In honor of the release of Christina Aguilera's new movie Burlesque (sort of) we skip ahead in time a bit from the 1980s concerts I've covered so far. As you can see from the ticket, TLC were promoting their Fan Mail album at the time. Christina Aguilera and Blaque (who were protegees of TLC's Left Eye) were the openers. I bought tickets for my niece and oldest nephew for Christmas and my oldest sister also went. It was fun to be able to take them somewhere and I'm glad I did, because just four months later I moved to Chicago and didn't see them too often afterward. And of course Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes died in a car wreck just two years later.
I don't recall a lot about Blaque except that they were a competent female R&B group. Christina Aguilera's appearance was a big deal because this was when her first album was out and "Genie in a Bottle" was a big hit. I'll never forget that I had taken my nephew to the restrooms and as he exited the bathroom the song started up and this wave of kids came pushing past us, pouring back toward their seats so they wouldn't miss it. My nephew's eyes were filled with fear and as big as saucers - and I'm guessing mine were too. It felt like we were in a scene from A Hard Day's Night! Another song I remember Aguilera doing was Etta James' "At Last," and she really nailed it. Then, as now, she has a really superb voice even if her choice of material isn't usually top-notch.
TLC were fun, as I recall - lots of dancing and all the expected hits. Lisa Lopes was just coming off that ridiculous incident where she burned her boyfriend's house down. At one point she did some magic trick involving a rope and a lighter and she made a crack about how she shouldn't be around fire or something. Ah well, at least she had a sense of humor. I always liked TLC even if they weren't the best singers or dancers on earth because they seemed to have a lot of personality and charisma in addition to good songs. To this day I still have my beloved "No Scrubs" button from that show. RIP, Left Eye.
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