Bell Biv Devoe/SWV/Al B. Sure/Jon B @ ShoWare Center, Kent, WA 02.10.11
Normally, Kent's ShoWare center is full of young, scrappy hockey players taking swings at each other; last night, it was playing host to the New Jack Swing Hall of Fame ceremonies. If 1990's R&B is old school (as referenced numerous times by acts on the bill), then Thursday's show was a pretty comprehensive masters course in how it was done; Bell Biv Devoe, SWV, Jon B. and Al B. Sure all graced the stage with some of the 90's most notable jams. It was a brilliantly built time machine, spanning anywhere from 1984 (the New Edition days) to the early 2000's (faintly represented by Jon B.'s later catalog). The last decade was all but untouched by any artist; however, after 10 years of hearing hip-hop and R&B songs that were built to be ringtones instead of bedroom odes, it was refreshing to eschew the modern and go back to a slightly more innocuous time of auto-tune free songs.
Read More