The Baltimore Stop of the Millennium Tour 2021 Proves Why Throwback Concerts Are Still A Hot Ticket Item

October 11, 2021 NastyBreakdown 0 Concerts, Review, Tour,

And just like a thief in the night, it came and went in the blink of an eye! Folks in the Baltimore area went into a frenzy once they heard the original announcement that G-Squared Events was mounting a follow-up to it’s record setting 2019 Millennium Tour. The Omarion and Bow Wow lead show was originally set to take place on March 21, 2020, but thanks to everyone’s “new friend” COVID-19, we had to wait 19 months to experience the explosive show, which finally landed at the Royal Farms Arena on Friday, October 8th. A wait that was totally worth it because this show blew any expectations that we had out of the water.

To start the night off, the fanfare was extremely high just walking to the venue, seeing young ladies dressed in Baby Phat velour sweat suits, and the fellas coming in their long white tees and Air Force Ones. Not to mention the fact that the line was wrapped around the side of the building, which was very reminiscent of the same thing we experienced with the 2019 Millennium Tour. Once inside, it was time for the throwback concert of the year to begin. A familiar face to the Millennium Tour brand made his way back to act as the host of the show, Gary ‘G Thang’ Johnson, keeping the audience warmed up and engaged with this brand of family friendly, but timely appropriate jokes.

First to take the stage was a name that we haven’t heard in a while, or personally seen on a stage in a while…Sammie. Yep, remember “lil Sammie” that had the bop of a single “I Like It” from the late 90’s? He was a welcomed addition to the 2021 version of this tour. Being the first act on a multi-act tour has the tendency to put a bit of pressure on an artist because their are literally the first to hit the stage, but Sammie handled it like a pro. The ladies were all in though, as they appeared to know all of the words to the songs he performed, including “Tsunami“, “Come With Me“, “Crazy Things I Do For Love” and of course the single that launched his career, “I Like It“. If you intend on seeing Sammie perform, we do suggest that you pull up to the venue ON TIME, because his set was only around 15 minutes long.

Next to set the stage was Lloyd. As a veteran of the Millennium Tour brand, we already knew what to expect from this young R&B crooner, distinct vocals, a bit of dancing and some live instrumentation when he pulled out his guitar. It’s good to see that he’s still a jack of all trades more than 15 years into his career. Hearing him perform the songs that you’ve been listening to on the radio for years never gets old when they are presented in a live iteration. The classics “Bedrock“, “Lay It Down“, “You“, and “Girls Around The World” still hit exactly the way they always have, while newer cuts “Caramel” and “Tru” gave insight to his artistic and musical growth.

To switch up the energy a bit and make this show more tailored to Baltimore, he brought out local rapper YBS Skola as a special guest. As his time out draw to a close, he asked for all of the house lights to be turned down and everyone to pull out their cell phone lights. It was during this moment he gave honor and respect to some artist that we’ve recently lost, most notably Pop Smoke and Nipsey Hussle, segueing into singing the chorus for he and Nip’s song, “Feelin’ Myself“.

Soulja Boy aka Big Draco is another addition to the tour’s lineup. Although this is the first time he’s been added to the tour, that doesn’t take away from the impact that he laid down on the music industry in the new millennium. NO ONE could escape the sounds of or stand still when they heard the words “Awwwww YULE!” circa Summer 2007. As the youngest member on the bill, it was clear that he doesn’t mind stepping out and taking risks. One of those risks was opening his set with a brand new single “She Make It Clap“, which worked out in his favor, because being one of those artists of the “internet age”, the crowd already knew the lyrics to the song.

His connections with his fans was eminent once his string of hits started to play out, showing that he’s been pretty consistent with his music over the past decade. Running back and forth across the stage in a tan track suit, he kept his swag on 1000 and began to dig into the anthems for the fly folks “Turn My Swag On” and “Pretty Boy Swag” before changing lanes and having almost every lady jump up on their seat and wild out to “Donk” then smoothing it back out by having Sammie join him for their joint song “Kiss Me Thru The Phone“.

You know he couldn’t leave without doing the song that put him on the map. As the beat dropped to “Crank That (Soulja Boy)“, I turned to look back into the audience and it almost appeared as a dance along. Females were taking off their heels, positioning themselves to crank and lean back and friends were making space between each other to do the Superman. I overheard one young lady say “I’m going to feel this in the morning”. It’s that kind of effect that some timeless songs has over people, making you forget about every care, and body ache in the world, to live your best life IN that moment.

Atlanta’s own dynamic duo always comes to do what needs to be done when they hit the stage. Kaine and D-Roc, more notably known as the Ying Yang Twins brings the party WHEREVER they go! Turning the venue into a club by getting things going RIGHT off the bat with a song that women love to rock to, “Whistle While You Twerk“, anyone who had never seen them live before were getting a fast introduction into how they run things. I was already hip from seeing them on the 2019 version of the tour, to know that I was going to be tasked more with standing still as opposed to just operating my cameras.

What I think many people failed to realize, but were quickly reminded, was that the Twins brought twerk culture full front and center at the turn of the millennium. WAAAAAY before Cardi B, Nicki, Meg or the City Girls, you could find any random woman with her hands on her knees going to work to the urban classics that Ying Yang put out, including “Ay Yi Yi“, “Badd“, and “Get Low”. “Ms. New Booty” took on a different spin, when they incorporated E.U.’s “Da Butt” into the live mix of the song. You can tell that they genuinely love being on stage by the show that they put on, and that’s exactly the type of energy that we all need during the current times that we’re living in.

Next up, it was moment for the show stealers to pull up and turn it out. No disrespect to anyone else on the tour, but the fellas of Pretty Ricky always leaves a stamp in our “concert passport” of a dope performance. No time was wasted to get down to business, as “Grind With Me” was their opening number and Pleasure P, Baby Blue Whoaaa and Spectacular hit the choreography with much precision, along with their four beautiful, yet talented dancers. Something that was noticeably different was the the absence of fourth member Slick’em, who doesn’t seem to be on the tour at all, and we’re not sure why. Albeit they are one member down, that didn’t stop slow them down at all, as they were still able to perform as a cohesive unit, like they had been a trio all along.

Unlike the other acts on the tour, these men brought a level of sultry seduction that the women in the audience can fully appreciate now. When the group originally came out, they were probably a teen who was hiding in their room, sneaking and listening to the “Bluestars” album, but now as a full grown women, they can watch a performance of “Your Body” without a care in the world, with a few body rolls thrown in. Throughout the half hour that they were on stage, the smart decision was made to give each individual group member their own time to shine. Baby Blue presented elements of thug passion, “Sexy Spect” created his own personal love scene for the ladies that would rival a male revue, and P kept it on the humble and went for what he knows by using his vocal prowess. I’m sure he made one lucky fan’s night by bringing her up on stage and serenading her with a few songs. Once the beat for their last song “On The Hotline” dropped, it was apparent that everyone knew what it was, as the chants of Pretty Ricky Ricky Ricky roared in unison.

Back during the inaugural tour, the general public scratched their head at the initial lineup, and was left confused that there weren’t any female performers listed on the bill, as we all know that female R&B acts kinda sorta ran music in the 90’s and 00’s. When it was time for the organizers to go for a round two, they made the smart decision to incorporate some girl power to help balance out the heavy amounts of testosterone, and who better to represent for the ladies then the princess of R&B, Ms. Ashanti. Emerging from underneath the stage on a golden throne fit for a Queen, and dressed in a skin tight, white leather outfit, the diva was giving us vibes of another NY music Queen, Ms. MJB. Yelling “BMORE, You Read?!” before the beat kicked in for a remixed version of “Happy“, Shany and her legion of female dancers began working the stage, like only they could do.

Her discography is one that goes rather deep, and sometimes you don’t realize HOW DEEP it goes due to not only being a singer, but also a songwriter as well, until you’re in a setting where you hear the bulk of it presented at once for mass consumption. She’s had some major hits during her tenure in the industry, with some that made the crowd react in a major way, such as “Rock wit U (Awww Baby)“, “Baby“, “What’s Luv?” and “Mesmerize“, just to name a few, but you could definitely tell that she was in her bag for “Only You“, “Always on Time” and “The Way That I Love You“. In a surprise moment, Lloyd appeared out on stage so that they could perform their duet “Southside” live.

Before her performance of “Rain On Me“, she helped reaffirm that you can you can make it through any type of struggle as long as you push through and fight. This sentiment couldn’t be truer for her own life, as she’s had to combat many obstacles in her career, but her journey all paid off as she announced that she’s due to receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022, running current with the 20th anniversary of her debut album.

After a short intermission where G-Thang made his way around the venue to interact with folks, including a real time wedding proposal, the stage was being shaped for “the face off”. What was 14 years in the making was going down TONIGHT, in Baltimore…Omarion, Bow Wow, on one stage. It all started off with Omari seemingly appearing in a plastic box, draped in a black cape (which really turned out to be a fake-me-out because he was actually stage left) opening with what could be a possible new single entitled “Elevation“.

The song would prove as the mantra of his performance as a whole this time around, where as the production value of his stage show has evolved. From a more robust stage setup, to multiple costume changes (a few of which were reminiscent of MJ), and even down to the inclusion of five backup dancers, he certainly upped the ante quite a bit. Let’s get back to those dancers for a minute as I’m a huge fan of the use of dancers and choreography in a concert. The troupe, comprised of three females and two males, helped give the extra “pop” that matched O’s already strong dance ability, which was evident in songs “Touch” that replicated the iconic dance sequence, “Entourage” and “Ice Box“.

Allowing his supporters to regain their composure by running backstage for a quick change, once he reemerged, he took the opportunity to dedicate a section of the set to where it all began for him, B2K. Setting up four chairs on stage, everyone thought he was about to bring out his band members, but instead he ran through a medley of “Gots Ta Be“, “Why I Love You” and “Bump, Bump, Bump” as every young lady lost their minds, singing out loud and off key.

Albeit this is generally a throwback concert, Omarion is an artist who still has a presence now, and came with more current songs to perform. Your lasting power in an ever so fickle industry shines through the brightest when fans know lyrics to newer songs “Do You Well“, “I’m Up” and “Post To Be“.

“When I say Bow, yal say Wow…Bow…WOW…Bow…WOW!” No longer is he “Little Bow Wow”, Shad Moss is a full grown adult who still has the propensity to make the ladies lose their everlasting minds. The minute that he ran out spitting the words to his debut single “Bounce With Me“, it almost felt like I was transported back in time and standing in the midst of one of the Scream Tours that was made extremely popular due to Bow.

Granted it has been some years since he’s traversed the touring circuit due to an acting career that has taken off, you wouldn’t be able to tell that he stepped away from the mic because his stage persona was still as strong as ever, with his energy almost seeming superhero like. C-Walking and ATL stepping all over the stage, we were taken through a run of hits that literally defined a generation. “I Think They Like Me“, “Let’s Get Down“, “Fresh Azimiz“, “Take Ya Home” and “Shortie Like Mine” we amongst the tracks that I even felt myself singing along to.

The only thing that we didn’t agree with Bow’s set was how short it was. Coming in at just shy of 20 minutes, being one of the headliners of this concert, he should have at least had 30 minutes to give us what we wanted since he only scratched the surface of his catalog, along with the fact that we’re not sure when the next time he’ll tour. At any rate, he didn’t leave us without sending a love letter to his loyal fans when the Ciara assisted “Like You” rang through the speakers, where he let the ladies in the audience fill in for the chorus and ad-libs, and then asked for some “help”. Omarion joined his brother on stage to perform their joint song “Let Me Hold You” while archival footage of the two played on the screens behind them…what a moment!

Major shout out to the promoter of these concert series, who continues to allow the younger version of ourselves come out and play, if only for a night, by bringing some of our favorite throwback artist together for one massive event.