The Hot Summer Nights Tour rolled into Raleigh, North Carolina on June 8, 2023 to the Coastal Credit Union Music Park At Walnut Creek. It wasn’t quite summer yet and the temps were far from being hot on this (light) rainy evening. I’m not even sure we saw the sun in Raleigh all day long. That didn’t stop people from making their way into the venue with their ponchos and rain jackets on. They were here for a trip down memory lane ala 1990’s style. Sean Kingston opened the evening of entertainment and worked the crowd out of their seats and got them moving. His hits “Beautiful Girls” and “Fire Burning” definitely got some hands in the air and dancing in the aisles. En Vogue was up next and these ladies stepped right out of a time machine. Wow! They still look and sound like they did back when “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” came out in 1992. Btw, that’s what they opened their set with on this evening as well. The hits continued with “Free Your Mind,” “Whatta Man” (minus Salt-N-Pepa of course) and many others. After a quick change over, TLC ht the stage with some amazing graffics being displayed on the jumbo screen behind them. They kicked off their set with “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” and I was curious what they were going to do about Left Eye’s parts. All of a sudden, you heard Left Eye over the speakers singing or rapping her parts. I have to admit that I did get some goosebumps when I heard her. What an amazing set! All of the number ones were there: “Creep,” “Waterfalls,” “Unpretty” and “No Scrubs.” Shaggy closed out the night out with another hit filled set. He also took advantage of the huge screen behind him with some amazing graphics as well as some lyrics. “Boombastic” was there, “In The Summertime” was there and of course, “It Wasn’t Me” was there plus many others. What a fun night! Lots of dancing, lots of singing, lots of smiling and sense of peace and harmony amongst different people brought together by their love of music. So what if there was a little bit of rain. Most everyone forgot all about it until the show was over adn they were walking back to their cars. Earlier I said “memory lane 1990’s style.” Ok, ok, before people complain, there were songs heard that were posts 90’s, but the majority of what was heard this evening was a 90’s flashback. Regardless of that, it was so much fun and such a great temporary escape from all of our troubles and worries.

Review & photos by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price