Recap: Beauty and the Beats II | John Hancock Hall

I was fashionably late to the Beauty and The Beats II and thought I would be right on time...wrong! It looked like Vision Entertainment Group was on point and started at 7:30 exactly. Ooops! But there wasn't much of a crowd and it was much more mixed than I imagined it would be. I think the $25 entrance feel detered most patrons. As I tip-toed in, I caught the tail end of one of the many sets of the host/comedian Freddie Ricks. He was hilarious! His impressions of Haitians and the Irish had you busting out laughing, then looking around incase you laughed just a little too hard :) So funny.

Photo: Host Freddie Ricks - he was wilin'!

After that was the famed designer Brian Stevens, who had simplistic designs with interesting color combinations.

Photo: Brian Stevens Collection

After each collection set there was an entertainment portion, which was a really nice way to keep the show moving and keep it entertaining.

My new fav group has got to be BET winning R&B group AHMIR...omg I thought I was listening to like Day 26, but with even more talent. They had great stage presence and could really sing! Although their music wasn't original per say (baby...baby...gonna love you all night, kinda thing)...I still would get the album. It's in stores now :)

Photo: AHMIR crooning to the ladies

They didn't really stick to the program, so I got confused as to which designer was who, but here is a taste of the featured designs and designers.

Photo: Parade of designs

Photo: Designer Sparklle Thames

Photo: Models killin' it!

Photo: Designer Heather Hilton

Photo: Yummy models!

Other acts included, The I.T.M Steppers and Dancers, from Lynn who did a really good job, but my camera was dying so I don't have pictures of them. Here's a video performance I found on YouTube...



Also Joanne Memnon performed Alicia Keys "No one" which was...interesting, but she got the crowd involved and singing, so that was cool.

Photo: Singer Joanne Memmon

Lastly was the group Pita Pita...which I gotta say, scared the bejesus outta me! They just kinda ran up on stage and started saying unintelligible phrases. They seemed to multiply on stage before our very eyes...at the end there were like 50 of 'em runnin' and battling and just wow...when they left the stage I was - like what just happened here??

Photo: Pita Pita....smh

I had a surprisingly good time at the Beauty and The Beats II though the beauty definitely knocked out the beats - those models worked that stage! - DJ Gotti did his thing tho', but there were equipment issues 'per the usual. Perhaps if Vision Entertainment Group had publicized more or the ticket price had been a little cheaper they would have had a larger response and given more exposure to these talented artists.

This event gets a Fab! A- for content.