‘All That’ Tribute Show brings ’90s back to NIU for the night

By Nate Linhart

Friday night was filled with dancing, clothing and music from the ’90s for the “All That” Tribute Show.

The event, hosted by the Campus Activities Board and Ex’pression, was designed to entertain people by bringing back trends from the decade.

“We wanted to do something that kind of celebrates all the students today that were in the ’90s,” said CAB President Richard Moore.

The performers entered to the theme song from the sketch comedy series “All That.” When the crowd went wild during the performance, I knew it was going to be a crazy night.

Musical performances included the hip hop songs “Wanna Be A Baller” by Lil’ Troy and “Shoop” by Salt-N-Pepa. I’ve never been a fan of that music, but it didn’t matter. The songs were still able to trigger memories.

Some audience members were called up on stage to partake in a quiz to determine who knew more about the ’90s. The DJ would play a short snippet of a popular tune from that decade and contestants had to guess what the song is from. This caused a nice break from hip hop tunes, as a few of the melodies were from the cartoons “Pokémon,” “Rugrats” and “Arthur.”

The most fascinating part of the show was when it turned into a ’90s modeling exhibition. Models in retro attire strutted down the stage to “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe. The modeling reminded me most of the clothes from that decade may have been tacky and odd, but they were certainly fun to look at.

Audience members also came dressed in ’90s clothing. Several came in Bulls jerseys, since that decade was the era of the Chicago Bulls’ six championships. The audience did an impressive job of keeping the theme of the event intact.

One thing I was expecting was a tribute to the show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” Surprisingly, the hit show wasn’t really represented. The dance Carlton does in “Fresh Prince” was a necessity, and it was unfortunate to not see it performed during the event.

Randall Hawkins, sophomore biomedical engineering major, said the event was a great way for people to connect with one another.

“I think that if you are a ’90s baby this event definitely did [them] a great tribute. That would send any ’90s baby down a trip to memory lane,” Hawkins said. “I seriously bonded with people I didn’t know because of our mutual love for the ’90s and the memories it brought us.”