Live Review: New Edition Legacy Tour 2023 with Keith Sweat, Guy and Tank Friday night in CLT

Nostalgia, hits of our youth, and sex filled the air

By Dianna Augustine and guest-spot by Neel Jadeja

The second night of The Legacy Tour dropped into Charlotte, NC Friday night at the Spectrum Center. Not only did we get to cover the legends New Edition, but we got a fresh-faced performance, a lucky perk of seeing this tour early before the miles and weeks of exhaustion catch up. Within the last 40 years, the group — composed of Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, Johnny Gill, and Ronnie DeVoe has upped its game. The production of this tour has had an epic evolution from as far back as I can remember. I’m thinking post early 2000s the band raged the towns with not much more than amazing choreographed pop moves, background dancers, flashy digs, and a smaller stage and light presence. There were no streamers or pyro, and we sure were not blessed with wall-to-wall multiple LCD screens that left fans in any part of the arena with an up-close and personal glimpse of their favorite band members. Even that sound has been perfected, with no scratchy feedback or almost inaudible concerts (the mid-2000s saw some of that.) The way the production was run so smoothly and band changes didn’t take an hour between each, the stage set-up you were greeted with was the stage set-up for the entire night. Many of the bands didn’t do full background bands and while I understand the time-saving efforts I was almost disappointed we weren’t getting that until I actually saw the performance. It all made sense, and in the end, didn’t deter from any form of entertainment (and that takes some mega-million skill!)

When you arrived at the venue you were greeted by the solo drummer outside killing it with familiar faces on the staff guiding our way to where we needed to be.

Many fans were decked to the nine waiting to see their favorite performers. Not many fans are so lucky to have a band going on 40+ years of performing live. I ran into a mother-daughter duo and I got to tell the child who she was going to see as a surprise with her mom. She freaked out in the most adorable way possible.

Walking into the venue you could feel the excitement. Getting to the seats for someone as afraid of stairs as I am was — interesting, but once down there around the true fans who paid their hard-earned money for a glimpse of their band up close and personal was magical. The seats were comfortable, the crowd surrounding us was lively and they added to the vibe of what was to be a great night in Charlotte.

Nostalgia Personified:

Looking back, it seemed that New Edition and their all-star lineup was the original boy band. They had the perfect combination of good-looking young men, syncopated dance moves, and timeless songs. The melodic hooks appealed to teenage audiences around the world that catapulted the talented group to stardom. What started with innocent, bubble-gum, adolescent musings soon turned into coming-of-age sexually driven montages as these boys became men, as they would experience in every way. Lineup changes, personal drama, and individual success always kept New Edition’s name, story, and music in the hearts of their millions of fans.

Through all the tribulations, the six men have discovered to provide fans with a stellar evening of music that encompasses not only their careers but also the individual careers of all members in each of their endeavors. Tonight gave a minute glimpse of their 40-year spanned career and influence on the industry. Let’s dive into the deep end.

Tank: That Capricorn Sex appeal; someone left pregnant tonight.

The sensual and raw unadulterated sex appeal of Tank is unmatched this night, and I’m sure any night. Most of his songs are about love-making, screaming (in pleasure,) and how you can treat a woman’s body right if you’re smart. It’s refreshing to have an artist so in tune with how to please a woman to surely be the soundtrack to many successful date nights.  It was even more interesting to watch it all unfold in real time. The crowd bumped and ground with the best of them while TANK went down a greatest hits list and, at one point, even made the air around him climax. His sultry vocals are not one to overlook even with all the sex appeal. It’s a solid performance.

Put you in the mood, When you sit it on my face, that’s my type of view Can I swim in your ocean? Can I drown in it too?

Tank was a background vocalist for Ginuwine and also one for singer Aaliyah who he met through the Ginuwine tours. He was later signed as an artist on Aaliyah’s record label Blackground Records. He released his debut album Force of Nature in 2001, and in 2022 he released what is dubbed his tenth and final album, R&B Money. Before the release, Tank announced it would be his final studio album, triggered by the loss of hearing in his right ear in 2021.

Fun fact: He was also in a supergroup TNT with Ginuwine and Tyrese.

He closed out his performance with his rendition of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” to barely a dry eye in the building. The crisp perfect tenor vocals shot you right through the chest with the enigmatic feeling of sorrow and heartbreak after the rest of the performance had titillated you from the beginning of a dating scene, the deeper part of a relationship forming, to falling in love and wanting nothing more than to satiate your partner’s every desire. You went through an entire relationship cycle in the short 45-minute set, and he left us sad to see him go – but like any good partner he left the stage with a gentle kiss and an I love you, as all sessions should end. 

His latest (and final)  album R&B Money is out now (R&B Money/Atlantic) please go pick it up here.

As we tried to cool down from the first ear-love-making session, we had a dance party with local DJs giving us a sweet session of “Da’ Butt,” until it made us sore. 

GUY

The lights dimmed again, and R&B trio GUY (Hall of Fame/Universal) stormed the stage with the New Jack Swing creators and came to give us what they perfected over 36 years. They oozed confidence, soul, and the energy you want in a show to shake a damn tailfeather. 

GUY opened up in blue sparkly blazers, the cryo fx smoke streams beamed from floor to ceiling, the lights flashed, and queue the background dancers and band. It was a full-on cataclysmic storm of energy and funk. The band has had its ups and downs of breakups and reconciliations, and a drama-laden bad ex-manager that emptied millions of dollars from the account. Researching them you see how they have worked with almost everyone you could think of in the R&B industry, I was watching how Teddy Riley linked up Micheal Jackson & Heavy D doing a song. It blows my mind that such a thick history of music legends was stuffed into this tour. 

“Whatever you want I will do. You’re the only one I want in my life. For you I’ll make that sacrifice, so baby, Let’s chill”

Guy  (infamous producer/musician Teddy Riley and brothers Aaron and Damion Hall) set out on another 45-minute gallop to perfection with their vibe of sex, love, and admiration for the era in time they started into the present. They took us on a tour of the greatest hits and the crowd loved every moment. We sang all the words and danced until we needed a breather.

I was most impressed by the fact when the bass started it was so deep it shook you to the core. I could feel it massage my heart in both places the heart resides. No way every woman on the floor wasn’t touched in all the right ways.

Primed us again for, Keith Sweat

Keith Sweat has been dubbed THE LOVE KING OF SOUL & R&B. Tonight he emulated this. As well when he talked about his own bedroom antics he said on the subject of sexy time:

“The only one spinning on the record when I f*ck is me, I don’t want to hear from anyone else.”

He got right down to it as well – we’d been properly lubricated by the previous acts. He gave a speech also on how he’s tired of hearing he’s drunk all the time and he was going to pause and get a SINGLE DRINK of that good Hennessy and to stop the nonsense thinking it’s more than that. It was good to hear the humanity of it all before he went back into a jam-packed greatest hits.

Giving us that good good – a little bit before ending it and I felt like the need for a cigarette (and I do not smoke!) The soundtrack of a million teenage and formidable years of learning all about how to give that sweet-sweet loving and you all know you’ve spun his albums more times than you can count in those moments. He’s not shy, to remind you of this and then drop into one of his numerous hits and show you how the leader of the bunch does it. He mentioned how it was kind of strange to be an opener as he’s used to headlining but thanked NE for giving him the spot to do his thing.

The LCDs flash with images of Salt & Pepa singing the song “If you really want it,” and other remnants of the 90s when MTV was the largest thing to spin actual music (gasp) and added to the night of how the crowd walked the lanes of memories. 

NEW EDITION

Lights went down again, DJs took us through 90s hip-hop legends Biggie and Tupac led us down the road with DMX, and I swear I heard some backing pieces of Aaliyah up in there. We definitely did not have our trains go off the track but we picked it up. Now back on the scene, the lights flashed – we knew it was time. Steam cascaded into the dark air as spotlights gleamed and the band simultaneously rose from inside the stage donning sharp bright yellow trench coats, glittery pants, and matching fedoras to round out their look. They took us through a catalog of albums, hit singles, Johnny Gill solo stuff, Bobby Brown, and toward the end of the night trinkets from fan favorites Bel Biv Devoe. 

Some of the smash hits this night were: 

• Johnny Gill’s “Rub You the Right Way,” and “My My My.” 
• Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative,” “If It Isn’t Love” and “Roni” where Brown briefly left the performance but made his appearance back a song or two later. 
• “Mr. Telephone Man” 
• “Candy Girl”
• “Cool It Now”
• “Popcorn Love.”
• Bel Biv Devoe’s “Poison,” and “Do Me” late in the show.

Fun fact: Ronnie spoke on how it was his 17th wedding anniversary that night and his beautiful wife was in the crowd.

The whole performance was one of seasoned musicians back to doing what they love.

Sex:

If you thought for a second that an evening starting with the powerhouse TANK, followed by the legendary R&B trio of GUY, and KEITH SWEAT dominating the stage—all before the love songs of sextet NEW EDITION wouldn’t rip the packed Spectrum Center into a frenzy?

You were wrong. The echoing screams of women and the plethora of gyrating dancing bodies in the aisles of all in attendance proved that this crowd came for sexual healing like it was 1989!

The Gist:

This was a night when some of us went back to jr. high and high school. There were memories brought back of old loves and old times but were now creating new moments and brand new memories. Parents brought their children, lovers brought their new hearts and lifelong fans brought their ears and souls to take them to a page in their diary that they often read again and again. This was a show for those of us that turned up the volume when we drove by her. This was a show for those of us that had crushes on the pretty girls. This was a show for those of us that wanted to get the girl. And got her.

You can catch this tour in 25+ other cities – don’t miss out.

*Setlist for night #3 was the same for CLT

http://www.neweditionlegacy.com/