MixTape Festival Brings Back Blasts From The Past

The 5^th annual MixTape Festival at Hershey Park Stadium brought in waves of nostalgia for the crowd of over 16,000 that braved the summer heat this past Saturday.

Starting at 4 in the afternoon and lasting til 11, Hershey, PA was transported back to the late 90's and early 2000's much to the delight of music fans of all ages. 

 For many, this was the music they grew up on-whether it was listened to in the car or bus on the way to and from school, the soundtrack to their school dances, hanging out with friends. It brought back memories for many as did the mention of MTV's TRL which a few of artists paid tribute to. Everyday you'd catch your favorite artists and find out what was popular. Many of those at the festival-Dream, 98 Degrees and O-Town were included in that era and are touring as part of a MY2K Tour that also featured opener, Ryan Cabrera.

Ryan Cabrera kicked things off with a simple, but engaging half hour that featured him on guitar playing a mix of his hits from the mid 2000's including “House on Fire” and “True”. Kicking off a trend that would follow with most of the acts, he did a medley of covers that included The Goo-Goo Doll's “Slide,” Third Eye Blind's “Semi-Charmed Life,” Will Smith's “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and bringing things up to date with Justin Bieber's “Sorry.” Cabrera performed his new single, “Whatever, Whenever,” due out this month from “Beyond The Sky” and closed his set with his biggest hit “On The Way Down.”

2000's girl group, Dream, returned to the Hershey Park Stadium stage for the first time in 15 years after regrouping recently and hitting the comeback trail. The group performed at the 2001 TRL Tour which was headlined by Destiny's Child. Taking the stage with their 2005 anthem, “I Am Woman” they showed they were serious about getting back into the spotlight. Tight harmonies, sleek dance moves and girl power ruled their time on stage. Their new single, “I Believe” is available on iTunes and got a great crowd response, as did 2001's “This Is Me” and their hit 2000 debut, “He Loves U Not” which had everyone singing along.

O-Town wasted no time getting the crowd up performing their big 2000 hit, “Liquid Dreams” as their opening number. They continued with “Girl” from their debut along with a handful of their early hits. The group broke up in 2003 and reunited in 2013 and have been together since minus Ashley Parker Angel and released their new album, “Lines and Cirlces” a few years ago. After the title track, they launched into a mash-up of covers which included Nico and Vinz “Am I Wrong,” Maroon 5's “Maps,” The Weekend's “I Can't Feel My Face” and Kanye West's “Stronger.” Throughout it all, the giant video screen flashed lyrics to many of their songs which led to giant sing-a-longs to get the crowd going. The guys closed their set with their biggest hit, “All or Nothing At All.”

After a short break, 98 Degrees took the stage with the appropriate “Heat It Up.” While they weren't quite on the same level as their boy band peers Backstreet Boys and N*Sync, Nick, Drew, Jeff and Justin had their following and proved they could stand on their own. They reunited 4 years go at the first MixTape and have been back together since. Their cover of Montell Jordan's “This is How We Do It” got the audience into a frenzy. They slowed things down with their first hit, “Invisible Man” and fan favorite, “The Hardest Part.” After talking about 1999, they started into a medley of hits from their fellow pop artists-”Summer Girls” by LFO, Sugar Ray's “Fly,” “I Want It That Way” from Backstreet Boys, Spice Girl's “Wannabe,” Blink 182's “All The Small Things,” Britney's debut, “...Baby One More Time” and N*Sync's “Bye Bye Bye.” In a bit of a cheesy moment, the guys invited an audience member out and performed “I Do (Cherished You)” after asking her to marry them before closing out the show with their 1998 hit, “Because of You.”

Growing up in the early 90's, Philly group BoyzIIMen were radio staples with smash after smash. They kicked off their set with a cover of Sly and the Family Stone's “Different Strokes For Different Folks” before getting things going with their '91 mega smash, “MotownPhilly.” “On Bended Knee” became an audience sing-a-long and showed off the group's tight harmonies. An odd groove session that featured a mix of totally unrelated songs seemed misplaced. Bob Marley's “Jamming”, Ed Sheeran's “Thinkin' Out Loud” mashed up with Marvin Gaye's “Let's Get It On”, Lynyrd Skynyrd's “Sweet Home Alabama” and Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Guess Who's “American Woman” and The Beatle's “Come Together” proved to be an odd mix and threw the pacing of their show off. Their cover of “Open Arms” from Journey was better suited, but it was their hits that got the show back on track as they followed up with smooth groove classics “I'll Make Love To You” and “End of the Road” before closing out with an encore of “MotownPhilly.”

It had been 20 years since pop icon Paula Abdul graced the concert stage and MixTape was her big return to performing. While she has never been out of the spotlight-become a beloved judge on “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance”-her music career has been sparse in the past decade. A few singles, “Dance Like There's No Tomorrow” and “I'm Just Here For The Music,” didn't make much of an impact and her last release was “Dream Medley,” a re-recording of a handful of hits was released in 2012 to iTunes with little fanfare.

After a few false starts with video issues, Paula kicked off her long anticipated set with the popular “Opposites Attract” complete with MC Skat Kat. Sadly, audio problems plagued the opening number and only Paula's vocals were heard but the audience jumped in to duet with the Abdul, who looked excited to be back on stage. After a quick costume change, she delivered a jazzy into to “Cold Hearted” before turning it into a full fledge dance jam complete with a troop of dancers. At 54, Abdul, a famed choreographer, can still easily dance circles around many of today's pop stars. “The Way That You Love Me” had the returning diva out on the stage catwalk getting up close with the crowd before another quick change delivering a beautiful, “Rush Rush”. Abdul's set consisted of a large video screen that she used to her advantage having images work with the songs turning the Hershey stage into a Vegas showroom. After audience favorite and big debut, “Straight Up,” and ending the song jumping off a ladder into her dancer's arms, she closed the show with “Forever Your Girl,” which she dedicated to her dad. While her set was short and there were some kinks to work out, Paula made a triumphant comeback to the stage. Her excitement to be back was contagious and she was giddy when she announced she signed with LiveNation and will be touring with New Kids On The Block next year.

Armed with confetti cannons, pyrotechnics and gyrating hips, the festival's headliners, New Kids On The Block hit the stage. The group has performed at all 5 of the festival's shows and is main draw for many in the audience. Since getting back together in 2008 after their breakup in 1994, New Kids have been drawing in crowds wanting to remember their favorite childhood crushes. Hitting the stage with “The Whisper” they launched into “Block Party” and “Summertime” running out into the crowd hugging, kissing and hanging out with their fans. Men, women, kids-everyone was going crazy over them. Part of their appeal and how they keep their music fresh and current is they've updated many of their songs so they sound like what's on the radio today. For over half an hour they hit hard and brought a crazy amount of energy to the fans who were in the sun all day. They started cooling down a bit with “Please Don't Go Girl” followed by solos from Joey, Jordan and Donnie. They got things up and going again with “Tonight” and closing with signature hits “Step by Step” and “Hang Tough.” If you weren't a fan of New Kids on The Block before Saturday night, you were by the end. You gotta admire their showmanship and their dedication to their loyal fans.