Last week, through the dense, dank crowd of an R&B DJ set in Cambridge Heath, I saw the most beautiful thing. Three men, seemingly unknown to each other, started performing what can only be described as an impromptu synchronised dance routine in the crowd. There was chest popping, leaning, bopping – the lot. It wasn’t disruptive, it wasn’t TikTok fodder, you’d only have noticed this understated, Step Up 2 deleted scene if you were right next to them, as I was. East London’s late, late answer to JLS might not seem like much on its own, but it's actually part of a wider trend: ladies, gentlefolk, the Loverboy is back.
It’s been a while since we were serenaded with the simultaneous mating song and dance of the Loverboy – a character so ever-present throughout the 90s and early 2000s and so depressingly absent from the 2020s. Now, iconic Loverboys of days gone by are rising from their slumbers: Usher is back on tour, coming to London for a whopping nine date run at the O2 (with three of those dates added on due unprecedented demand). Also set to take the stadium by storm are Ne-Yo and Mario, who have joined forces for their ‘Champagne and Roses’ tour, coming to London this month. And then there’s the impending return of Bruno Mars, who is diverting energy from Silk Sonic, his duo project with Anderson Paak, to work on his first solo album since 2016's 24K Magic.
