

his way on stage decked in sequence-dipped railroad attire. In the

midst of dancers hittin’ 6 o’clock kicks, Wilson went through the

hits showcasing both

“mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;”>Gap Band

and solo

signatures.  Although it

seemed Wilson was a bit flustered and out of breath within the

first couple of selections, he still pushed through, showing that

even 60 year olds can still get down with the best of them. “Early

in the Morning”, “Outstanding”, “There Goes My Baby”, and “You

Dropped a Bomb on Me” all flavored Uncle Charlie’s set as I quietly

was fighting a nap. If it wasn’t for Wilson’s occasional high

pitched whistles, I have been knee deep into a coma.