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Edmonton man gets chance to groove onstage with TLC at Soundtrack Music Festival

Click to play video: 'TLC invites a fan on stage in a concert in Edmonton'
TLC invites a fan on stage in a concert in Edmonton
WATCH ABOVE: The pop supergroup TLC invited a fan on stage while performing at a concert in Edmonton on Saturday – Jun 24, 2018

Russell Eresmas had an enviable view of pop music group TLC’s performance in Edmonton on Saturday.

A lifelong fan of the group, he says he made sure he was as close to the stage as possible.

“[TLC] gets a couple songs in, I’m singing my heart out, I’m dancing,” Eresmas recalled a day later. “I hear these two ladies go, ‘Hey you!’ at the very front of the barrier and they’re waving me over.”

The women asked Eresmas how many TLC songs he knew.

“I said, ‘A lot,’ as any regular person should,” Eresmas said.

He was asked to join TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas on the stage.

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Backstage at TLC. Courtesy: Russell Eresmas
“They told me they needed a guy for [“Red Light Special”] to sit on a chair so they can dance around him.”

LISTEN BELOW: A little TLC: Edmonton man hits the stage at Soundtrack


Eresmas said he didn’t get to take his phone onstage for the performance but left with a less permanent memento.

“I got a kiss and a not-so-G-rated dance. It was awesome, it was so much fun,” Eresmas said.

“I did happen to walk out with [Chili]—who gave me the kiss—she said ‘thank you’ and told me to enjoy the rest of the festival.”
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A kiss from TLC. Courtesy: Russell Eresmas

He said his nostalgia for TLC, a group whose popularity peaked in the 1990s, is now at an all-time high.

“Getting pulled onstage by some of your childhood crushes is great,” said Eresmas. “All my friends were telling me [how jealous they were].”

It seems the encounter with the superstars has led to a bit of fame for Eresmas himself.

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 “After I got offstage, everybody recognized me — [there were] lots of high fives and fist bumps,” Eresmas said. “A couple of people took a picture of the lipstick mark on my cheek.”

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Soundtrack Music Festival transformed Kinsmen Park into a 90s-themed wonderland over the weekend. TLC, Ma$e and Goo Goo Dolls headlined the festival.

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