Vanilla Ice, Young MC headline concert as the '90s return to Frederick

Sep. 23—The grandstand at The Great Frederick Fair seemed to sway back and forth Thursday night as thousands of people busted thousands of moves.

Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Tone Loc, Rob Base, Montell Jordan and Young MC got concertgoers on their feet during the "I Love the 90's" show, performing a lineup of iconic hits.

"I guarantee you," a DJ called to the crowd before the show began, "the fair will never see an old-school party like this again."

The sunset painted the sky in bold swaths of pink and purple as attendees filtered in for the show around 7 p.m. The colors on many of their outfits were even bolder.

Lauren Clark and her friend Angelah Gelnett sat together in matching neon-accented jumpsuits. Clark said she'd spent all week at the fair, watching her daughter show sheep, pigs and a turkey.

On Thursday, though, she was excited for a change of pace.

"I feel like I'm a little kid all over again," Clark said.

Nearby, Aaron Boker of Germantown sat wearing a "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" T-shirt.

He was in elementary and middle school during the 1990s, he said, and was expecting to feel nostalgic during the show. He was especially looking forward to Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" and Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It."

Boker said he was surprised when he learned Coolio and Vanilla Ice would be performing at the fair.

"I was wondering, 'Why Frederick, of all places?'" he said. "But, hey, I'm going to take advantage of it. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

For Carri Helman, the show represented at least a twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Helman saw the same group of artists perform in 2018 during a Ship-Hop show — a concert series that takes place aboard cruise ships bound for Mexico.

"It was fantastic," Helman said Thursday, grinning widely at the memory.

Helman said she was most excited to hear Tone Loc's "Wild Thing."

She didn't have to wait long. Tone Loc came on stage second, after Young MC opened the show.

The crowd went particularly wild for "Wild Thing" and "Bust a Move," waving their arms in the air and jumping up and down.

At one point, Tone Loc attempted to determine which age group was best represented in the crowd.

He asked attendees to cheer if they were born in the 2000s. He got a mild, faraway-sounding response.

Next came the '90s. The cheer was slightly louder.

But the '70s and '80s babies were by far the best represented.

"I grew up on this music," said Oya Gilbert, who made plans back in June or July to attend the show with Helman. "I think that was, like, the best era of all genres."

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter:

@jillian_atelsek