Childhood memories were ruined as what promised to be a ‘ground breaking show’ featuring the best R’n’B groups of the nineties deteriorated into near anarchy on Saturday.

Tickets to the much-anticipated reunion of hit groups Changing Faces, SWV, Blackstreet, Dru Hill and Jodeci sold quickly, promising reminiscent eighties babies a “once in a lifetime showcase that will take you back, way back... back to the 90’s for one night only”.

Unfortunately it was ‘once in a lifetime’ for all the wrong reasons.

The pricey tickets were not justified by the apparent unprofessionalism and disorganisation of the show. There were no big screens, making the artists unidentifiable for anyone more than ten rows away from the stage.

Whilst the UK’s very own Damage did a good job warming up the crowd with Ghetto Romance, Changing Faces were subjected to an awkward moment when the wrong backing track was played twice. Their vocals were great, yet the sound was so distant and distorted, at some points it resembled being at a budget festival.

Perhaps there had not been a sound check, as the sound appeared to get louder throughout the show depending on the perceived ‘size’ of the band, leaving defining many of the songs as a guessing game.

The artists did their best with the tools they had, with Blackstreet and Dru Hill’s Sisqo lifting the crowd’s mood with amazing performances.

The production however appeared confused, with the spotlights leaving out some of the Blackstreet members during their introduction. The small screen frequently showed the wrong bands, with ‘Blackstreet’ flashing up when Jodeci came on.

DJ Frisky perked up the crowd in between delayed acts with snippets of nineties hits, though going from jungle and bashment to the soft croonings of SWV gave the crowd a somewhat schizophrenic feel.rumours

When the much hyped-up act Jodeci finally came on, they admittedly were not on top form. With no introduction, K-Ci, JoJo and Mr Dalvin- minus heartthrob Devante- appeared on stage warbling acapella, before Dalvin appeared to stumble off-stage, prompting intoxication rumours.

The anti-climax of what promised to be the highlight of the night, following much song-guessing, artist-spotting and random outbursts of garage, was clearly too much for a frustrated audience.

Headline act Jodeci were booed to the point of desperate vest-ripping antics, and pleas to the crowd, which unfortunately fell on deaf ears.

A disappointing night ended with Dru Hill, SWV and Changing Faces joining a defeated Jodeci in a last-ditch attempt to keep the fast-dispersing crowds in their seats, but it was too late.

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Perturbed nineties-lovers swarmed out of the venue, into the arms of promoters selling after-pary tickets with the hook line ‘Jodeci won’t be there’.

#Jodeci was trending on Twitter, with former fans commenting:

“Shocked!! The way #Jodeci emptied the arena, i thought the fire alarm went off. Back to East...No after party #TheShow”.

Others were more sympathetic, tweeting:

“We should remember the trends #Jodeci set. Devante. The introduction of Timbaland & Missy into the fold. Da Bassment. #LetsNotForget”.

We contacted the show’s organiser ‘Da Show’, who denied there was any problem with the sound, or that Jodeci had shortened their performance after getting booed off-stage.

When we voiced our concern at how a surely broken Jodeci coped with the audience’s reaction, the organiser replied:

“I don’t know what went on there. Jodeci can speak for themselves.”

The amazing bands that defined nineties R&B for many should have been given the red carpet treatment, but instead had to deal with sound, lighting and production issues.

The hightlights of the night were definitely Blackstreet and Dru Hill's outstanding performances, along with the odd boogie to some classic old school hits.

Despite Jodeci being widely blamed for the debacle, in my opinion the organisers' lack of professionalism did not give them a fair chance to shine.

If Kanye had been there, heads would have rolled.