The 2022 Mixtape Tour brings back those well needed throwback vibes
Step by Step!
Multiplatinum selling pop super-group New Kids On The Block continues to party like nobody else can, when they brought The MixTape Tour 2022, with their friends Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley and En Vogue as legendary special guests, to the Capital One Arena Saturday, July 23.
This date in DC was the final show of the tour, so you know that it was going to be an epic experience, and every act on the bill didn’t disappoint. We enjoy concerts that take a different approach to the actual show construction, and what grabbed us the most was the fact of how the setlist was designed literally like an old school mixtape that we would record from the radio, with the different acts being interwoven between one another Just like a mixtape, to take audiences through all the emotions.
First to hit the stage, and to the Blockheads chargen, were NKOTB whose introduction video mimicked that of an 80’s video game, but it was evident that they were playing zero games as they literally light up the stage with their anthem “Block Party“. With fist vigorously pumping in the air along with the beat, the audience recited the lyrics “I want all of your love”, which was a heartfelt sentiment to the group that they had been following for over the past 30 years. It was official that the party had officially been started as red and white confetti filled the air while Joey, Donnie, Jordan, Jonathan and Danny slide into a medley of a few of their classic hits “My Favorite Girl,” “Dirty Dancing,” and “Cover Girl“. Of all of the songs that they would perform throughout the night, “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” was my absolute favorite because it transported me back to my living room in 88 where I tried to imitate the iconic dance routine, which the group actually mirrored against the original music video playing on the LED video wall and was in perfect sync.
Serving up a little bit of fem energy for the night were the Funky Divas, otherwise known the 3 piece group En Vogue. If you remember anything about these ladies from the 90’s, then you know that they served big vocals and some of the tightest harmonies of any music group put together. Some 30 years later, nothing has changed on that front, as the songbirds sound like their vocal chords were anointed by the Heavens above. Comprised of Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron and Rhona Bennett, they stunned in a glimmery silver ensemble that further forced your attention to their presence on stage. Singing the house down during renditions of some of their biggest hits “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” “Free Your Mind,” “Don’t Let Go (Love)” and “Hold On“, it was hard to deny why we fell in love with them in the first place.
English singer, songwriter and radio personality Rick Astley came along for the joyride, but he wasn’t just the sleepy passenger in the backseat. Met with roaring cheers as he yelled “Good Evening Washington D.C.!”, the beginning notes of “Together Forever” kicked into gear. It wasn’t too much longer before he offered up a delivery of “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Cry For Help“.
It was time to flip the tape over to Side B, where the ladies of Salt-N-Pepa brought in the hip hop energy. The group, comprised of Sandy Denton and Cheryl James are legends innovators in the genre and deserve all of their flowers. Dressed in all black and standing atop the risers on the stage, “None Of Your Business” was the first song that they performed, before quickly transitioning to “Expressions“. Still embodying most of the energy that they had back in the 90s, they knew how to get crowd engagement going from the songs “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Shoop,” and “Shake Your Thang“. For what would only make sense since they were also on the tour, En Vogue came back out on stage to give us a proper duet of their hit song “Whatta Man“. After a quick change into the iconic yellow leather jackets that we remember from the “Push It” video, the performance of that song had the same impact that it did from the first time we ever heard it.
NKOTB would continuously make appearances throughout the rest of the night whether it was popping in on another artist’s set or taking us down memory lane via cover versions of some 90’s hits that we all grew up to. My personal favorite was the combination of
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” / “Poison” / “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” / “Pour Some Sugar on Me” / “Livin’ on a Prayer”, which brought the ultimate level of nostalgia back. Although they were playing around with material from some of their industry friends, don’t think that they were going to leave without singing some of THEIR biggest and #1 hits, in the form of “Step By Step” and “Hangin’ Tough.”
At the very end of the show, all of the entertainers joined one another on the main stage to sing “Bring Back the Time,” a track that they recently recorded together.
Since this was the last show of the tour, it was very clear that emotions were running extremely high as if they didn’t want the journey to come to an end. From the outside looking in, everyone included on this bill looked like they were having the time of the lives while ensuring that WE as well had the time of our lives for two and a half hours.
All that we can say is THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for rehashing childhood memories to allow us to escape from the confines of “adulting” that keep us in a chokehold daily.
Please check out the photo gallery shot by Mike Ware.
