Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig | En Vogue performed for a crowd of hundreds of service members and civilians Jan. 21 at...... read more read more
Subscribe
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq— En Vogue performed for a crowd of hundreds of service members and civilians Jan. 21 at Sustainer Theater, Joint Base Balad, Iraq.
En Vogue consists of four members who have been making music together for more than twenty years. Some of their most popular hits include; “Whatta Man”, “(My Lovin) You’re Never Gonna Get It” and “Free Your Mind”.
Maxine Jones and Terry Ellis performed at JBB while another band mate who was scheduled to perform had to return to the U.S. at the last minute due to a loss within her family.
Though the audience was seated and quiet at the beginning of the performance, they were soon standing, dancing, singing and gathering in front of the stage with encouragement from the band.
Jones and Ellis are both endowed with a wide vocal range and soulful voices that complement each other well. Jones has a lower-key “Motown voice”, whereas Ellis is said to have a “ballad voice”.
“We appreciate so much what you all do for us here and it’s an honor for us to be here,” said Jones between songs to the audience.
Jones and Ellis also paid tribute to their musical roots by performing a mash-up of classic Motown and soul tunes such as “Proud Mary.”
The climax of the show, however, occurred when En Vogue invited eight male members of the audience up on stage so they could show the ladies a piece of their love, referring to their song, “Piece of My Love” which provided the background music.
The male service members selected to go onstage could choose to sing, rap, dance, improvise poetry or floetry to give En Vogue a ‘piece of their love’, the only caveat being that it had to be appropriate and not involve physical contact.
Maj. James Galluzzo, brigade personnel ith the 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a Salem, N.H., native, was one of the male soldiers selected to perform.
“I didn’t have much of a voice left from singing along, and I’m not a great dancer, so I did some poetry off the cuff, kind of how you would call a cadence when you’re running in formation,” he said.
For effect, he removed his glasses and placed his safety belt around Ellis like a lei. While all the performances were entertaining and showed the diverse and surprising talents of the service members, Galluzzo’s performance drew the biggest reaction from the audience.
“The audience saw me up there and what I did didn’t match the image of what they were expecting from me,” he said.
Most of the audience was likely unaware of Galluzzo’s long experience doing community theater back in the States which has made him comfortable with being onstage.
“This brigade and this command are very open to allowing soldiers to be creative and individuals and allowing us to add that individual spirit to the greater organization,” he said.
Despite the setback of losing a band member and only being at half-strength, En Vogue put on a great show, encouraging everyone in the audience to engage with them and not be passive listeners. En Vogue entertained everyone, whether longtime fans since the height of the band’s popularity in the 1990s or those new to their music.
| Date Taken: | 02.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2011 19:37 |
| Story ID: | 64912 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, En Vogue gives JBB a piece of their love, by SFC Zane Craig, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
