On a rainy Sunday evening of December 10th, R&B music fans took a trip back to the nineties with an exceptional performance of the legendary R&B trio SWV at the MGM Theater at the National Harbor. The group commenced their set with an energetic and captivating performance of two hit songs, “Can We” and “I’m So Into You.” The crowd was on their feet, and the ambiance was electrifying as the ladies continued to perform dancefloor anthems, including “You’re The One,” “Right Here,” and “Someone.”
On the ballad tip, the ladies found the time to cater to the men in the audience with “Rain,” “Downtown,” and, to my surprise, the album track “It’s About Time.” The highlight of the evening, though, had to be the ladies each getting a solo spotlight. Taj did a cover of “Heard It All Before,” Lelee put her foot in “Untitled How Does It Feel,” while Coko took us to church with a performance of her debut solo single “Sunshine.”
As the night drew to a close, my heart was filled with joy upon hearing the ladies of SWV deliver a stunning rendition of Patti LaBelle’s timeless classic, “If Only You Knew .”The crowd was in awe as the trio concluded their performance with their iconic hit, “Weak,” and sang along in perfect harmony. While I have had the pleasure of attending multiple SWV concerts over the years and understand the importance of catering to fans, I couldn’t help but yearn for them to reintroduce the seductive “All Night Long” and their 2016 chart-topping hit, “MCE (Man Crush Everyday)”, into their shows.
Final Grade: B+
It’s hard to believe that an iconic singing competition like American Idol has produced only two Black male winners in its more than two-and-a-half-decade history. Jamal Roberts made history last year when he won the show, following Ruben Studdard’s well-deserved victory in Season Two.
One wonderful aspect of supporting physical media is that I never run short of albums to choose from when deciding what to cover for Second Listen Sunday. Often, I’ll head to the man cave, browse through my CD collection, and an album will pop out at me. This week’s pick is T-Pain’s fourth album, “Revolver.”
One of my favorite singers, Mr. Eric Roberson, is performing this weekend at America’s legendary music venue, The Birchmere. To show Eric some love, I want to highlight something longtime R&B fans have always known: he’s had remarkable songwriting talent.