Boyz II Men’s Mirage residency is a musical gem stacked with surprises

By Brock Radke (contact)

Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 | 2 a.m.

What a wonderland of pop music Las Vegas has become. Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito,” probably the biggest song of the summer, just tied 1995’s “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men with 16 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Fonsi’s tour brings him to Las Vegas at the Pearl at the Palms next weekend on Sept. 8. We just saw Mariah sing “One Sweet Day” at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in July, and Boyz II Men continues to perform throughout the rest of this year at the Terry Fator Theatre at Mirage.

With Celine Dion, Bruno Mars, Elton John, Britney Spears and more returning to the Strip every few months, it’s easy for one of these acts to get a little bit lost in the shuffle, and that’s what may have happened to Boyz II Men, the all-time best selling R&B group that started its Mirage gigs in 2014. Maybe fans think they know what a Boyz II Men show looks and sounds like in 2017, but the group has plenty of surprises in store. Far from a collection of slow ballads, this show is energetic, interactive and completely musical, one of the best overall entertainment options on the Strip.

Certainly, there are ballads, slow-burning opportunities for this talented trio of singers to take their turn in the spotlight. Wanya Morris, who competed in the 22nd season of “Dancing With the Stars,” breaks out the vocal acrobatics early in “On Bended Knee.” They take every opportunity between songs to thank the audience for their continued support and drop a bit of behind-the-scenes storytelling into the mix, including the one about how country band Lonestar’s mega-hit “Amazed” was offered first to the Boyz; they regret passing on the tune, but they still performed their own version.

Then the real fun begins. Boyz II Men is the last great Motown group, and not only because they are perpetually inspired by the iconic record company’s classic sound and style. They recorded their first three albums for Motown, and covered their favorite tracks from the Motown era with 2007’s “A Journey Through Hitsville USA.” When they go into their Motown segment at Mirage, the energy is infectious — they could easily do an entire show of these hits. From “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” to “The Tracks of My Tears,” the performers are clearly having as much fun as the audience.

And then they start having more fun than the audience. After a throwback segment paying tribute to their a capella origins, Shawn Stockman grabs a guitar, Nathan Morris straps on a bass and suddenly Boyz II Men is a rollicking rock cover band, blasting through hits by Lenny Kravitz, Bruno Mars and the Beatles. It’s the kind of spontaneous moment that separates these Vegas residencies from the pack, when a regularly occurring show feels like a one-night-only concert. Not every artist has the talent to pull it off.

When the Boyz get into their greatest hits, the audience forces them to stretch the songs out forever. Women run up to the stage to get a rose tossed to them during “I’ll Make Love to You,” and “End of the Road” takes everyone back, if not to 1991 then the place of some personal, emotional memory. Not all famous pop music is timeless, but these songs are, and this group’s abilities haven’t waned one bit.

Boyz II Men performs Sept. 1-3 and 15-17 in the Terry Fator Theatre at the Mirage, and continues with scheduled Friday-Sunday performances in October, November and December. For ticket info, call 702-792-7777 or visit mirage.com.