Live Review: Blackstreet, Lily V

“If you need a fix, I can give it to you/I can be your candy man.”

“Can I take you back to 1993?”

Oh yes you can, Chauncey Black. The godfathers of smooth R&B romance worked a serious time warp on The Hi-Fi for a crowd raring to experience the warm and fuzzy feels of the ‘90s.

DJs Master-D and Dezastar warmed up the room with classic hip hop nostalgia – from Jagged Edge to MC Hammer – and precocious 17-year-old Sydney rapper Lily V brought some serious sass with deadpan tracks like Who You Calling A Bitch? and a duet with C Black, Tattoos, packing a whole lot of attitude beyond her years.

“This one’s for all the ladies in the house,” applies to every song at a Blackstreet show – and the ladies in the house were thrilled to be there, many of them reliving their favourite decade.

Despite rumbles from Teddy Riley last year that the band was “over”, original members Chauncey Black, Levi Little, Mark Middleton and Eric Williams still operate as a smooth R&B boy band 20 years on. Decked out in a uniform of black leather pants, jackets and dark sunglasses, they walked on as images of each of them flashed up on a flaming background projected behind the stage. The cheesiness can’t be overstated but we were in for a shamelessly good time.

The screen switched to raining rose petals for Don’t Leave Me, Levi Little showing off a still-solid falsetto and the crowd proving they knew every word like it was 1993 again. Back-up dancers in classic retro-sexy attire – think sparkling Union Jack bikinis and denim shorts – added more kitsch to bouncy tracks like Booti Call and Fix.

“Are you ready for some baby-making music?” Black asks (resounding response: “Please!”) and the four flung roses out into a rapturous crowd during the aching Before I Let You Go. The group can still rock a flawless harmony and Little again showed off a killer wail on the gospel vibe of Joy.

And yes, they topped it all off with No Diggity, the track revived by our own Chet Faker, bringing Lily V back on stage and mashing it up with Tears For Fears’ Shout. Blackstreet locked down the formula for a good time 20 years ago – and it’s a nice feeling knowing nobody can mess with that.