Toward the end of the recently released Netflix concert film Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids—filmed in January at MGM Grand Garden Arena during the final days of JT’s 20/20 Experience Tour—Timberlake and his backup singers take a break from cranking out one of his many hits to cover one of their favorite hits from the early ’90s. Okay, one of everybody’s favorite hits from the early ’90s. And as the rolling snare beats and horn blasts that open Bell Biv DeVoe’s classic “Poison” reverberate through the arena, the crowd goes wild. It’s one of the most memorable moments of Timberlake’s show, now immortalized through Jonathan Demme’s film.
“Poison” might have seemed like a disposable R&B-and-hip-hop mashup back in the day, but BBD’s smash has proven timeless. Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe will no doubt perform it this weekend when the group anchors the Soul Train Day Party at Daylight Beach Club at Mandalay Bay, one of several concerts and events built around the annual Soul Train Weekend; the awards show takes place Sunday at the Orleans Arena.
With so much ’90s nostalgia going around, Bell Biv DeVoe continues to tour and perform across the country; that popularity should only increase with January’s broadcast of BET’s original biopic on New Edition, the group that birthed BBD. And Bell Biv DeVoe is still releasing new music, too, with new album Three Stripes due early next year. Soul Train Day Party with Bell Biv DeVoe & Kid Capri at Daylight at Mandalay Bay, November 5.
