TLC & Montell Jordan
PHOTOS BY LEAH VICTORIA
By Leah Victoria
Artist: TLC and Montell Jordan
Date / Venue: Saturday November 26th, 2016 - Vector Arena, Auckland
90’s RnB/Hip-Hop is the backbone to the playlist that accompanies my daily life, so it was safe to say I got pretty excited to hear that not only were Multi Platinum selling girl band TLC bringing their latest tour to New Zealand, but also that guy that gave us the ultimate party track 'This Is How We Do It' Montell Jordan was gonna be there to open the night AND I was gonna get to go along to document it with photos! Seriously this puts me in my absolute element!
Vector Arena in it’s shortened length filled up early in the night, a sure sign that the crowd were there to see the warm up and not just the main event!
Montell took to the stage looking smooth in Jeans, leather and Rayban’s to a massive scream from the fans, taking us on a journey through his most recognised beats and melodies. But hearing This Is How We Do It, Live, was by far the best moment! Vector Arena began to heat up as the entire crowd bounced and chanted the lyrics back at him.
We were then treated to a short set by US Quartet 112 pronounced “one-twelve” best known for their collaborations 'I’ll Be Missing You' with Faith Evans & P.Diddy, and 'Sky’s The Limit' with The Notorious B.I.G.
There was an MC with a fabulous but creepy mask, and an alluring accent which I was unable to place, keeping the crowd interaction going and encouraging the hype prior to TLC taking their place on the big Auckland stage.
When Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins & Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas make an entrance, it’s BIG! Accompanied by an awesome full band, a group of insanely talented dancers stormed the stage flicking some moves that were way too cool for skool, before the ladies made their appearance and headed straight into the delivery of their long list of award winning hits.
Dressed in distressed denim, both rocking their signature styles, and looking hot, I wondered if time had stood still for a decade as my high school radio was literally bought to life in front of my own ears.
We got all the staples, CrazySexyCool, Fanmail, anti-Douchebag anthem No Scrubs, Creep, Unpretty and even I Ain’t too Proud To Beg, featuring the late Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopez. Leaving her raps and lyrics in place while the duo joined the dancers was a nice touch, and gave the sense that Left-Eye is still very much a prominent part of the groups history and future.
The whole crowd danced and sang along to pretty much every track that was played, only slowing down for the brand new single Haters. Of course we don’t know the words to this one yet, but the karaoke style lyrics bouncing colourfully across the big screen encouraged us to learn this catchy and upbeat release.
Tonight, TLC gave us romance, uplifting lyrics, feel good beats, and the best feeling of all, nostalgia, with a grande finale attempt at The Mannequin Challenge in place of a typical encore! I cannot wait to see it!!
With a new album promised for 2017, TLC have done a superb job of reminding us why we love them so much, and I for one can’t wait for them to come back and do it again!