Three of the most successful R&B acts of the 1990s — Salt-N-Pepa, TLC, and En Vogue — are joining forces for an epic summer tour that will take them to amphitheaters all across the United States.
“I feel like this is going to be the most fun touring experience I’ve ever had,” Cheryl “Salt” James says in a video announcing the tour. “And I feel like we’re going to feel the queens is in the building. We’ve earned this seat … This show is going to be crazy. We’re doing the whole mixtape vibe, coming in and out.”
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The “mixtape vibe” is similar to what New Edition, Toni Braxton, and Boyz II Men are doing on their ongoing arena tour where nobody opens or closes, and they instead mash their sets together without break or intermission. That means fans can expect a set this summer that might go from “Shoop” to “Waterfalls” to “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” in breakneck speed, as members of the three groups come and go from the stage.
After a period of estrangement preceded by a legal spat, Salt-N-Pepa have made peace with Spinderella, who will be part of the tour. Three of the four classic-era members of En Vogue (Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones) are on board for the tour. They haven’t worked with Dawn Robinson since 2011. And surviving TLC members Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas now tour as a duo. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes died in a 2002 car crash, and they’ve never replaced her. They often play videos of her during iconic Left Eye moments, like the “Waterfalls” rap.
“These ladies represent resilience and empowerment,” Ellis says in the tour announcement video. “To be a part of that is everything. They’re legends.”
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Salt-N-Pepa had many hits in the Eighties, but the vast majority of songs in the show will be from the Nineties. “The music from the Nineties, it’s just…the lyrical content is great,” Chilli said in the video. “You can put on a song no matter how you’re feeling. Once you hit the 2000s, the lyrical content just changes. The beats are crazy, but it’s just different. And it’s crazy to see eight-year-olds sitting in the audience singing all of the songs.”
The tour kicks off Aug. 15 in Franklin, Tennessee, and wraps up Oct. 11 in Concord, California. “Rehearsals are going to be all of July,” says Chilli. “We’re going to eat clean. We’re going to exercise and work out. We’re going to release eight hours a day, five days a week.”
TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue’s ‘It’s Iconic’ Tour Dates
Aug. 15 – Franklin, TN @ FirstBank Amphitheater
Aug. 18 – Des Moines, IA @ Iowa State Fair Grandstand*
Aug. 20 – Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
Aug. 21 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Aug. 23 – Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
Aug. 24 – Burgettstown, PA @ The Pavilion at Star Lake
Aug. 27 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Albany Med Health System at SPAC
Aug. 28 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug. 30 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center
Aug. 31 – Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater|
Sept. 2 – Toronto, ON @ RBC Amphitheatre
Sept. 3 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Acrisure Amphitheater
Sept. 5 – St. Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fairgrounds*
Sept. 8 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Sept. 10 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Sept. 12 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
Sept. 13 – Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Sept. 15 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
Sept. 16 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Sept. 18 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Sept. 19 – Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Sept. 20 – Charlotte, NC @ Truliant Amphitheater
Sept. 23 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sept. 24 – Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live
Sept. 27 – Brandon, MS @ Brandon Amphitheater
Sept. 29 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
Sept. 30 – Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
Oct. 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
Oct. 4 – The Woodlands, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Sponsored by Huntsman
Oct. 5 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Oct. 7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Oct. 9 – Las Vegas, NV @ Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Oct. 10 – Inglewood, CA @ Intuit Dome
Oct. 11 – Concord, CA @ Toyota Pavilion at Concord
There’s no immediate resolution in any of this. There’s no surrender either — and a lot of great escape. White’s slide guitar in “Dollar Bill” sounds like a National Steel on steroids until the solo, when it turns into what seems like a theremin gone postal. “I Can’t Believe What I’m Hearing” has a great pop-wise chorus closer to the Pretty Things than Son House. And don’t miss White’s wry aside to the White Stripes’ old creation myth in the second verse of “G.O.D.,” on the way to the real business at hand. “Well, it’s the beginning of the world now,” he declares at the song’s end. “Let’s do it all over again.”
