Your youth is having a revival. What you did back then is now all the rage so with that, throw your iPhone away, rummage through your old Callcard collection (is it a Tina Turner or Michael Collins kinda night?) and go see En Vogue in Dublin’s Vicar Street to celebrate this kickback.
As one of the biggest-selling girl groups ever, En Vogue defined the sound of 1990s R&B, paving the way for the likes of TLC, Destiny’s Child and SWV and influencing music today, with Little Mix and Ariana Grande in turn taking a leaf out of their book with songs encompassing empowerment and sexuality.
While NWA are responsible for curating a wave of socially aware Californian hip-hop in the early 1990s, En Vogue, mostly from Oakland, took this woke frame of mind, mixed it with rich harmonies and flooded the charts with assertive songs such as My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It), Free Your Mind and their 1993 Salt N' Pepa collaboration Whatta Man.
Don't Let Go has brought them unprecedented levels of success since its release in 1996. It is a song with many lives, re-entering the Irish and UK charts in 2011 following Little Mix's performance on The X Factor, and it has a dangerous effect on people. The opening bars alone turn most people into panthers prowling the dance floor while warbling the chorus with the desperation of 1,000 exes phoning at 3.55am for a second chance.
The last time En Vogue played Ireland, the gig had to be moved from Tripod to Crawdaddy (Ah! Remember the days) due to poor ticket sales, but now that the 1990s revival is in full swing, this feels like the right time for their return. The most recent line up consists of Cindy Herron-Braggs and Terry Ellis, two of the four original members, and Rhona Bennett. Dawn Robinson and Maxine Jones have left and rejoined the group numerous times, either to focus on solo work, start families or to get the hell away from the other two, since 2003.
While the trio are releasing a new album Electric Cafe in the coming months, this gig will be awash with nostalgia hits. So do the opposite of what they say and let go. Dive into your past and tell yer ma that you'll be getting the last Nitelink home.
