En Vogue could have been Destiny’s Child - they have the voices and had the (potential) hits but always lacked the hype and the glue to keep them together. In fact, they are now what Beyonce et al could have been if they had fallen down the wormhole and into a parallel universe, one where instead of the half time at the Super Bowl, they perform at Butlin’s and the O2’s bizarre Indigo club.
While their former rivals have gone to sell millions, marry millionaire hip hop moguls and see the smallest tit bits of their lives chewed up across the gossip columns, the Vogue, after their no minor chart success, have concentrated on imploding via line-up changes, bitching and bickering.
Now they’re back, it makes this low-key live affair an interesting one, if not for the music then for the dynamics of the trio on stage, three fifty-somethings still in their vocal prime but with the world weary vibes of ladies who have been there, done that and feel a bit short changed by the whole affair.
After dropping mega smash Don’t Let Go near the start of the night, they needed a bit of camp hi-jinks to kick start the crowd of 30+ couples, gays and R’N’B lovers firmly into groove town. They succeeded by getting three gents up on stage and asking what their definition of love is (after their hit, What Is Love?) - while one champ cited rare groove, one got his top off, the other said: ‘you need a dick in a box’. Not sure what this meant, but lowering the tone worked, sparking off a Motown medley and a serious sing off with the trio taking it in turns to try and out do the other. It was high octane soul belting business showing off the threesome’s voluminous sets of pipes. Should you go and see them? If possible, yes indeed - if only to see what Beyonce et all could have been if they'd been a bit wilder and less willing to compromise...
