Boyz II Men fantastic at UWI Bowl

Not even rain and the prospect of walking around in a mud bowl could deter patrons from turning up to see legendary American R&B group, Boyz II Men in performance at the UWI Bowl on Saturday night.

The event got underway closer to 9 p.m. rather than the promised 8 p.m. start, but even then, there was still a long line of cars full of eager patrons waiting to get inside the venue. Many came prepared with umbrellas and rocking trendy knee high boots, hard boots or sneakers. Others, however, simply wore what was comfortable enough for them to jump, scream and shout in appreciation of Boyz II Men. And scream they did.

It was 11:27 p.m. when Boyz II Men appeared on stage ready to pull out all the stops. Their backing band had already set the tempo and when the Boyz showed up, one by one, all dressed in white, those in VIP who had been seated throughout, rose to their feet, phones in hand, ready to capture the magical moments. Even Prime Minister Holness showed up and was invited on stage by the group.

For one hour and 11 minutes, the multi Grammy Award winning group dazzled with their slick choreography, chatted with fans, threw roses in the crowd – and a sweaty towel – and sang the love songs which their predominantly female fans wanted to hear.

“The show was good,” Bryan Grant of Live and Direc Promotions, organisers of the concert, told The Gleaner. “During this week when we were facing the weather challenge, I didn’t worry about it at all. I prophesied that it was going to rain in the afternoon and that it would be a really nice, cool weather in the night and that came to pass. If you are planning an event like this, anything can happen in terms of the weather. I heard that it was a 50/50 chance for rain and I was banking on the positive 50.”

Grant shared that pre-sale of tickets went quite well, even though his team had to “do some damage control based upon the [earlier] postponement” of the event.

“ The show was supposed to have been staged in June and because we had to postpone, things were trickling and moving sideways for a while. But it gradually picked up and as we got closer [owing to] some of the things that had happened earlier with some local events, there was some scepticism as to whether the Boyz … rather the Men… were coming still. But all’s well that ends well,” said Grant, who is also a recording artiste known as Bryan Art.

SUCCESS

Grant said that he would give the team’s overall success “a seven out of 10” but he scored the attendance and crowd satisfaction level at the Mayberry Investments and Supreme Ventures-sponsored event “a straight 10 out of 10”.

“I walked through the crowd and the looks on the peoples’ face … they were well pleased and absorbed and enjoyed it to the max. I saw that,” he stated.

Bridgette Lecky, a Boyz II Men superfan who took the Knutsford Express from Montego Bay into Kingston for the concert was one such person.

“I had to be here. I play Boyz II Men every single day at work, so this had to be a moment for me to remember and relive. I heard quite a few of my favourites, like On Bended Knees. My first boyfriend and I sang it together the first time we met. That’s when we found out that we both sang, so we just did something that we love. Aside from Mariah Carey … in her prime .. Boyz II Men is it. Like everything from them just shines and speaks my life,” a happy Lecky said.

Carlene Howell used words like “great” and “wonderful” to describe her experience.

“I had to be here even if it rains … it’s Boyz II Men. You can’t miss Boyz II Men. The year 1991 was when I started high school and I’ve been out of high school since 1996. I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t hear A Song for Mama, but it was wonderful,” Howell told The Gleaner.

It was in April 1991 that Boyz II Men released their début album, Cooleyhighharmony, which had hits such as It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.

SHINING STARS

Boyz II Men were not the only stars shining on Saturday night. Tessanne Chin and Lila Iké both came out strong and their fans loved it.

It was Lila as they rarely see her. Dressed in a shimmering, body-hugging gown, and matching high heels -which she soon ditched for the comfort of bare feet - this glammed up Lila Iké still connected solidly with her fans. She came on stage at 9:20 p.m. and worked a solid 40-minute set, even giving fans a taste of her guitar skills.

Her set list included crowd favourites such as I Spy, Second Chance, Wanted and Where I’m Coming From.

The 2024 winner of Best Reggae Artiste (Female) from the Caribbean Music Awards shared that her album, Lila Iké: The Experience, was released five years ago and promised that “a new project is coming soon”.

It didn’t take much for a glowing Tessanne Chin, who was radiant in red to start a fire. The crowd was prepped and waiting for her arrival and once she took command of centrestage it was a done deal and her fans sang along with her selections..

Tessanne took time to remember her friend and colleague Ifidel Williams and paid tribute to him with the song Bridge Over Troubled Waters. She brought the curtains down on her set with Hideaway.

Opening act was talented duo, The Prodigies, and with three band changes, it took the skills of ZJ Johnny Kool to keep the crowd happy. Emcee was the effervescent Debbie Bissoon.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com