#o2 indigo

[Video] The O2 Indigo Gate Is Overcrowded As KiDi And Kuami Eugen Show Is About To Begin.

The O2 Indigo Gate Is Overcrowded As KiDi And Kuami Eugene Show Is About To Begin  KiDi and Kuami Eugene show at the O2 Indigo is about to begin, and the crowd at the gate is insane as people can’t wait to get inside and start the show. Also: After Touch It remix, an American producer for Snoop Dog, Jay Cole, and others contacted  Team – Kidi  (Opens in a new browser tab) KiDi and Kuami Eugene’s…

Just kidding.

If you'd told me 2 or 3 months ago I'd go to see some girl group from the 90s that I only heard the name of, I would probably called you all sorts of unkind words. Good thing no one did, as I don't like being wrong and it would've been an embarrassing apology.

Finished work Thursday at 4.30pm, lucky I checked my phone and there was Jay's text asking me if I had plans for that night, as his friend bailed on him last minute and he wanted me to come along to see En Vogue instead. So off I went to the O2 arena to meet him and his friend Jimmy, who came all the way from Brighton for this event.

I double checked my iPod but no sign of any En Vogue song. I was pretty convinced that I hardly know any of the songs, as back in the 90s I wasn't really paying any attention to what was in or in the charts unless it was Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler. I was relieved to hear though, that they were classified as a vocal group more then an RNB group.

We were early and I didn't really expect them to come on until around 9pm, though hoping we would be lucky as they didn't announce any support acts. We were treated to some DJs. I had a hard time hearing the names, but I think the first dude, the older one seemed to be well known in his genre and he was very very good. Though the bass was thumping so hard we thought our tiny little hearts would jump out of our throats. I was feeling very very old.

The follow up guy was a kid DJ in adidas track suit jacket and sony headphones. His music choices weren't really that good in my offended little ears, but I also don't appreciate DJs talking over songs or interrupting them. But the crowd loved it and it was good En Vogue came on late because it needed all the 2 hours to fill the place. 

The Indigo is a small venue, very much looking like a night club more then anything, it has a seating area on the top, downstairs is all standing plus the longest bar I've ever seen in the back.

The crowd was a fantastic mixture of all ages, races, sexualities and other random backgrounds you can think of. It was a thrill watching them.

My favourite were the two ladies that loved Jimmy and Jay through out the gig. Then the two girls at the barrier who enjoyed the DJ set, they ended up singing in their straws like they were rehearsing for the X factor and various other strangers around me, most of them dancing.

Though my favourite couple was right in front of us and I felt like I was in the middle of a Queer As Folk episode with Vince being on a date. This guy could've been his brother, the facial expressions, the mimics and the drunkenness and obviously the classic date choice, that never seemed as much into him as he was gushing back. I wanted to go up and hug him.

At about 9.10pm the experienced DJ dude finally announced what everyone was waiting for for the past 18 years: EN VOGUE!

I was expecting a massive push, but the audience behaved, AWESOME!

All 4 girls lined up and one started singing and I was puzzled - one didn't have a microphone. Thought this was an all vocal group?

But, I believe Maxine's microphone wasn't working and they quickly had to fix it and then handed it to her. Thank fuck for that as it turned out through the night, she is now my favourite En Vogue member and has a brilliantly deep voice similarly strong to Tina Turner.

I can't really comment on the songs or on how they sounded compared to 20 years ago or their albums. I'd be lying. But their voices sounded great and flawless, it was an absolute pleasure.

And - I did recognize about 3 songs... which I will not try to remember either lol 

Don't Let Go (Love) was the one I liked most. And so seemed the audience, I had goosebumps because everyone was singing with them, it must've been awesome for the ladies. The audience was fantastic throughout, really appreciating this experience after such a long time, cheering loudly for their favourite singer when they had a solo, shouting up to the stage etc. It was great to be a part of it and to watch the ladies appreciate it and enjoying themselves so much. 

At that moment I was not aware of how old they all are and what they have been through in terms of life experiences but after reading up on it post gig, my respect for their performances that night and for them as artists in general has only grown since.

They looked fantastic for not having toured in over a decade and going through motherhood up to 4 times. Whatever differences they may have had in the past, they never made us feel like there was any of that left. They seemed in sync with their performances in every song, they shared vocals, glances and no matter which of them harmonized together it was absolutely beautiful. 

Dawn got an especially warm welcome when she had her first solo. This guy next to me has been still the whole 2 hours we were waiting together for them to come out on stage but when Dawn started her song, he was so excited and blown away by her talents, it was touching to witness. Similar reaction to my right where Jimmy and Jay shouted encouragement up to Dawn.

Maxine was an absolute delight to watch. I am always favouring one person in a group easily and she was the one. I mean the whole shebang with the missing microphone... but when she let her voice go, I was hooked. I love deep voices and when she did Proud Mary I loved it and its one of my least favourite Tina Turner songs ever.

Her enthusiasm and big smile through out the show was radiating off the stage like a breath of fresh air. She had all kinds of trouble to endure apart from the physical dance routines. Her hair was frizzing and made all the hair throwing and rythmic dancing a nightmare as it got tangled up even more and she lost a few strands she threw to the bass player, but nothing could stop her or the other ones. Dawn was clever and taped her in-ear monitor to her ear but the others had problems with theirs, they kept popping out, shame really that they didn't invest in properly fitted ones. 

But I think it was a minor issue for the great reward they hopefully felt from the crowd.

Their set was about 70 minutes long and unfortunately had no encore. But they came back on stage several times for thank yous to roaring applause.

What a bloody good gig it was. I feel very grateful for the invite and fortunate to get the chance to see another band I wouldn't normally choose myself. Live Music is truly the best and most rewarding way to experience an artist or a group. There is nothing like it and unfortunately with today's way of recording and creating music, if you do not get a chance to experience someone in a live atmosphere, you might never get to see the real talent as it gets buried under sterile sound editing and computer fuckery. (Although possibly still making number one)

It was also very nice to have gone with two people, who know each other the same way, I know most of my friends from Texas and to join Jay on a different occasion then at the cinema :)