V103 hosted its second annual block party at First Merit Bank Pavillion on Northerly Island in Chicago recently. In true Chicago fashion, the weather decided to drop about 25 degrees, going from a hot and muggy day to a cool and breezy night. Surprisingly, this made for a great outdoor concert. Summer time Chi is in full effect. The bill was star studded; it included Tank, Jasmine Sullivan and Erykah Badu, SWV and Gourdon Banks.
SWV helped set the tone for the night. It was good feelings and nostalgia all around. Coco’s voice is just as alluring and unique as it was almost 20 years ago and the stage show has not missed a beat; they even incorporate Method Man’s verse from their song “Anything”
The night picked up steam the moment video of Tank made its way across the screen. The crowd, made up of mostly women, screamed at the top of their lungs the moment he hit the stage. Tank ran through his hits and fooled the audience into thinking his TGT band mates might be in the building. A few of the ladies got mad, but that soon went away as soon as Tank took his shirt off.
In between sets, DJ Phantom kept the crowd amped up with house music, soul and R&B. It felt like a real block party in the midst of such a celebratory mood. Radio personalities Joe Soto, Bionce Foxx and Ramonski Luv kept the crowd engaged.
Once Erykah was introduced, her band played for about 10 minutes before she sauntered onto the stage with her wig stuffed under a brown hat as she stood covered in a colorful shawl. She was fly as usual. At one point during the set, she stopped the music and began touching on the current state of affairs in the United States.”They can’t make us hate.That’s not who we are. They can make us mad than a mother@#$%$! but they can’t make us hate. Hate will not win. Our vibration is to high to hate,” she said. The band started to play “Tyrone” after her speech, she stopped them and said, “Didn’t you hear this serious speech I just gave, y’all just wanna call Tyrone.” She acted disappointed for a brief moment but then went all in on her rendition of Tyrone.
A cool summer night on Northerly Island proved to be a great spot for a block party. What will next year bring?
Check out few pics below.
