The Millennium Tour Review

I remember back in December of 2018 when the announcement was made. Initially, I thought it was a joke. I figured that some fan got bored, and decided to create something random in Photoshop just for clout. Then I saw that each member posted the announcement, and I got hype! The original members of B2K were reuniting, and going on tour together. This was big news for anybody that witness the 2000 era of music. I was in the second and third grade of elementary school when B2K was in their prime. I remember listening to their CDs; I never got the official album. My CD was a bootleg copy burned and ripped from a computer. I remember watching their videos on every music video show. I remember their BET Awards performances. I remember watching You Got Served damn near every weekend trying to do their dance moves. I raced to ticket master to see how much the tickets were going on sale for. I set every notification alarm within that app so I can know when the tour is coming to Atlanta. I was NOT going to miss this concert.

The full line-up of acts for the Millennium Tour were the following: B2K, Mario, Pretty Ricky, Lloyd, Ying-Yang Twins, Bobby Valentino, and Chingy. To be honest, the line-up seemed very random at first. I was expecting to see Bow Wow, Sammie, Lil Romeo apart line-up. The Ying Yang Twins, Bobby Valentino, and Chingy seemed a little out of place; majority of their music did not kick off until 2006-2007. Everybody else, their catalog of music was prominent in 2004 and earlier. Regardless, I did not care because I was still going to go. Atlanta initially only had one date. It was on a Friday. I did not have the money to purchase the ticket immediately. I had to save up. The Friday show sold out in less than a week. The only available seats were being priced for $200. I was pissed. All of a sudden, it was announced that a second date was going to open in Atlanta because of the high demand. So I was able to purchase a decent priced ticket because $200+ was NOT in my budget. I ended up paying approximately $70.00 for a decent seat. It was a good deal. I got so hype for the concert that I ordered a green F.U.B.U long sleeve shirt. I could not enter this tour with any Fashion Nova, Asos, or any modern time gear on. I had to dress like the early 2000s. It felt like a requirement. I was so tempted to purchase a portable CD player or a Motorola Razor flip-phone as a prop for a more nostalgia effect, but that would have been extremely extra a waste of money for no reason.

It is the day of the concert. The show started at 7:00 pm. I arrived at the venue around 7:40 pm. It was raining, there was a lot of traffic, and my Lyft driver was driving slower than dial-up internet. So by the time I arrived, Bobby Valentino was on stage. I missed Chingy. I was low key upset; I did want to chicken head to Right Thurr one good time and hear it live; I quickly got over it.

Bobby Valentino surprised me. He sounded good live. He performed all his mainstream hits and the joints he was featured on like: Beep, Slow Down, Pimpin All over the World, and Mrs. Officer. The concert felt like I was watching a Disney Sing-A-Long movie. It seemed like everybody was on their feet singing to the music word for word. It was so nostalgic. The vibe and energy of the venue was amazing. Bobby shocked everybody, he finished his set with a special guest: F.L.Y! The group came out and performed their only hit song, which is Swag Surf. The entire building was Swag Surfing during the entire duration of the song. It was so lit.

Lloyd was the next act to hit the stage. Lloyd pissed me off. I saw online that at previous shows before Atlanta, that Lloyd had brought out Ashanti to perform their duet Southside. Ashanti did not make an appearance for the Atlanta show. I was waiting to hear Southside performed by the both of them; that to me is one of the best R&B duets of all time. Other than the disappointment, Lloyd is a good live performer. He performed all his major cuts: Get It Shawty, You, Tru, and more. Some songs were performed with a back track, but he also had his guitar on stage and performed acoustic versions of a couple of songs. He did very well. Even though we did not get Ashanti, Lloyd did bring out D4L for his special guest during his set. I have not heard the Laffy Taffy and Scotty in a couple of years. They provided random nostalgia with those joints.

The Ying Yang Twins were NOT needed AT ALL! Their set was all over the place. The energy was somewhat there, but overall it was so poorly executed. One of them literally walked off stage, into the audience during three songs. It was just off and awkward. I was expecting a Nelly Tip Drill twerk contest on stage or something. They put no effort into their set. It is like they rolled out of bed 30 minutes prior. They performed Get Low, Salt Shaker, Whisper Song, and other joints, but it was nothing memorable. Young Bloodz coming out as their guests was the best part of their set. NEXT!

The next act: Pretty Ricky! Pretty Ricky PUT ON A DAMN SHOW! They opened their set up with Grind On Me. The outfits were made for the stage; they were dripping from head to toe. They had gorgeous back-up dancers; the girls literally came in all shades and their skin was glowing under the stage lights.

Choreography was nice and crisp. Pleasure's vocals were on point; he sounded just like the recordings. The rappers performed their verses with good energy. You can hear them clearly; they were not performing over a back track or with auto tune. Spectacular had his own solo routine during the performance of Juicy; the moves were definitely not PG-13, but it was fun to watch him and the dancers grind on each other.

Pleasure had his own mini set; he performed all the songs he did as a solo artist: Boyfriend No.2, Under, Did You Wrong, etc. He even performed a cover song of Keith Sweat’s Nobody. To me, it was a random addition to the set list until he actually brought out Keith Sweat on stage with him. So unexpected; I was ecstatic. Pretty Ricky finished their set with the performance of Hotline; that is seriously one of my favorite joints from them. They had everybody on their feet jamming to it. They really change the energy of the auditorium. The Ying Yang Twins put the crowd to sleep, and Pretty Ricky woke the crowd right back up. That was my first time seeing the group live, and I am a huge fan of Pretty Ricky. They are from Miami, and I was born and raised in Miami. Their music was on heavy rotation on the radio stations in South Florida. Witnessing them live was a good feeling. I seriously enjoyed them.

Mario was the next artist to take the stage. I did not realize that I have been sleeping on Mario for a while. I have never supported Mario’s music as much as I could have been. He is extremely talented. He sounds amazing live. I was shockingly impressed by his vocal ability. During a couple of songs, he was able to dance and sing at the same time. His stage presence and energy was so good. His voice never cracked or got tired. It is important to note that he did not lip-sync while executing his dance moves.

He performed all of his ear candy chart toppers; there were a few songs that I completely forgot about until I heard him perform them live. My favorite joints: Let Me Love You (of course), Braid My Hair, Just A Friend, Break-Up, Never, Somebody Else just to name a few. He also performed his remake of Keith Sweat’s Right & Wrong Way. He said in the mic “shout-out to Keith Sweat backstage.” Pleasure P brought Sweat out earlier; it would have been dope for Sweat to come out during Mario’s set too, so they could perform that song together, but it did not happen.

Mario actually had no guest stars. It was only him, his band, and his background dancers. Mario did not need anyone else to appear on his set because Mario carried his show! He is definitely one of the best performers of all time, and he deserves more recognition.

B2K was last, obviously because they are the headliners. Their opening was dramatic and good. Each of them popped out the ground one at time; the lights were flashing, the smoke surrounded the stage, the bass was booming as the instrumental of Uh-Huh played in the background. B2K is officially in the building. They performed their most known hits: Uh-Huh, What a Girl Wants, Why I Love You, Gots To Be, Badaboom, etc.

My favorite part of their set was when they performed Girlfriend. At the beginning of the song, they do a chest dance move that I always use to imitate when the music video aired. I did not realize that Omarion was the MAIN singer in all of these songs. I knew he was the lead singer of the group, but I did not realize as a kid that Omarion sung the majority of the B2K records while Lil Fizz just provided a rap verse, and the other two just provided background vocals. Omarion was killing these records live. He sounded good. The group’s dance moves were on point; it is like they have never missed a beat. So afterwards, J-Boog, Lil Fizz, and a couple of local Atlanta dancers reenacted their dance routine to the song Drop by Timbaland, which was the opening scene from the movie You Got Served. The members of B2K starred in that movie back in 2004; I salute them for paying tribute to one of my favorite movies of all time. That was an unexpected surprised that I really enjoyed.

After the You Got Served tribute, Omarion had his own set performing all the hits he had as a solo artists. He performed Touch. I was pissed, because I thought he was going to bring out the girl from the music video that was dancing with him. He brought her out in previous shows, but she did not hit the stage in Atlanta unfortunately. Omarion also performed O, Ice Box, Speeding, and Post to Be. The biggest shocker of the night, Omarion brought out Bow Wow. Mr. 106 & Park himself hopped out the stage to O’ I Think They Like Me. People, including me have been saying that Bow Wow should have been a part of this tour, so it was refreshing to witness him on stage. He performed Fresh As I Is, Let Me Hold You, and Like You.

What perplexed me is the fact that Omarion and Bow Wow have a whole joint album together. They did not perform anything from that album; not even Jump Off, which was the lead single of that album. Regardless, Bow Wow coming to perform at the Millennium Tour was a moment to witness. Afterwards, B2K returned to the stage and closed their set out with one of their biggest hitz: Bump! Bump! Bump! They gave us an outfit change. They were dressed in black and red leather threads. They looked pretty fly. That was the end of the show.

I really had a good time at the Millennium Tour. It was refreshing to relive that particular era of music. The Millennium Tour receives three mics. Three mics mean: it was a good show, but it was a one time experience for me. I would not actually be enthusiastic to see any of these artists again live except for Pretty Ricky and Mario. Everybody did well, but those were the two acts that really delivered a show. The Ying Yang Twins, they could have either been replaced or moved to the very beginning of the show.

I believed their placement was most likely due to the fact that they have more hits in their catalog than Chingy and Bobby Valentino. However, they did not do that well of a job. I loved all the special guests that appeared: Keith Sweat, D4L, F.L.Y, and Bow Wow. Atlanta is one of the best places to witness concerts because guest stars are definitely a guarantee. B2K did well. My only complaint: I wanted them to perform more of their songs. They only performed a couple of songs, and then they made way for Omarion to have his own solo set. The main purpose of the tour was to celebrate B2K reuniting, so the group as a whole deserved more time showcasing their own music and not just Omarion’s. Despite the negatives, I had a good time; I am very glad that I attended the tour.