#WuTangClan

Classic Hip-Hop as The Sugar Hill Gang Celebrates 40 Years, Wu-Tang Return to the 36 Chambers & more

The Sugar Hill Gang Celebrates 40 Years of Hip-Hop w/ The Furious Five & More – August 30th – Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX

This will take a bit of unpacking: As a life-long fan & student of Hip-Hop, how could I resist the originators right? I actually saw The SugarHill Gang in Austin at SXSW almost 20 years ago in the most unsuspecting of circumstances (that also involved a funny story regarding Damon Albarn & an impatient bartender but that’s a tale for another time).

Sugarhill Gang is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their iconic hit ‘Rapper’s Delight’ which sold over eight million copies since it came out in 1979. I had to be here for this right? But I wasn’t sure what time they were going on & I’m not 19 anymore so I don’t have the time (or the patience) to get there 3 hours before they go on. I gotta get in & get out & that’s what I planned to do on this night but this venue often doesn’t make the kind of info necessary to do such things available as often that would be ideal. So I arrive, feeling like I was way too early, & that was only confirmed by the nice girl at the Will Call window (who was kind enough to let me photograph the set times:)

Yup I was about 90 mins early – But man I had a good parking spot and had already eaten so I thought, “Ill just chill here in the car, catch up on messages” etc. Weren’t very many cars in the parking lot so I was sure I wasn’t missing anything inside. Suddenly my attention is forced to notice the blaring siren of an ambulance pulling into the parking lot and rounding the back of the venue. I’m not jaded to ignore a tragedy so trust me when I say that it didn’t appear my attention to it was needed 30 secs after it was given. In a flash, the 90 mins had ended & the ambulance seemed to be long gone as well, when I loaded my camera & headed inside.

Once in, it was deafening how empty the place was, easily less than a 100 people in a venue that can hold 3,000. I was standing there with appeared to be the only other photographer when I struck up a conversation with him. I’m as social as they come but normally the conversations I’m forced to have with other photographers at live events is excruciating. It parallels schoolyard one-upmanships with (usually) men I wouldn’t let in my house, so it was refreshing the meet this dude whose Instagram handle is BurphDate Lasagna which as I learned is a tribute of sort to his mother who no matter how poor or old, would always make lasagna for her children on her birthday. If that doesn’t sound heart wrenching beautiful a) Check your pulse & b) You should hear him tell it.

So rare to connect with anybody these days but especially a complete stranger & for whatever reason we just really bonded and small talk led to real & meaningful conversations & that’s how I was able to get to hear that story that touched me so much I couldn’t wait to write about it & share it with my own family. Cheers to you my friend.

Now as much as I was enjoying chatting with BL, it did start to occur to me that man, quite a bit of time has passed & what the hell was going on???
That’s when BL informed me that he was in fact there as a hired videographer for the previous opener & that ambulance I had heard? Well it was for one of those guys who sadly had somehow broken their freaking leg during their set (Note to self: Never miss Cure For Paranoia ever again). I asked BL if he was here when it happened & he said no as he also had just arrived.

Finally after another large chunk of time passes, the show finally begins:

The Sugarhill Gang is made up of original members Wonder Mike (Michael Wright) & Master Gee (Guy O’Brien) as sadly Big Bank Hank (Henry Jackson) passed away at age 57 in 2014 due to complications from cancer.

Now I was a bit confused as it was supposed to be The Furious Five (minus leader GrandMaster Flash) but now we went straight to Sugarhill so I was thinking that with all the ambulance shenanigans that somehow the FF were not gonna get to play due to time constraints.  However I quickly learned (much to my delight) that to mark the 40th anniversary along with fellow Hip Hop architects Grandmaster Melle Mel and Scorpio of The Furious 5, they have joined forces to form a supergroup. This is a hugely significant event in Hip Hop culture, these two groups put the genre on the map.

Grandmaster Melle Mel and Scorpio, along with fellow MCs The Creole Kidd, Keith Cowboy, and Rahiem, have created some of the genre’s most iconic songs, including platinum selling classic ‘The Message’, the first Hip Hop group to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Anti-drug song ‘White Lines (Don’t Do It) was covered by mega new wave band Duran Duran in 1995 & hits like ‘Beat Street’ and ‘Step Off’ have become genre defining classics.

Ok great, but how was THIS show? – The shame of my lack of trust in their abilities to wow us poured over me within the first ten seconds of their set, they KILLED. From the get-go the SHG members Master Gee and Hen Dogg were in high intensity at its best, bringing no cheesy clichés, just pure slick values. Even Hen Dogg pulled off his top hat, shades, tracksuit and cane get-up. Their coolness was paired beautifully with their reflective jokes on their age and the journey they’ve been on to get to the now.

Melle Mel didn’t miss the chance to spread a positive message either, commenting on the quality and meaningfulness of their lyrics: “We ain’t here to talk about drugs and how many people we’ve shot.” Nor did he neglect his opportunity to show off his muscular physique, which was humbling as this dude is much better shape than I & he’s could easily be my dad haha

Setlist:

8th Wonder
It’s Nasty (Genius of Love)
Ain’t Nothin’ But A Party
Livin’ in the Fast Lane

Furious Five Set:

Freedom
Beat Street Breakown
King of The Streets
Superappin’
White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)
The Message

Encore: 

Jump Around / Apache
Rapper’s Delight

In true hip-hop style, to prove that 40 years later, their music is just as vital and worthy as it was back then, stamping out any doubts that legendary performers could live on in such an honest, sparkling, smooth form.

Wu-Tang Clan: Return To 36 Chambers – October 4th – The Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX

It is no broad boast to call “Enter the Wu (36 Chambers)” — the first album from the Staten Island hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan — one of the most powerful and influential debuts of the last century.

From its incendiary 1993 start, Wu-Tang Clan had an auteur’s cinematic touch (credit producer and film fan RZA) and an aggressive rawness that, when mixed with the rap ensemble’s superhero-inspired takes on martial-arts movies and the art of war, was unique.

Add to that a street vibe that miles away from the rap that was popular at the time  — which ranged from the jazzy optimism of De La Soul and Digable Planets to Dr. Dre and Snoop’s smooth West Coast G-funk — and Wu-Tang Clan was, as they often say, nothing to f— with. And it was that hard-edged debut that Wu-Tang Clan was celebrating for the 25th anniversary of that landmark album.

Here, original Wu members RZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Master Killa, GZA and U-God, with auxiliary members Cappadonna & DJ Mathematics performed a happily sloppy but no less incisive version of their debut album, along with multiple other group and solo tracks.

Amazingly they were all here! haha I’ve seen Wu Tang shows in the past were their was always at least one missing (& other cases where far more than one).
Ol’ Dirty Bastard was represented onstage by his son named, naturally enough, Young Dirty Bastard who aptly took on tracks that featured his dad, such as “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and “Got Your Money.” YDB’s growling raps and lurching stage moves proved that the Wu fruit had not fallen far from the tree.

The group members staggered their stage entrances, starting with a throbbing, menacing “Bring da Ruckus.” By their third track, however — “Clan In Da Front” bumped up against “Wu-Tang 7th Chamber” — the ensemble was in full flower and full flow. With its layered raps, cackles, barks and shouts of “Wu!,” their a chorus of chaos nestled against slamming stammering beats. To go with its punkish verbal energy, the Wu’s staging was a fast mess of constant motion, with each man bouncing before or behind the other.  Often times RZA or any other member would come to the front of the stage & start dousing the crowd with champagne. They were definitely ready to party. And so was the crowd as this place was packed so far to the gills that at times not only was it uncomfortable but even perhaps unsafe.

Method and Raekwon were the most vocally commanding members of the group at this show, with RZA and Ghostface the most subdued. But still, audiences members could easily single out the nuances of each man’s voice during their turns or verses at the mic. Cappadonna’s hyper-quick verse during Ghostface’s “Winter Warz” and the flighty fight songs between Masta Killa and Ghost — such as “Duel of the Iron Mic” and “4th Chamber” — allowed each actor a dramatic, angry soliloquy.

Still, a united Wu-Tang Clan is always better than its separate parts — in fact, what truly came through during this set is that Wu-Tang is as much a family as it is a group.

“How often do you get the full Wu-Tang together?” asked Method Man.

Not enough.

Setlist:

36 Chambers Set:

Bring da Ruckus
Shame on a Nigga
Clan in da Front
7th Chamber
Can It Be All So Simple
Da Mystery of Chessboxin’
Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit
C.R.E.A.M.
Method Man
Protect Ya Neck
Tearz
7th Chamber Part II
Conclusion

Run (Cappadonna song)
Reunited
Severe Punishment
Duel of the Iron Mic (GZA/Genius)
Ice Cream (Raekwon song)
4th Chamber (GZA/Genius song)

ODB Tribute

Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Got Your Money
Brooklyn Zoo

Encore:

Gravel Pit
Triumph
C.R.E.A.M (reprise)

Photos –

Roy Turner

Hip Hop Hooray! Eric B & Rakim reunite + Fortress Festival w/ RZA & De La Soul & more (May/2018)

Great month for Hip Hop as some of the greatest of all-time where coming through town left & right including one legendary show I thought I’d never see:

U-God of Wu Tang Clan – March 13th – The Rail Club – Fort Worth, TX

On his way to SXSW in Austin, U-God from the legendary Wu-Tang Clan stops in for a rare show mid week at an obscure club out in the sticks of Fort Worth. So it was no surprise that the attendance was less than scarce. About 40 faithful showed up to hear tracks from his new LP Venom set to drop at the end of the month.

He was very appreciative of the audience no matter the size – “I respect what I got & all of you are my hardcores & I appreciate yall being here” – A busy man he also has his long-awaited tell-all book RAW coming out soon & after reading an excerpt from the book this is going to really fill in some much info about the dysfunction of the rap collective. Hopefully we will have U-God on TrickyKid Radio soon to discuss.

Mixmaster Mike – March 17th – Lava Cantina – The Colony, TX 

And speaking of TrickyKid Radio, we had a blast welcoming Mixmaster Mike to our show while he was in town for a super fun St Patrick’s Day celebration!

Earlier that day, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Mike for a great talk that if you click the above link you can check out for yourself, Lot of great info & stories you might not have heard before. That evening, as you can tell by the above photo, he blows the roof of the place with a full on-assault that covered Rock, Hip-Hop, Metal, Punk & everything in between.
He takes on the wheels of steel for Cypress Hill this Summer, look for tour dates & check out our episode with one of the most innovative personalities in the world.

Erik B & Rakim – April 25th – The Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX

Touring for the first time in 25 years, Eric B & Rakim brought a little mic-to-mouth resuscitation, some rhythm with radiation to the masses once again.

Let me illustrate why Eric B. & Rakim remain one of the genre’s greatest acts:
Rakim exploded previous conceptions of what it meant to be a rapper with an arsenal of verbal hand grenades. It’s hard to overstate his influence on the form as one of the greatest MCs and lyricists ever. In terms of sheer delivery, Rakim was a game changer, one of the genre’s first true technicians.

Rakim brought a jazzy presence to hip-hop with his unbounded, free-form approach to the music, deviating from the straightforward rhyme patterns favored previously. Moreover, he just sounded different. Steely yet laid-back on the mic, Rakim rapped deliberately, with poise and command, eschewing the let’s-get-the-party-started energy levels of so many of his fellow MCs — we’d call ’em peers, but really, Rakim had few.

Now on to Eric B. – I personally am a DJ today because of Eric B.he has much impact on what it meant to be a DJ and producer as his partner did on MCing. Like Rakim, Eric B. possessed prodigious technical skills — dig his robo-wristed scratching on any of the three instrumentals on their 1987 debut Paid in Full. But it’s as a producer where Eric B.’s influence is most deeply felt.

For starters, he played a significant role in popularizing sampling in hip-hop. About those samples: Eric B. favored old-school soul sounds, a then-novel approach that would quickly be absorbed by everyone from A Tribe Called Quest to the Wu-Tang Clan.

In both sound and content, Eric B. & Rakim moved the genre forward, influencing a broad swath of descendants, from future indie backpack rappers who marveled at the duo’s musical progressiveness to the next wave of gritty New York City rappers who found stardom the following decade. All these years later, the music remains resonant.

Setlist – 

Don’t Sweat the Technique
Guess Who’s Back
I Know You Got Soul
My Melody
In the Ghetto
I Got It Made (Special Ed cover)
One for the Money (Horace Brown cover)
Hip Hop Junkies (Nice & Smooth cover)
Mahogany
Move the Crowd
As the Rhyme Goes On
Microphone Fiend
The R
Eric B. Is President
I Ain’t No Joke
Paid In Full

Fortress Festival – April 28th-29th – Kimball Art Museum – Fort Worth, TX

Man the lineup for this year’s Fortress Festival was stacked, especially if your a fan of Hip-Hop & R&B.
I was very excited to see some of my all-time faves on the roster for a perfect weekend in the sun. This fest was so chill & easy – think about that – When you think of multi-day festivals your excited to see so many acts but you think about what a complete pain in the ass most festival experiences are. Not here, parking was easy, staff was friendly, there was only two stages to nagivate & they even had a sampler bar area. Good times.

Day 1 brought the noise hard with of 2 the GOAT in Hip-Hop

The RZA (Wu-Tang Clan)

Shabazz Palaces – 745pm

De La Soul – 830pm

Day 2 brought an artist that I have longed to see: Lee Fields & The Expressions –

His eyes shielded with dark sunglasses and decked out in a shimmering, silver shark-skin suit, Fields strolled on stage like a dazzling faith healer. Stocky and energetic, sizzling with charisma and charm, his mini-Afro patted neatly, perfectly, Fields got the room swaying with his smoky social commentary, “My World.” As he sang this preamble, Fields unbuttoned his jacket, peeled his shades, extended his arms and lead us into the groove.

Running through material from their fine albums, My World (2009) and Faithful Man (2012), Fields and his six-piece band revived soul. On songs like “Still Hanging On,” “Fought For Survival,” and “I Still Got It” they delivered the blessed touch through rump-tumbling bass lines, chicken-grease guitar licks, that organ-pumped, on-the-one rhythm and blues, and the trumpet/tenor-sax horn section punctuating Fields’ wailed verses.

Like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings or Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, Fields and the Expressions can channel multiple classic soul modes — Muscle Shoals, Stax, Philadelphia International. But on numbers like “Money I$ King,” where Fields shrieked James Brown-like over the band’s grits, greens, and pass-the-peas funk, you could hear why early in his career he was sometimes called, “Lil’ JB.”

A Night of Symphonic Hip-Hop w/ Wylclef Jean – May 2nd – Winspear Opera House – Dallas, TX

Full disclosure: My fiance’ was on hand playing violin with the Dallas Pops & that’s what got me in the building to check this out.
Secondly I say that to admit full bias but at the same time, you should know that previous to this event, I wasn’t exactly a fan of Wyclef Jean. Sure I own a copy of the Fugees’ The Score but it’s not my go-to for Hip-Hop, not to mention every interview with Jean I read/see he doesn’t come off very well for my liking. Next, I too actually did a gig with him way back in 2011 when the Super Bowl came to Dallas & I DJ’d a party for Maxim that we headlined. His show sucked & every performance I’ve seen on TV hasn’t faired much better.

Naturally I didn’t tell my girl all this cause I wanted her going into this hoping for the best. She’s not the Hip-Hop afficiando that I am but she does like it when I play it & we have fun dancing when we go out. Let me cut to the chase & say that Jean eased my fears almost immediately & put on one of the most unique, engaging & memorable shows I’ve seen this year.

Jean also brought along his own electric trio and backup singer, introducing conductor Scott O’Neill with a rapper moniker, “Scott O.”
The orchestra did a fine job filling out Jean’s songbook, culled from his time as a founding member of the Fugees, his solo career and role as a producer and songwriter. the raps were fluid and swinging, addressing a broad range of subject matter.
At one point, in spite of this being an opera house, he stormed the aisle leading a faux conga line like it was Spring Break.
Good times.

Photos – 

Roy Turner
Fortress Festival Staff

Vice Turns 20 w/ Scarlett Johansen & More (Dec/2014)

Vice 20 Party – Dec 5th – 2014 – Duggal’s Greenhouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard – Brooklyn, NY

Tired as hell and it’s still raining out, but I was getting it together and catching my second and third winds with the anticipation of something that could be quite legendary. Vice – the irreverant global conglomerate – the taste maker for hipster worldwide and the corporate band for purists alike is turning 20 years old and to celebrate they were reaching deep into their stylish pockets for a blow out of trust-fund proportions.

When I arrived I expected a shitshow to rival the one earlier at the Foo Fighters but since I was a bit late the lines weren’t too insufferable and then you had to take a shuttle bus to the actual spot, three blocks away.
I arrived to long lines of mobbed open bars as usual (thankfully I’m not a big drinker so I really could care less) and free food trucks that were pretty underwhelming but who am I to complain, they were free, and for a poor kid from Texas it’s nuts that I’m even here to have an opinion on it.

​

Music began at eleven but it was well after midnight when I arrived so I missed a few of the opening numbers but what they had lined up was a truly special, one-of-a-kind curation that combined hipster actors with forged on the spot supergroups and everything in between.
With a drink in my hand and a falafel in the order I made my way to the stage just as Nick Thorburn from the Rapture was hitting.

“House of Jealous Lovers, will always be the soundtrack to that magical summer when I first moved to NYC in 2006.
Next came something awesome, completely unexpected and my fave moment of the night when these too-cool-for-schoolers let some of my fave metallers onstage –
Dave Ellefson of Megadeth, Alex Skolnick of Testament, and Tony Foresta of Municipal Waste  for a medley of Metal classics.
For most of the night, Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs & co. served as backing band to a variety of singers (though there were just DJs for some rappers, and a few bands played themselves).
And here comes Wu Tang’s Ghostface Killah and Raekwon doing classic “Daytona 500Ghostface Killah and Raekwon

Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy introduced her cover of The Strokes’ infamous “New York Cops” by saying that black lives matter in reference to the recent senseless violence of innocents by police brutality and the protests in recent weeks that have divided the city.

Meredith Graves

It was mainly about covers, playing stuff everyone knows from unlikely sources – such as Jonah Hill (with director Spike Jonze on guitar) doing Drake’s “Marvin’s Room” and though not her first foray into the music world it was still other wordly just to see Scarlet Johansen in person, let alone see her sing Joy Division.

Jonah Hill

Scarlett Johansen

That buzz carried into an appearance – and actual performance – by Russia’s famed protest punks Pussy Riot, doing a fitting version of Le Tigre’s “Deceptacon” (and referencing those protesting across the country that night over recent grand jury verdicts).Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. To cheers, Alyokhina, in her characteristic heavy Russian accent, soberly and firmly read from notes on her phone: “I might not have the right to talk about American problems, but I think that murder is murder everywhere.”
Pussy Riot member Sasha Klokova then sang Le Tigre’s 1999 electroclash hit, “Deceptacon.”

Another great moment came when Zinner’s band doing one of his own songs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ breakthrough “Maps” with Karen O herself on vocals.

A crush of people moved forward for the next guest — Lil Wayne. So I made my way to the back

Lil Wayne

I can’t stand this dude and he’s second only in poseur rap to Kanye but maybe first in inspiring white rich kids to apporpriate something they” truly never understand.

A party like this one would seem to cost just about a zillion dollars, but asked about the total expense of the event, Hosi Simon, Vice’s global general manager] demurred. “It’s actually not a whole lot,” he said. For its 15th anniversary, Vice spent $250,000 to put on a Halloween party. Five years later, “It’s more than that,” he said. “But if you look at the lineup, it’s a multimillion dollar lineup.”
​

Party host Andrew WK closed it all out with a bang. A lot has changed over the past twenty years, but one thing’s remained a constant: Vice knows how to throw a fucking party!
VICE has grown up in the past two decades, from shock value drug stories to their own Emmy-winning HBO series  The 20th Anniversary Party admittedly wasn’t really about their current hard-hitting nature but more about their hard-partying history – and being an actually successful media business.The entire event was filmed, so you’ll be able to see it for yourself soon.

Photos – Roy Turner
Laura June Kircsh
Ryan Muir
P Squared
Greg Christman

Wu-Tang Finally Make It to Dallas (Dec/2011)

The Wu-Tang Clan – Granada Theater – Dallas, TX – December 10th

Ok so I knew what I was getting myself into by going to this show. Its well documented here in my blog about my love/hate relationship with the Wu-Tang Clan, between the brilliance of the recordings to the bafflingly dysfunction in the production of their live show. Its become part of the landscape, “Who’s gonna show up? – Will Meth be there?, Man no way the RZA will show”. These quotes are for real and and on everyone’s mind. What bothers me is that is doesn’t seem to bother people enough to stop supporting them so they will have to do something about it. Or maybe their just hopefuls like me that maybe this time is the one that works.
On bended knees and hats in hand they released a press statement promising that this tour would be the one where they finally get their shit together and that every living member would make the show.
…and the it started…no less than two weeks after this commitment, the RZA backed out of the tour and by the time the tour had started, so did Method Man.
I was already committed to going and I kinda wanted to make up for missing Inspectah Deck a few weeks previous.

But once the beat for Bring Da Ruckus started up, all that ceased to matter. And the crowd — steaming and sweating, nut-to-butt, mostly white and easily the most jam-packed I’ve ever seen the Granada — shouted along with every word. It was a mess in the same way the best parties are.

Another highlight was a cameo by Erykah Badu, who stepped on stage long enough to soak in the roar of approval from the crowd but sadly didn’t touch the mic. Still, the moment was enough to add to the love-fest, family reunion vibe. As did the appearance from Young Dirty Bastard, son of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who led the group through verses of Shimmy Shimmy Ya and Baby I Got Your Money in tribute to his father. Which might be why the group’s sorta-sincere cover of the O’Jays Family Reunion went over so well.

Setlist:  

Bring da Ruckus
Shame on a Nigga
Clan in da Front
Da Mystery of Chessboxin’
Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta Fuck Wit
Reunited
One Blood Under W
Triumph
Ice Cream (Raekwon)
Bring the Pain
Family Reunion (The Ojays cover)

Tribute to Old Dirty Bastard – 

Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Got Your Money

Liquid Swords (GZA/Genius)
Duel of the Iron Mic (GZA/Genius)
The Fourth Chamber
Protect Ya Neck
Da Rockwilder
C.R.E.A.M. 

All in all it was a pretty freaking good show, especially compared to some of the bullshit I’ve seen them pull in the past. And for real, only an ingrate wouldn’t be completely satisfied with the version of Wu that rocked the house for an hour and a half.

Celebrate Brooklyn Festival + Cibo Matto Returns & More (July/2011)

Celebrate Brooklyn Festival w/ Raekwon – Prospect Park – July 9th – Brooklyn, NY

The Prospect Park Bandshell is probably the best place to catch a hip-hop show in the New York City summer. Yes, you’re going to have to stand in a line that stretches beyond the park’s BBQs and jugglers to get a metal detector wand waved in front of you, but well worth it.

 

 

 

 

Raekwon‘s hourlong headlining set, however, made no concessions to anybody—
The night went essentially like this: one verse, one chorus, annoying explosion sound, flighty banter—repeat approximately 22 times in a mere hour His DJ dropped manic fragments of old-school rap songs as Rae blurred past his 90-second rhyme sprees, burning through song after song after song—new ones, old ones, shit off Immobility that you totally forgot existed, he had even more that he wanted to do until he was cut off by the 10:30 curfew.

At one point, he asked the crowd if they liked where hip-hop was going, which was received with a resounding “boooooo.” Thankfully, he assured us all, “Rae ain’t going nowhere. Rae right here with a new pair of sneakers.”

Set list:

C.R.E.A.M.
Can It Be All So Simple?
Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’
Glaciers Of Ice
Ice Cream
Surgical Gloves
Gihad
Criminology
Verbal Intercourse
Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Your Beef Is Mine
Heaven & Hell
Rainy Dayz
10 Bricks
About Me
Yae Yo
Broken Safety
Rock N Roll
Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit
Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang
Incarcerated Scarfaces
Triumph

A great relaxing day in the sun – I had been telling her about the park, and showed her aroundand we walked around and ate at one of the great sidewalk cafés’ in the neighborhood.
Since Brooklyn was the theme of the day, I suggested we check out this party in Brooklyn, Nancoteque that I’ve hearing so much about.
We managed to have a good time, but I wouldn’t go back. Got raked over the coals by the door-chick and it just wasn’t what they were advertising and all in all pretty lame.

Cibo Matto – Brooklyn Bowl – July 12th – Brooklyn, NY

One of the best nights of my life, we had just come from eating at the Dressler, which was one of the best meals/experiences of her being here, and I couldn’t begin to exaggerate my anticipation for this show. I’ve been waiting so long for this.
I was fortunate to see a pair of “soft” reunions within days of each other earlier this year to benefit the relief efforts in Japan after a devastating earthquake, where they quickly assembled a played 3-4 songs as a part of a revue. But tonight was going to be the real deal and I didn’t get to see Cibo Matto back in the day, and in the 12 years since they broke up, I think I’ve listen to their music every single day, I’m an obsessed crazy fan of theirs and I love it.
I wasn’t the only one excited, the air was tense with excitement and though Erin didn’t know anything about them previously other than what I had been schooling her on, she’s real good about feeding off of and supporting my excitement.
While Miho Hitori addressed the showgoers, it was apparent that these folks were already keyed in and ready to have a good time.

 

 

   They began their set with Beef Jerky as the audience and I sang along with every word and truly began to groove out. I was fully losing it the whole time and especially when I heard the opening notes to Sugar Water. Miho’s voice was instantly hypnotic as the sway and bounce of the track dripped effortlessly throughout the performance. The sweetly alluring performance of Moonchild with Miho’s vocals backed by surprise guest Sean Lennon.

Miho and Yuka performed two new songs as well, Tenth Floor Ghost Girl and Check-In. Considering that both tracks are indicative of the future of Cibo Matto and their new sound, they were surprisingly quite modern without the loss of the duo’s edge, which is exciting about their upcoming album. After almost an hour of play, they attempted to close out their set only to return for an encore after a most raucous and spirited bout of applause and cheers – and Miho is still so freaking hot.

Setlist:

Beef Jerky
Le Pain Perdu
Sugar Water
Spoon
BBQ
Moonchild (with Sean Lennon)
Tenth Floor Ghost Girl
Sci-Fi Wasabi
Check In
Birthday Cake

Encore:

Blue Train
Know Your Chicken

SXSW 2011: The Parties – Perez Hilton, Village Voice, Fader, Spin & Vice Bring the Noise

So now getting into my fourth day at SXSW and its usually around this time that I’ve only slept for a few hours a day and surviving on free bbq and beer, and with constant ringing in my ear, my ability to absorb much more becomes a bit cynical haha.

 

Perez Hilton One Night In Austin

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton drew a huge crowd for his annual SXSW show at the new ACL Live venue Saturday night.
I was here for one reason only & that was to se Taylor Momsen & the Pretty Reckless. I had caught her live a few times already and she is the real deal. Forget all that shit about her being an actress that is trying to sing, this is where she belongs & will be so from now on.

Taylor Momsen

Village Voice Showcase – Austin Music Hall

I got there pretty early (around 7pm) and the place was already a madhouse of people swarming to get in. This was one of the most anticipated showcases of the entire festival. I go up and get my credentials that thankfully (and I don’t care about being pampered and all that shit) gave me access to a private room with a nice bathroom, couches, earplugs and free booze, cause this place was like the fraternity in Animal House.

After taking advantage of that situation I went out to the main room to check out Wild Flag that couldn’t possible have lived up to their hype. The band is made up of key members of Sleater-Kinney and the Jicks, and while I’m a fan of both of those bands, and clearly I’m not the only one feeling the absence of SK, but you would think that Led Zeppelin had re-formed with the press they have been getting. So, either their following was far more dedicated than I realized, or they have a killer PR team – and with singer Carrie Brownstein post SK foray into journalism, I’m thinking that she knows just how to get it done.
Regardless, they were pretty good and exactly what you think it would sound like, the songs that Brownstein sung for SK, not an antithesis of Black Flag.

Wild Flag

 

–  Fishbone who was up next (and probably the act I was looking the most to seeing)  probably played for less time than it took to set up all their horns and the Theramin-in-a-suitcase. Lead singer Angelo Moore, was behind the stacks wearing an Andy Warhol wig and practicing his cartwheels, so this was gonna be as nuts as he is and I was getting excited but were taking forever. 
With the crowd getting antsy, they sent out comedian Donald Glover (who I had just seen last night host the MTVu Woodie Awards) to do a brief set as his rapper alter ego, Childish Gambino – it felt planned, but it gave the party an awesome burst of spontaneity and he was super entertaining that you had already forgotten the shittiness of the previous two acts and did exactly what it was designed to do, get you hyped and keep you entertained.

Fishbone finally takes the stage and shit gets real weird/awesome real quick –

Their shit was so great, how are you gonna top that? Well again I’m a hip-hop fanatic and a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan, but if you have read this blog or had the misfortune of trying to see any of them in concert, individually or collectively in the last 5 years, you don’t know what to  expect, which is half the fun/misery, but I’ve learned sadly, not to expect much.
Having said that, they still managed to greatly disappoint with their shenanigans they just keeps lowering their stock and legacy, who but me will still keep putting up with their shit?
Their was literally over 90 mins after Fishbone finished before they finally got their asses onstage – and during that time, I had personally seen two dudes piss themselves, three get escorted out of the music hall, and the bartenders had basically given up trying to keep service in order. It was that kind of party – As always, when its billed as Wu-Tang, their shit is so dysfunctional, the thing you do is try to guess/hope who is actually going to show up. For those who have been down this road a few times, you know to automatically dismiss the notion of the RZA and while your at Method-Man. It’s like you have to go “Ok, which ones’ career is suffering the most right now?” and that’s how you can guess accurately of who your gonna get.
After all that wait, only four of the nine members showed –
The GZA
U-God
Inspectah Deck
..and surprisingly – Ghostface Killah

They did their run of the “classics” with irritating mic problems the whole show (hey guys, with all the people onstage with wireless mics, that might be your problem?) that lasted about an hour. The best thing about the show was their joined by Erykah Badu for the last couple of tunes. Even with the feedback problems she still sounded great as always.
Around 2 a.m., Wu-Tang Clan called it a night and turned the party over to Badu, who switched to her other identity, DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown and played a great set of vintage dance tunes and modern hip hop for the stragglers who had made it through the night.

Next Day….

Spin Magazine Party – Stubb’s BBQ
   We get down there around 4pm and get checking in and take time to say hello to some of the staff that are friends of mine before heading toward the stage. The Spin Magazine party used to be the premier party during SXSW before turning into a day thing at Stubb’s a few years ago, and its still cool and always one to look forward to. One of the things you survive on during this festival is the free boze/soda/food – and its almost always not what your first choice would be, as anything free usually isn’t. It’s most likely something you have never tried/seen before because the sponsors use the festival as a test market, so you will find yourself drinking chocolate flavored water and chewing fish flavored gum.
Today, we each grabbed a tall can of this lemonade drink – that’s kinda like Sparks – and though I know I’m a serious lightweight when it comes to drinking and it was early in the day, I swear we both were shitfaced after three sips of this poison.
With my new drunk induced inflated ego, I seriously almost punched this total asshole that was being insufferable as the Killls were starting their set.
They were having serious sound issues – so much so that I thought they were actually doing a soundcheck onstage, because they were stopping and starting literally dozens of times – it wasn’t until singer Alison Moyer – finally relented and quietly made a few apologies.
I can’t make my mind up about her – I like the Kills and I’m all about the Dead Weather, her voice and image and super-cool swagger is totally hot. However sometimes I see pictures of her and I’m kinda like – meh – and sometimes she seems a little too cool. But hey she probably is – they finally got it together and turned in a decent set.As always they had DJ’s playing between sets and between these two acts, Skrillex (didn’t I tell you this guy was freaking everywhere) doing a set –  His extremely punchable hipster face is enough to make me want to take him out, but holding him responsible for the rise of dubstep is truly worthy of ball-kicking trespass –
Up next was TV on the Radio who has just attacked this festival – usually a band with their visibility comes here to do one high-profile show and doesn’t really have to slog through multiple-show days like the smaller bands unless they just want to, but TVOTR I think had like 8 gigs this week. Like I said earlier, Jah from The Death Set is playing drums for them now and he couldn’t have been more excited.
(Check out the awesome Clutch sticker hanging there in the back)

This show was really good and they are an incredible live band – sadly however this was one of the last performances with bassist Gerard Smith as he died just a few weeks later of lung cancer.

 The Fader Fort Party –

After TV on the Radio finished at Stubb’s we ran across the freeway over to the Fader Fort (running from show to show is a time honored tradition at SXSW) As a testament of how busy I’ve been this week, this was my first (and only) sojourn over to the Fort this year. This place is usually a destination for me and last year I practically lived there all week. Where else in the world let alone at SXSW can you go to a place for free, drink free booze and soda all day, get fed, free clothes, free internet, free magazines and get entertained by the best at that time? – The place is a goddamn utopia and my greatest dream of a totalitarian state come to life, and this year didn’t disappoint either.
Remember my earlier post about open RSVPs? – The Fader Fort is the most popular of them , (see above description as to why) and if you just do the open RSVP you have little or no chance of getting in – those public wristbands are worthless, you gotta go the extra mile if you wanna get in – thankfully I had an advantage – and we were ushered right in – I’m not talking about some elitist, velvet rope Studio 54 bullshit, I’m just giving a tip, that its best to contact someone involved ahead of time so that you don’t waste your time standing in line when you could be doing other rad shit.

As we are heading backstage, we are finally seeing Odd Future and what all the hype is about as they are causing a literal riot with them as the aggressors. Various members would either flat out threaten photographers in the photo pit and others would challenge the entire crowd to a water bottle fight. Debris, empty bottles, clothing and other general garbage started flying during every song –

Near the end of their set, the group prompted the entire audience to chant “Fuck tha police!” – Together, they are truly aggressive to the point of intimidation. Though I appreciate how youthful and overflowing with energy they are, I have to admit, instead of just having some good fun, it really seemed like they are assholes, going out of their way to be bigger assholes.

Speaking of overflowing energy, (but used for something COMPLETELY different) it was after 7pm and somehow I had gone all day without seeing Matt & Kim (something I had yet to do all week) so here they come and the crowd greeted them ecstatically.
Toward the end of their set, making her second cameo of the festival,  they were briefly joined by Erykah Badu who I saw strolling around backstage.
…and not to be outdone by the previous antics of Odd Future, what is normally a staple of their live show, this time Kim’s bootie dance atop the crowd seemed to have an added interference.

The Vice Party –

The Vice Party has replaced what the Spin Magazine party used to be: a last night of the festival blowout in some hidden/non-obvious location that you wouldn’t think/know about till the night of, where doors don’t even open till midnight and it goes all night, way past 2am and this one was listed as going till 6am.
This time it was at the Starr Building, some non-descript place you would imagine holding law firms not some crazy party and the bands that were set to play were Keith Morris’ (Black Flag, Circle Jerks) new band Off! and one last detonation from Odd Future who has literally stunned this festival. You couldn’t go anywhere without people talking about them and having some story involving carnage in their wake. I personally have already seen two partial performances this week and I think tonight was something like their 12th show of the week, (and third of the day).

We get there and of course the entry to get in looks like Tienanmen Square – just complete and utter chaos. You would think people’s infant children were trapped inside the way they were rabid to get in. The hype of Odd Future plus the exclusivity and free booze in an environment that craves such things? It was 1984 and this was the only place that had Cabbage Patch Dolls.
I’ve been around this stuff for over 10 years and it even frightened me a bit, and poor Erin has never seen shit like this before, but suddenly a knight in shining armor arrived.
Eric and Kim Castillo, a couple from Houston that are good friends of mine and who I stay with when I have the misfortune of being in Houston, arrive.
Eric is a professional DJ, who goes by Ceeplus Badknives and has been on the scene for a long time, and we have done gigs together in Houston and during SXSW for the last several years. His wife Kim is the salt of the earth and one of my favorite peoples.
Though we all had invites they were at capacity but Eric had the juice and got us in no problem and ironically said that they had just been talking about me and was hoping to see me. Boy were we glad to see them.

We get in and the four of us grab some of the free booze and this place just looks dangerous – like total lawlessness.
Perfect for a punk legend to fuck shit up – and that’s exactly what Off! proceeded to do:

They were crazy, unreal loud – and it had that feel that it should – volatile punk band playing at 2 in the morning in some abandoned building. Totally brown –
Outside I could only imagine what people were dealing with to get in to catch the Odd Future 3am slot – the hype was off the charts – this was their last show of the festival and given the late hour probably the last show of the festival, its 3am and its gotta top all of the other ones, so this was the one to catch according to the hype. Matt was texting me from outside so I told him to go around back and I had security let him in.

Going from Hardcore Punk to Hardcore Rap seamlessly is what makes an event like this so memorable and fun to attend. It’s 3am and here comes Odd Future:

Their show was as violent as the punk of Off! but I have to say I was more impressed with the intensity as well as the crowd as compared to any real musical gratification. In fact I would have to say, it was so super sloppy, it never seemed like the show ever actually started. It just seemed like Tyler the Creator and company, came out, got the crowd worked up, complained/cursed alot, and seemed to go out of their way to be destructive assholes.

Now I’m not exactly old, just a bit older, but I will be the first to admit, that this probably has something to do with why I just simply can’t relate to these guys. In a generation of constant self-promotion and being ruthlessly crass breeds huge rewards by your peers, that’s something I will never identify with. But as a life-long student of Hip-Hop, it really wasn’t that good – I was super excited about seeming them, and I loved their story. Totally all about their DIY punk ambition and did all of it themselves. Some young guys looking like the next Wu-Tang Clan, but I just didn’t get it. They def got some talent, but instead of showcasing that, or even having some knucklehead fun a la Beastie Boys cira License to Ill era, instead that appear as actual dickheads.

I didn’t sweat it though, the spectacle still provided weird entertainment on what had to be one of the weirdest nights of my life.

After they played, the whole place turned into a dance party, with these two DJs playing all this great 60s garage soul music that was fantastic and it 4am in the morning.

We shook our asses in celebration of a long week, and a day that felt just as long, and I just couldn’t leave – I just had to keep going somehow. Finally after the clock struck 5am, people really started to clear out and we danced the last song, to finally put this year’s SXSW to rest.

 

Photos –

Roy Turner
Nate “Igor” Smith
Brenna Rushing
Todd Seelie
Heather Browne
Joe Gall
Max Blau
Samantha Marble