Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Rumbles ‘Round Midnight; Blige Fires It Up

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s sound owes as big a debt to jazz as it does to rap. So when the group took the stage at 11:45 p.m. Saturday to close a lengthy hip-hop/R&B; bill at the Forum, its rapid-fire, scat style had a galvanizing wake-up effect on the crowd.

The newest change in its stage presentation would have to be the inclusion of pelvis-thrusting female dancers, a move that didn’t really slick up or Hollywood-ize the proceedings.

Rather, it made the Cleveland-based group more energized and performance-oriented.

Its repertoire has grown in size, but “Tha Crossroads” remains the group’s most effective number. In a setting in which a gigantic skull was displayed and dancers crisscrossed the stage dressed as grim reapers--while others made shooting motions at the audience--the rap dirge made Bone Thugs’ focus on death and violence yet another wake-up call to their young followers.

But even though the rappers were the headliners, the night belonged to Mary J. Blige, whose set didn’t focus on life-and-death matters. The leggy, blond-tressed singer was upbeat and sounded wonderful as she concentrated on the profane and profound aspects of romantic love.

As testimony of how strongly Blige moved the crowd, hundreds of fans sang along unprompted on “I’m Going Down” as the curvaceous vocalist soul-strutted down a flight of stairs amid a spray of fireworks.

Several in the audience spontaneously joined in again on “Not Gon’ Cry,” one of the premier love-gone-wrong songs of the ‘90s. Blige, who probably means as much to her generation of fans as Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan meant to theirs, really seems to speak for her fans. Her designer clothes and ghetto-fabulous image don’t keep her audience at arm’s length. She’s just a girl from around the way who made good and remains accessible.

At the Forum, Blige showed continuing growth as a song stylist. Tunes such as “My Life” made listeners feel as if they were getting something personal and revealing from her, and that made the songs all the more meaningful.

Aaliyah is a bigger question mark as an artist. While her appeal as a performer is undeniable, it’s hard to speculate on whether her career has legs or if she’s just this year’s hot flava. Ignoring all of the songs from her R. Kelly-produced debut album, the sultry teen concentrated on her latest hits, the most entertaining being the attitudinal, hip-hop-laced “One in a Million.”

Also sultry was Ginuwine, whose bumping and grinding tended to distract from his biggest saving grace: He’s a fine singer. His performance of “My Pony” was a bit nastier than it needed to be, but fans certainly enjoyed it.

Opening the five-hour bill was Dru Hill, a vocal group that managed to make the cavernous arena feel like an intimately-sized supper club. While the singers are young, the group has such an old-school command of soul music that ballads such as “Somebody’s Sleeping in My Bed” almost turn back the clock to days when R&B; brought us some of the mightiest, most transfiguring music in pop.