Vengaboys | Metro City | 19th Feb | ★ ★ ★ ½
Vengaboys are back in town celebrating their 25th anniversary with a hit packed show that went like a rollercoaster delivering a hyped party vibe.
The enthused crowd on their final night of their Australian tour filled the dance floor at Metro Perth reliving their glory days of 90’s youth. It was a 90’s celebration with support from a succession of popstars and club favourites.
Having enjoyed appearances from Real 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman, best known for their song I Like to Move It (Move It), Alice Deejay, N-Trance and the age-defying Whigfield, and a manic DJ set from Nick Skitz, by the time Vengaboys took to the stage, the crowd were well ensconced into the 1990s.
When you have a band who are best known for a single hit, or just a handful of songs, it can be hard to generate enough material to fill a while show. I recall watching Technotronic play at a festival a few years ago and they performed three or four different versions of Pump Up the Jam.
Vengaboys tackle this challenge by just singing everyone else’s songs alongside their own. Hip hop classics were added to their set list alongside big hits from Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Donna Summer, Aqua and oh so many more.
It was reminiscent of Stars on 45, Jive Bunny, or a party compilation from The James Last Orchestra. No song lasted more than 90 seconds, sometimes less, a quick hit and on to the next tune.
I lost count of how many songs were covered, The Ketchup Song, The Macarena and Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy all got a moment in the sun. A techno-dance take on Men at Work’s Down Under however may be grounds for deportation.
A giant digital screen displayed lyric videos encouraging the crowd to sing-along. Interspersed between the pop hits of other artists were Vengaboys’ many other songs. Their recording output that falls outside the four hits they burst onto the scene with in 1999.
All their songs really sound the same – but the foursome was having a great time, and the infectious vibe was contagious. While they come across as Techno Wiggles, with more cheese than a Quatrro Formaggi Pizza, there’s no denying they know how to keep an audience’s attention.
With tight chorography, quick chats with audience, calls to wave your hands in the air, and eye-catching costumes, they were a well-oiled entertainment machine.
Finally, the quartet launched into the songs everyone was waiting for with Up & Down, We’re Going to Ibiza, We Like to Party (The Vengabus) and Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!
The nostalgia inducing celebration took me back to spending three months in Indonesia in 1999 where these songs were played in bars every single night, and “we like to party” was a mantra. 25 years- where did the time go?
Graeme Watson
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