with a commemorative renaming after them. Meanwhile, they’ ve been on the road on“ The Total Package Tour” with the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK and PAULA ABDUL, who made a brief appearance and announced the group’ s entrance.
Originally a quartet, Boyz II Men has appeared as a threesome since 2003 when MICHAEL MCCARY, who supplied the bass-end of the thick harmonies, stepped down due to health issues. It was apparent at moments that some of the famously densely voiced choruses were supplemented with a prerecorded backing, perhaps to fill in the gap from his absence. Whereas, this might normally bother some, there was something respectable about a band considering their member to be irreplaceable in that way.
Boyz II Men played a short set of just five songs, opening with“ On Bended Knee” and then“ It’ s So Hard to Say Goodbye.” Then they sung an extended“ I’ ll Make Love to You” while going into the audience to hand-out roses. It turns out this particular brand of flower is actually an endorsed product of Boyz II Men, but most of the crowd was too captivated by the romantic swooning of the ballad to realize the intermingled promotional effort.“ End of the Road,” the first of three songs by this group to break a record on Billboard’ s Hot 100 list, is a song that will almost always cause every person in the room to feel compelled to join together a cappella. In this case we had 100,000 people doing it. Even the news anchors, directly neighboring the photo pit, were swaying arm-in-arm singing it. It’ s a song that has that effect, especially when sung at home. They rounded out the set with what couldn’ t have been left out,“ Motownphilly.”
In the years after Boyz II Men’ s initial successes, many male vocal groups came and went under the guise of“ boy bands”. These men were something on a different echelon though, tapping into a richer music soul and performing on a higher level. And regardless of whether they have any recent hits, these guys still have that talent and they are loved more than ever in their hometown and beyond.
The night of ground-breaking R & B leaders continued with another history-making performer, MARY J BLIGE. Having received more Grammy nominations than any other artist, she won nine and had eight multi-platinum albums, among countless other awards. Even though her greatest successes took place in the 90’ s, Blige isn’ t sitting still. In addition to multiple acting performances on TV and in film, her latest album“ Strength of a Woman” is receiving critical acclaim and has had some presence on Billboard charts. Released back in May, it is considered one of her most emotional efforts, demonstrating her resolve as she bounces back from a tough and highly-publicized divorce that took place one-year ago. But strength has been central to Blige’ s life dating back to her difficult childhood in the Bronx-- through when she dropped out of high school but was able to put out a record-setting debut album at just 21 years old.
Mary J. Blige brought that power to Philly this July 4th, both in music and presence. From the first note, she was fierce in delivering her powerful blend of R & B vocals intermixed with hip hop. Her energy never ceased throughout the long set of over 20 career-spanning songs, including four from her latest album. Blige clearly showed a passion for her music, demonstrating that she’ s more determined than ever. Philadelphia reciprocated – loving every beat that Mary J Blige led in front of an incredibly tight band. For the city’ s proudest celebration of the year, this is how Philadelphians want to celebrate – with passion and with an attitude.