On a misty September evening something happened for the first time in nearly twenty-five years, Tony! Toni! Tonè! took the stage in Philadelphia at The Met. The group comprising Raphael Saadiq, his brother D’wayne Wiggins, and Timothy Christian Riley, hailing from Oakland, landed on the scene in the late 80s and had wonderful success. They disbanded in the mid 90s as Saadiq went on to have a successful solo career, while writing and creating with some of music’s biggest names.
Over two decades since they last performed as a group, the Me and You Tour was a chance to bring the family back together, and bring the Tonys back to the people. From the minute they began to play the crowd was singing along and dancing in the aisles. Saadiq may be one of the best frontmen in R&B group history, and man did he put on a show. When the D’wayne-led “Whatever You Want” came on, The Met erupted in energy and folks were singing at the top of their lungs.
Tony! Toni! Tonè! | photo by David “Odiwams” Wright
After a brief intermission, the Tonys played a short tribute video of their friend and trailblazing director John Singleton; they then transitioned into “Me & You” from his classic movie Boyz n the Hood. While Saadiq went through a collection of his solo and creative work with other artists, a wonderful surprise of the evening was LeToya Luckett, formerly of Destiny’s Child was singing background and came out to do Dawn Robinson’s part from the Lucy Pearl jam, “Dance Tonight.” The group closed the evening first with “Anniversary” then “Feels Good,” but by that point everyone had been on their feet dancing. Just overall, it was a fantastic show by a truly magnificent group. Hopefully we get another few decades of magic from them!