What I remember about Boyz II Men, growing up in the 90s, are their vocals, their harmonies and their extensive list of R&B ballads. So, to see them live would mean revisiting all those memories. It was also my first time seeing a show at the historic Melbourne venue, The Palais Theatre. This concert could have potentially been the greatest R&B concert I’ve ever seen, but unfortunately, the sound system of the Palais let the guys down, and I could not help but pick on it the entire hour and a half they were on.

So, I got there a little after 8:30pm despite the 7:30 pm start, which meant I missed out on the opening acts. Nevertheless, I was on time for the main show, and the guys did not disappoint. This wasn’t going to be a case of Bieber 2013 all over again, as they got on stage at the scheduled time of 9pm. Before they did get on stage though, the audience was given a brief history lesson about Boyz II Men on the projector screen. Mind you, I was so high in the top tier, the lights above the stage did take up much of the screen. I believe it went on about how many weeks songs such as, One Sweet Day and End of The Road sat at number one on the charts, and how many albums they sold.

Eventually, the three unoccupied mic stands at the front of the stage would be filled with the three remaining members (not forgetting there used to be four). They started the show with a lesser known song and something unusual for what is familiar to us as the Boyz II Men style, called Me, Myself and I from their 2014 album Collide. Let’s be honest; never heard of it. I just wanted the old stuff. They quickly did enter the old stuff with their 1991 upbeat anthem Motownphilly. It was during this song though that Wayne had mic issues; enter sound crew guy, running across the stage ninja style, doing a quick exchange of mics with Wayne then bang, vanishes.

Then they slowed it down, and its here I remember all their greatest hits were slow songs. Could I be bothered with that, live? Well listen here sceptics. When you have vocals as amazing as these guys, and harmony abilities way beyond what anybody can even attempt to do today, then you better shut up and listen, because the ‘greatest R&B male vocal group of all time’ is about to give some serious chills. The chills began with On Bended Knee as it was introduced acapella.

The music stopped and Shawn spoke a little to the audience. From ten rows from the back on the top tier, the sound was not great. They sounded muffled as they sang, but when they spoke, it was even worse. It was actually hard to hear what song was next, and it was even harder to make out what the guys were actually even saying when they did break it down to a chat. And it didn’t help having middle aged horny women behind me blasting their inappropriate jokes in my ear. Despite that extra blanket over what I was supposed to be listening to, the sound system was disappointing and did not do the guys any justice. Also, I need to add about the light show. Everybody in the top tier might as well be able to have had their sunnies with them. It was blinding. As the lights scanned up to us, everybody had their hands to their foreheads like it was a sunny day, and there was no way of knowing what was happening on stage. So, with the white light to heaven in our eyes, and horny middle aged women yelling behind me, I could just make out that Shawn was attempting to say a few Aussie phrases such as ‘how’s it going?’, then taught the crowd that Philadelphian slang and picked out a member of the audience in the front row who wore a cap and shirt of the Philadelphian baseball team. Shawn acknowledged and appreciated it. He then introduced us to by far the best vocalist of the group, Wayne. Wayne would then point out Nathan as the creator of the group. As soon as Nathan opened his mouth and revealed his deep, low voice, and every time after that when he spoke, guess who was filling my ears with dirty words, screeching howls and sexual suggestions?

After getting through a few more ballads, the guys decided to spice up the show. Shawn on electric guitar, and Nathan on bass, while Wayne just thrusting his pelvis a lot. This was actually an excellent part of the show. The guys would perform a medley of different songs from other artists. Bob Marley’s Jammin’, Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, and the most exciting Thinking Out Loud from Ed Sheeran. It was after this the guys introduced us to the one white member of their band as a lead into what they called the ‘token white guy anthem.’ Any guesses what that might have been? Yep, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Lenny Kravitz’s American Woman would be next and a few others, until Shawn came back for another chat to the crowd. This time he asked if he could do a ‘shameless plug’ for their Vegas show at the Mirage. He said, ‘so if you happen to be driving down the strip, and see three black guys up on the billboard, that’s us. Stop by.’

So, I guess at this stage a lot has gone on, but where are those big hits everybody will sing along to? Never fear, because after a few more less ground-breaking tracks, I’ll Make Love to You finally created a big reaction from the crowd. You would have loved to be a female in the front row as they sang this one, because at the same time, they were handing out long stemmed roses. It was also at this point where I finally realised, they bow after every song.

Wayne would then ask the audience to ‘remember where you were, what you were doing, and who you were doing it with.’ This was the introduction to End of the Road which providing an even bigger reaction from the crowd, whilst the boys seemed overwhelmed by how wild the crowd got. The guys performed plenty of acapellas throughout the night, including for the magical It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday. But by far the best moment was when the entire audience harmonised together for the chorus of End of the Road without the music. It was a beautiful moment.

The guys would then ask everybody to get out of their seats as they performed Motwonphilly again, gave us one last bow, and left us with One Sweet Day playing over the speakers, where some confident folks, such as me, decided to belt it out as the rest of the crowd exited.

I would do Boyz II Men again, but not at the Palais or anything like it. Vocals such as those should be supported by a top sound system, where the same level of sound is bounced around everywhere in the venue and not just in the bottom half.

I give Boyz II Men live at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre 3 out of 5. The venue made up for those 2 points lost.

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