Supposedly feuding for over 25 years might be bad karma, but it’s great for ticket sales. Of course, Brandy and Monica aren’t actually fighting, they just did such a good job of pretending to hate each other on their 1998 duet The Boy Is Mine that the world has been convinced of it ever since. The R&B legends have taken pains to point out that their relationship is harmonious in multiple interviews leading up to this 32-date co-headline tour, even making fun of the drama in a recent Dunkin advert that featured them fighting over a frappe.
Happily, Brandy and Monica’s sisterhood also means they’re playing their biggest venues in decades. After emerging on stage from a vintage elevator wearing sunglasses and scowling expressions, the duo launches into a kind of sing-and-dance-off, trading places and performing a trio of classics apiece as the other watches with disdain. It’s a knowing nod to their purported rivalry that begins to take on the feeling of a variety segment, which isn’t helped by the trimming of songs like What About Us? and Like This and Like That to 90 seconds apiece. Even so, their camaraderie shines through as Brandy quickly breaks character to sway and sing along to Monica’s Don’t Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days), a showcase for her slightly raspy, soulful vocals during which she winds her hips and aims gun fingers at the audience.
Brandy and Monica’s respective music shines brightest tonight in their solo sets. Brandy’s mid-tempo Full Moon is already impossible to sing by 99% of people, but she confirms her honorific as the “vocal Bible” by further complicating it tonight, adding in extra octave-scaling runs and ad-libs. She’s captivating in tightly choreographed performances of Afrodisiac and Who Is She 2 U, and a certified kook to boot, gently needling her co-headliner like a sassy sibling. After Monica delivers a heartfelt speech about how her partner has taught her that love can cross oceans, Brandy’s eyebrows shoot upwards and she quickly informs the audience: “She still can’t swim!”
It doesn’t seem that any live instruments were involved in tonight’s show, save for the organ that accompanies Brandy’s gorgeous rendition of the Never Say Never deep cut Put That on Everything. That doesn’t deter Monica, who adds a dash of Las Vegas camp to Street Symphony with shirtless male dancers and prop violins. The First Night is extended into a Diana Ross mashup that plays off the song’s Love Hangover sample, performed with hip-hop moves and a shiny cane. Razzle-dazzle isn’t always needed to pack a punch, though. Her pristine vocals fill the arena during a stripped-down, belting rendition of Angel of Mine, a tender love song with attitude and bite.
Other moments are more jarring. While there are minimal stage changes throughout the show, elaborate and strange video interludes punctuate the show’s six acts: one features Brandy and Monica as marionettes that get tied up together in a bundle of puppet strings, while others recap their chart achievements and memorable videos as if they’re an X Factor guest about to perform. As well as three opening acts (Kelly Rowland, Muni Long, and recent American Idol winner Jamal Roberts), tonight’s show also features a slightly perplexing array of special guests including Ciara, who performs a brilliantly athletic four-song medley, as well as Fat Joe, Tyrese and NYC cult rapper Max B. “If you got time, we got time,” beams Monica around three-quarters through the show, as Fabolous strides on to the stage to perform Into You. Ma’am, it is 11.30pm on a school night.
Soon, Brandy and Monica reunite on stage. In tribute to Whitney Houston, who mentored both artists, the pair duet on a fun, loose cover of I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), before closing the show out with – what else? – The Boy Is Mine. On a stage filled with dry ice, the pair go all in on scenery-chewing, as Brandy tosses her hair and stamps her feet while Monica purses her lips and rolls her eyes. It’s been a strange couple of hours to get here, but the reward is a sing-off for the ages.
