Boyz willing to be tackled by fans, but ready to score next goal
Name a Las Vegas show that doesn’t involve a hypnotist where you end up watching the audience instead of the performer.
Hint: It involves the lyric, “Although we’ve come to the end of the road, Still I can’t let go …”
It’s the second time in the Boyz II Men show where the stage gets rushed. The first point is about 15 minutes before, when batches of roses appear for “I’ll Make Love to You.” When women in the audience realize it’s first-come, first-served for scoring one from a Boy-Man, it’s open season.
But the trio bring this on themselves when they launch into their most enduring hit, “End of the Road,” daring themselves into the aisles to be surrounded and besieged with hugs and selfies.
It’s a hoot to watch women of all sizes and ages — some too young too have taped Boyz pictures to their mirrors in 1994 — join the feeding frenzy and practically tackle the 40-something singers.
You also can read deeper meaning in Boyz turning two of its biggest hits into toss-offs not really being heard once they become background music for the mayhem. They are grateful for their fans and willing to celebrate the past with ritual, yet kind of ready to move on and break some new ground.
The trio — Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris — released a new album last month in October called “Collide,” and introduced one song from it, “Diamond Eyes,” in their recurring show at The Mirage earlier this month.
They may have another one in for this weekend’s return.
“Certain songs are starting to become more popular, so we gotta learn those now,” Nathan Morris said. “We told our band to learn them all, so now it’s just us,” he added with a laugh.
“Diamonds” was noteworthy, and not just because Nathan Morris played bass as Stockman kept up on electric guitar. The song carried a different energy, more anthemic rocker than R&B ballad. It’s just one choice on a smorgasbord of an album designed to be thrown against the wall to see what sticks.
The current show is otherwise the same one Boyz brought to town early last year. The trio will perform at least through next year. Nathan Morris says they may start reworking the show by midyear, but don’t yet feel like they’ve been at The Mirage long enough to have saturated the current version with ticket-buyers.
Point taken, as casual fans do get brought up to speed on a group that sold 12 million albums in 1994, yet seemed to work way under the radar for the past decade or so. At one point, Stockman even says, “Allow us to reintroduce ourselves.”
The teen heartthrobs aged gracefully into distinct personalities, who separately address the audience and collectively work beyond their hits.
A Motown segment lets them cover “My Girl” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” A doo-wop street-corner set, complete with park bench, calls up background singer Marc Nelson for proper a cappella on “In the Still of the Night.” (Remember, Boyz were a quartet back in the day).
The rapport seems real even if the banter is recycled. And time has been kind to all three voices, which stand up to your best memories of “On Bended Knee” or “A Song for Mama” (shouldn’t every show have one?).
So, catch up to them. Or if you already have, wait until you fall behind again when they revamp the production. It would be nice to see fans embrace their new diversity, and/or to see them add splashy production design as Human Nature did after proving themselves on the Strip.
Until then? The trio bring up the nickname “Boyz II Old Men” before anyone can beat them to it. But a more accurate one might be “Boyz In Transition.”
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.