Rappers team up for ultimate Throwback Thursday
ow many of you rented videos at Blockbuster?” Pepa asked.
“Celebrate. A lot. We made it to 2017!” added Salt.
Sure, Salt N Pepa were pandering to the crowd with their references to 1990s and the fact their music isn’t exactly highly relevant today. But anybody at that show was likely looking for an indulgence or some type of nostalgic gratification. For that, they were somewhat rewarded. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one unsure of what to expect Thursday night at the Enmax Centre. But more than 2,000 people showed up for the “I Love The ’90’s Tour” featuring Vanilla Ice, Salt N Pepa, Young MC, Rob Base, and C+C Music Factory.
It was the ultimate Throwback Thursday. Long beer lines and plenty of dusted-off dance moves likely led to more than a few people calling in sick Friday morning.
By the time Vanilla Ice hit the stage just before 10 p.m., the crowd was plenty riled up. Say what you will about the actual strength of the performances (spoiler alert: none of the artists have a wow factor based on vocal prowess or instrumental ability), I haven’t seen a crowd that engaged to a show in some time.
“Ninja Rap” is a terrible song, let’s not kid ourselves. Vanilla Ice singing it Thursday wasn’t great, either. But did anybody care? Not really. It was awesome to see it live.
Of course, he also performed his cover of “Play That Funky Music” off 1990’s “To The Extreme” album — which sold 15 million copies — then “Ice Ice Baby,” which was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts.
Everyone has a memory to that song, whether they like it, love it or hate it. About two dozen locals (who must have paid for some type of premium ticket) were up on stage with Vanilla Ice as he was singing “All right stop, collaborate and listen, Ice is back with my brand new invention. Something grabs a hold of me tightly, then I flow like a harpoon daily and nightly. Will it ever stop? Yo — I don’t know.”
Those people will be telling stories of that moment for a long time.
After that song, which was only about 20 minutes into his set, Mr. Ice (who turns 50 next month, if you want to age yourself ) began just sort of singing over top of “Pony” by Ginuwine, “Paper Planes” by M.I.A., and a double shot of Bob Marley with “No Woman, No Cry” and “Redemption Song.” It was strange.
People paid money to go to a live concert, not just listen to a former star essentially perform glorified karaoke. But most of those there didn’t seem to mind, and just kept dancing and partying as their babysitters were racking up overtime hours.
Co-headliners Salt N Pepa, who are Cheryl James (Salt), Sandra Denton (Pepa) and DJ Spinderella, played just before Vanilla Ice. They formed in 1985 as one of the first all-female rap groups and became superstars with tracks such as “Push It,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” the Grammy-winning “None of Your Business,” “Whatta Man,” and “Shoop” — all of which were sort of “played” on Thursday.
Quote marks on “played” refer to the songs being heard and singers having active microphones on stage, but I wouldn’t go as far to say it was exactly a full performance.
Ahead of SNP, filling a gap of 15 minutes, was Young MC. He is best known for his hit “Bust a Move.” It won a Grammy, too.
Young MC is already 50, by the way. Insert your own joke.
Rob Base played some other songs, and “It Takes Two” (which was actually released in 1988). But nobody on Thursday night cared about anachronisms.
Opening the show was C+C Music Factory or, more specifically, original vocalist Freedom Williams. He acquired trademark rights to the name in 2003.
He sang “Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll),” “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...” and “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).” Don’t worry, he can’t name more than three C+C Music Factory songs either.
Thursday’s artists may not be producing new music, or would even make a dent in the shifted landscape of today’s music should they release a new track. But this show wasn’t about relevance in 2017.
It was about the 1990s and nostalgia from that decade. Those of us who watched MuchMusic (and went to junior high dances in 1993) had a fun time Thursday reliving the era through a set of timeless songs. Not bad for a Thursday night at the Enmax Centre.
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