Funky divas: En Vogue, Solange slay at Day for Night

By Joey Guerra Updated 10:56 pm CST, Sunday, December 17, 2017

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En Vogue performs at Day For Night at Post HTX in Downtown Houston on Sunday, December17, 2017 Photo: Jamaal Ellis J.vince Photography, For The Chronicle / ©2017 Houston Chronicle

Photo: Jamaal Ellis J.vince Photography, For The Chronicle Image 1 of 97 En Vogue performs at Day For Night at Post HTX in Downtown Houston on Sunday, December17, 2017

Day for Night prides itself on repping for the outsider, the other, the weirdo. And this year's programming has done a good job of that.

But there's nothing quite like the force of a massive pop hit.

En Vogue proved that over and over again during a brisk, powerful set Sunday on the Green Stage. The R&B girl group dominated '90s radio with a strong of hits that flexed vocal prowess and fierce attitude.

The current lineup includes original members Terry Ellis from Houston and Cindy Herron-Braggs. Rhona Bennett first joined the group in 2003. They were in perfect harmony, and dressed in sleek black, throughout "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)," "Don't Let Go (Love)" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel."

The ladies took turns handling the Salt-N-Pepa raps on "Whatta Man." They brought plenty of bite to "Free Your Mind," whose socially conscious lyrics arguably ring truer today. And debut single "Hold On" was a master class in vocal riffing. Pay attention, children.

The crowd, so often lulled into detached amusement at these things, gave it up and turned it loose even before the sun went down. They danced. They cheered. They sang along. Loudly.

Solange said she felt right at home among the left-of-center acts that populated Day for Night.

"I remember growing up in Houston I didn't have an outlet for people who thought like me," she told the crowd late in her Sunday set. "It's amazing to see a lineup like this."

The younger Knowles sister has come into her own in recent years, effortlessly melding music, fashion and musings on race and womanhood. It came together perfectly on 2016's "A Seat at the Table." And she's able to translate it gorgeously to a live setting.

Sunday's show came drenched in red lights and was heavy on tracks from that breakthrough album. Every moment, much like her Super Bowl Live set earlier this year, offered a bit of its own magic.

The way she and a pair of backup singers drew out the word "ri-i-i-i-i-se." The synchronized choreography, stomped out with intent and purpose. The angelic vocals on "Cranes in the Sky" and "Don't You Wait." The pulsing pop beauty of "Losing You."

And, of course, the local references.

"This is Htown so you know we have to take y'all to the cookout," she said before locking into a slide step with her singers and band.

She told the crowd she spent Saturday visiting the Rothko Chapel and Frenchy's, shouted out Telephone Road and sounded the alarm for the Third Ward.

"Y'all can't let The Tre go down like that and get gentrified, ya heard," she said. "We gotta hold that sh** sacred."

The Tre is how residents sometimes refer to Third Ward, which has struggled in recent years with the construction of pricey developments that threaten to displace original residents.

She closed out, in a cowboy hat, with the anthemic "Don't Touch My Hair." It was a moving, momentous set that championed individualism but somehow brought all the crowd together.