I LOVE THE 90S
(COOLIO/ SALT N PEPA WITH SPINDERELLA/ VANILLA ICE)
Birmingham Arena 7/10/2017
Birmingham is a bitch for traffic.
With that and the fact we got lost finding the venue
because it goes by three different names - not to mention that we
didnt know that the show started early at 6:00pm - when we actually
arrive, what greets us is the opening bars of Ganstas
Paradise. This is obviously going to be Coolios last song
so thank goodness that there doesnt seem to be a full house,
making it easy enough to get through the room to gawp. After all,
this is really what occasions like this are for, arent they?
Part club PA, part curiosity, Im not sure that anyone here is
actually a diehard Coolio fan I mean, can you name more than
two of his songs? Regardless, its hard to not know who he is;
instantly recognisable for his mad professor braided pigtails poking
through his hat, Coolio is flanked by live drums and a small band
of rappers to make for a more artistic performance as he walks through
the shadow of the valley of death, takes a look at his life and realises
theres nothing left. Except there is, Coolio. Although this
show is clearly not sold out, those that are here are fully entertained,
mainly for the kitsch nostalgia but also because you are still good
at what you do, even when you take your hat off and youre completely
bald apart from said pigtails. Sorry that we missed Color Me Badd
and Tone Loc though. What do you mean you dont remember them?
I have been waiting since I was six years old to see Salt N Pepa (and
Spinderella, of course) so I hope I dont have to wait much longer
as a VJ plays a random selection of R and B that I had completely
forgotten about when Coolio exits the stage. This and the X-Factor
style introduction to the Brooklyn trio reinforces the slightly dodgy
club appearance atmosphere of this evening, though thankfully not
detracting from what they have achieved in a career spanning over
three decades. Yes, Salt N Pepa have been around for 31 years, something
that most people forget in the face of more recently documented reality
shows, domestic abuse and so on; they have won Grammys for some of
the biggest hiphop tracks, for Christs sake. Do they even NEED
to be on this tour? Or has the sass that sustained them fizzled out?
The answer is most definitely hell no. Three strong women
who have not lost touch with their hiphop roots but dont take
themselves too seriously either, they are nothing short of captivating.
They tease the male dancers, flirt with audience members that they
get up on stage, work the crowd like its the early eighties
in short, Salt, Pepa and Spinderella are still completely on
top of their game.
Playing a lot of material from their early catalogue is rather surreal
because I havent heard some of the tracks for years, when my
older brothers were getting into their vinyl and, though they deny
it now, Salt With A Deadly Pepa was amongst their first
purchases. I remember dancing about to Shake Your Thang,
Express Yourself and Ill Take Your Man
and it is bizarre to be in a room full of people that no doubt also
emulated the moves and the clothes (though probably not the hairstyles),
looking around at each other to see what we have all become. Salt
proclaims that shes sorry for getting us in trouble for talking
about sex and pushing it real good when we were little. The weird
thing is that, now in their late forties/ early fifties, Salt, Pepa
and Spinderella dont look much different, their clearly solid
friendship a bond that adds to their performance having shared
so much, they still know how to have fun and appear to truly love
doing that they do together. Spinderella plays a DJ set including
Nirvana, and their own live drummer and finishing rap of None
of your Business shows that they are an act who cross the boundaries
to rock and when Whatta Man, Lets Talk About
Sex and, of course, Push It end the show, I wonder
what their career holds for them going forwards because they are as
fresh as they ever were, showing that they dont actually need
gimmicks like this at all.
In fact, I find it impossible to understand why they are not headlining
and suspect everyone else does too. Still, considering that Vanilla
Ice had only agreed to two ten-minute interviews on just
one of the tour dates, you get the sense that his ego is more than
a little inflated. Most of the audience leave when he comes on. Maybe
they cant remember what songs hes done anyway, Ice
Ice Baby aside. Maybe its the fact that he is wearing
a stars and stripes top and his show is turning into a really odd
experience. Covering tracks from Ginuwines Pony
to Bob Marleys Redemption Song, the fans onstage
take selfies with him or grind up against him in a slightly sleazy,
slightly desperate performance. And when he eventually wraps himself
in the Union Jack, I dont know whether to laugh or cry tears
of pity because he looks genuinely thrilled with the reaction he gets
from the now half empty room. I laugh, obviously. And then try and
blank it out of my memory by humming Shoop.
Words and Pix - Anna C
Thanks to Sacha for getting us in and to the hubby for driving us
to Birmingham.