90s R&B Icons Deliver A Strong Show at McGrath Amphitheatre

It was sort of like reliving our high school years for those of us who grew up in the '90s.

In fact, I hung out with and saw many old friends when, on Wednesday night, En Vogue and Boyz II Men took the stage at the McGrath Amphitheatre.

Each played for about an hour, and all the hits were delivered. En Vogue opened up and performed "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)", "Free Your Mind", "Giving Him Something He Can Feel", even their Salt N Pepa collaboration, sans Salt N Pepa, "Whatta Man". In between they paid homage to their Motown forebearers with a medley of classic smooth R&B hits.

Boyz II Men were the highlight of the night, starting their set with "Motownphilly" (and the iconic lyric "Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD"). A fun fact we learned from Wanye' and Nathan Morris and Shawn Stockman, the only three of the original four members left in the group, was that they were originally offered the song "Amazed", but turned it down. It of course went on to become a smash for Lonestar. They proceeded to "make good on their mistake" and played the song during the show. A beautiful rendition, but as a friend and I agreed, they probably made the right choice turning it over to Lonestar. Otherwise, we heard everything from "On Bended Knee" to "I'll Make Love To You" and a performance where the guys busted out their guitars on a triple medley of Lenny Kravitz'  "Are You Going to Go My Way", the rock classic "American Woman" and Bruno Mars' "Locked Out Of Heaven".

Thanks to these fine performers for coming to our neck of the woods and the McGrath Amphitheatre for making it happen. We were as humbled by their presence as Stockman said they were of ours.