Ten US cities got blazin' with the Club Benson & Hedges tour this year, an annual event sponsored by Philip Morris. It seems that by sponsoring "100 Nights Live" across the country (LA, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, DC, Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis), the company in some way offsets the millions of people that their products kill every year. But enough of all that downbeat talk, some rockin' shows banged through this tour.

For the first time, a solid hip hop and youth-minded element entered into the tour. Kid Capri set it off in Los Angeles at the House of Blues with a widely attended jam. DJ Red Alert (aside from catching a jaywalking ticket from LA sheriffs as he crossed Sunset Boulevard) likewise rocked that venue.

Eric Benet had more females singing for him at his House of Blues concert than most people had seen this decade -- sans amplification, the entire house resounded with the alto parts on "Femininity" at his command. Raphael Saadiq wandered on stage in a Hennessy induced stupor and stumbled through a few freestyle licks, warning the crowd that they would "never see Tony! Toni! Tone! together again." The mostly female crowd didn't mind, and hollered cheers endlessly. Benet admitted to having some qualms about working for a cigarette company, but responded, "it's not like I'm up there, telling people it's all right to smoke."

Kurtis Blow and Run DMC also performed and ended a years-long silent feud between old schoolers. "It had been years since we talked," Kurtis told Rap Pages, "and we started out the tour in different dressing rooms, avoiding each other. Then, in Detroit, they were on stage talking about how much I had affected their work, then the next night in Dallas I called them out on stage and we made up, it was beautiful." Run, formerly known as "The Son of Kurtis Blow," was unavailable for comment.

Kurtis also had a lot to say about a film project called The Breaks about a white guy growing up in the 'hood (subtitled ZebraHead2 perhaps?) and had one of the tour's most energetic sets featuring members of the Air Force Crew breaking.

Run DMC again proved how they set the entire hip hop show movement off, but somehow did a short set (40 minutes) failing to do "Mary Mary," "You Talk Too Much," "Pause," or "It's Tricky." DMC told Rap Pages to expect a new album from the group in '99, but emphasized that performing was the true backbone of the group and -- drugs and addictions notwithstanding -- they are exactly where they always planned to be. Masters of the game, leaders of the old school.

Club Benson & Hedges has been more a tour for older audiences in the past and didn't neglect that audience as even they showed a flair for hip hop stylings. Jazz chanteuse Rachelle Farrell, freshly dipped in dreads and mudcloth, freestyled more than scatted an anti-record company rant that'd have Xzibit cheering.

Morris Day & The Time performed a set that reached their mid-80s peaks, going for more than an hour and a half, ripping pretty much everything you remember and showing players how it's done. When asked how he keeps it up after all this time, Morris Day said nothing of viagra and credited "a steady diet of sex" as the secret to his success, giving dap to the new generation of playalistic lyricists as a continuation of his own tradition and the tradition of womanizers before him.

A veritable funk fest happened at the Polyester Players/Ohio Players concert. Ex-Motown signee Colin England did backups for the Polyesters, who gave one of their trademark energetic shows for all the "suga-woogas." The Ohio Players, still featuring most of the original members, slipped into "Skintight," "Brick House" and their other classics as though they were fresh off the charts. Afro wigs abounded in the groovy crowd, and the venue was left smelling of sweat and cheap hair care products.

Roy Ayers delivered a soulful night, with of course a ten minute version of "Everybody Loves The Sunshine." Only one member of Ubiquity, his touring sidekicks, remains, but dressed in a purple suit, he defined cool as though Webster's had called and asked for his input. Ayers agreed with Benet's concerns, but applauded the chance to bring quality music to the people.

Two manly singers closed the tour out -- Jeffrey Osborne showed why he can still rock it better than anybody on the market today, banging through funky disco minded cuts and suave slow jams with the effortless ease of a practiced showman. This journalist was even moved enough to accept the singer's challenge, and "woo-woo-woo'ed" on the mic to loud cheers from the Club Caprice crowd. Finally, Will Downing gave a show at the same venue that practically left the audience drenched in sweat, loving his tender, subtle mack.

Overall, Club Benson & Hedges is a great set of shows for a music fan and a damned good set of shows to take dates to. Whether your vibe is academic or romantic, this tour has traditionally swayed and shimmied well into local scenes with a deft mix of classical artists and savvy new jacks.