An arena full of adults wearing neon track suits, bucket hats, sequins, and other gems from the 90s must mean that Salt-N-Pepa has rolled into town. And they have TLC (sorta) and En Vogue with them. What they’re calling the It’s Iconic tour came to the Mohegan Sun Arena on August 28th for what was only the 8th stop of the tour. My wife’s inner child was excited for this one so we checked it out! This tour is just getting started. So should you go?
DJ Dubz Warms Up the Crowd
The warmup portion of the show started at 730pm with DJ Dubz blasting lots of dance songs mostly spanning the past 20 years. He was the hype man, pumping up the crowd, and he had the whole place on their feet singing along (except this guy). He performed for around 30 minutes but then the energy kinda died because it was another 30 minutes before the first act came out.
En Vogue and TLC Start the Show
The show was billed as Salt-N-Pepa and TLC with special guests En Vogue. So naturally we expected En Vogue first. They came out right about 8:30 and started with one of their big hits My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It). And then they did Free Your Mind!! C’mon!
Here’s the beauty of this tour. I never owned a single album, cassette, CD by any of these groups. But I listened to a lot of rock and modern pop radio and watched MTV constantly throughout the 80s and 90s. And because of that, I knew (not every word of course, but very familiar) at least half the songs throughout the night. Maybe more. I think wifey knew almost all of them. I’ve seen her CD collection, she didn’t own them either.
The other great part of the tour. After En Vogue performed their two songs, TLC came right out. No breaking down stage or changing everything, just non-stop performing with the DJ and band (yes! Actual guitar playing and drums) kept the music going. First song was part Ain’t Too Proud 2 Beg and part What About Your Friends which was a big ole radio hit. They did a few more songs and then it was Salt-N-Pepa’s turn.
Salt-N-Pepa Takes the Stage
Again, no breaking down the stage in between the music or action. Their first chunk of songs included hits like None of Your Business and Whatta Man. I know you know them! En Vogue joined them for Whatta Man and that led into them doing 3 or 4 more songs of theirs (including Don’t Let Go – Hit!).
I’ve only been to one show prior where the music just never stopped while bands/performers just swapped in and out all night, while overlapping and playing with each other and that was the Sessanta show which was one of my favorite rock shows. So well done ladies for keeping this vibe!
En Vogue is just 3 members now where I think they used to be a 4 member group. But I believe the 3 are all original (Cindy, Terry, Maxine) so that’s fine. And tonight TLC was just 1 member. Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes (the L in TLC) died many years ago in a car accident. To the group’s credit, they didn’t replace her so they continued as a duo. The one they call “T-Boz” (the T) suffers from sickle cell anemia and tonight she was too sick to perform. I do believe she performed just 2 nights prior so it’s not a complete miss of the tour. So really, this was just C (Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas). There were definitely a lot of prerecorded backing vocals for her songs as a result. I guess you do whatcha gotta do, the show must go on, and all that. But it was obvious it wasn’t her up there making all that sound.
A few more for TLC including Creep and Red Light Special before another Salt-N-Pepa set which included Let’s Talk About Sex (which they wore some silly outfits for), Shoop, and Push It while TLC closed the show with No Scrubs and Waterfalls (massively overplayed on MTV back in the day).
A Nonstop Night of ’90s Hits
It was a night of pop hits and 90s nostalgia…perhaps 80s nostalgia too as Salt-N-Pepa painfully stated they’ve been around for 40 years now. So many hit songs. Now if you go, and you’re expecting the hits to sound like the radio, they won’t. I suppose this is the appeal of the genre. They can freestyle a bit, the DJ can change the tune or beat, but it’s still fun. And that also just means you get a unique performance each night. A bunch of ladies in their…50s? Maybe older? I’m not looking it up…know how to put on a show. If you’re concerned with their energy, the DJs and all the dancers they have fill the stage take care of that. And they all hold their own, especially C who led plenty coordinated dances. It was a fun time.
I do have to say that in between one of the sets, DJ Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa’s DJ) did a big ole medley of 90s music which spanned genres. The crowd was very into it, screaming and dancing along. But I’m happy to say that the loudest cheering and singing-along throughout the entire night was when she played Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses back to back. Everyone knows and loves Smells Like Teen Spirit and Sweet Child O’ Mine…even a 90s R&B/Hip Hop crowd. I was going to share a video but YouTube blocked it instantly. So you’ll just have to trust me on this one.
How Long is the Its Iconic Tour Concert?
As stated, the show started right around 8:30 p.m. with En Vogue, with the last song wrapping up right around 10:30 p.m. Not a bad way to spend 2 hours!
20+ shows still to go on this tour. There won’t be any head banging, but there’s plenty of nostalgia, and it was loud. Go collect some memories…and a little tinnitus.
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