Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Love songs have defined the pop meets R&B stylings of All-4-One since its self-titled debut sold over four million copies while earning Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez and Tony Borowiak an American Music Award, followed by a Grammy.

The entirely original line-up remains in tact to this day, and though everyone’s stayed active on multiple editions of the “I Love the 90’s” Tour and even came to the B96 Summer Bash during that very decade, its been ages since the group actually headlined in the area.

Thankfully, a 30th anniversary finally gave All-4-One the chance, spread out over two shows at the comfy and chilled out City Winery, which in the case of the later performance, found the fellas turning in everything expected and then some.

Given constant radio airplay, plus immortalization in movies such as “The Hunchback Of Notre Dame,” “Space Jam,” “Mi Familia,” “Despicable Me,” “Earth To Echo,” “Just Friends,” “The Social Network” and “Nothing To Lose,” amongst others, it made for nearly 90 minutes of perpetual hits and harmonies, backed by pre-recorded instrumentation.

“I Can Love You Like That” introduced it all as one of many mega ballads, quickly prompting faithful to sing along, while “I Turn To You” was technically made most famous by Christina Aguilera, but make no mistake, All-4-One cut it first.

The guys brought it back to the very beginning for an a cappella treatment of “So Much In Love,” and a bit after, really turned up the heat throughout the old school bounce of “(She’s Got) Skillz” and the soulful inspiration of “Someday.”

Covers were also sprinkled in between, from Earth, Wind & Fire’s funky “September” to a medley featuring similar period peers, including Boyz II Men’s “Motownphilly,” Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “Feel’s Good,” Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes The Hotstepper,” Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” and Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” when the stars bounded around the entire room and frequently snapped selfies.

However, All-4-One’s rendition of the David Foster-produced “I Swear” arguably beat them all, not only as a top-selling “Guinness World Records” staple, but as yet another ageless example of lifelong commitment for City Winery to savor.

For additional information on All-4-One, visit All-4-One.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at City Winery include Pat McGee (Oct. 27); Shane Koyczan (Oct. 27); Debbie Gibson (Oct. 28); Second Hand News (Oct. 29); Alexis Lombre (Oct. 30); Railheart (Oct. 31); The LeVert Experience (Nov. 1); Soul Brunch (Nov. 2); Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore (Nov. 2); Musiq Soulchild (Nov. 3-4 and 6-7); Norman Brown (Nov. 8); Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter (Nov. 9); Robin Spielberg (Nov. 10); Eric Benét (Nov. 10); Valerie June (Nov. 11); Ser.Rana (Nov. 12); Joe Torry (Nov. 13); The Spill Canvas (Nov. 14); Dancing Queen (Nov. 16); Shemekia Copeland (Nov. 16); The Bruce Henry Quartet (Nov. 17); The Bad Plus (Nov. 17); The Amy Winehouse Celebration (Nov. 18); TS Madison (Nov. 19); Carminho (Nov. 20); Isaiah Sharkey (Nov. 21); Tiffany Haddish (Nov. 22-23); Soul Brunch (Nov. 24); Vienna Teng (Nov. 24); Marqueal Jordan & The Wachezaji (Nov. 25); Keya Trammell (Nov. 26); BoDeans (Nov. 29-Dec. 1) and Beatles Brunch (Nov. 30). For additional details, visit CityWinery.com/Chicago.

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