In the space of 24 hours Dan has managed to burn one kind-of friendship, and (probably) one (possibly) potential relationship -over a set of headphones!
i think we need to see a picture of these fucking things:
(I just got this pic off amazon -guess how much they cost? Not $70 [maybe they did back in the day] $14.95! ha ha ha! This shit just gets dumber and dumber). On with the show....
The next day I wake up early. Very early. 5am early.[1]
I lie in bed, thinking about the craziness of the past 24 hrs
Is this really my life?
I’m meeting Kim at 10am, her place, Brooklyn
And I think we all know what the conclusion to that conversation will be
But I’m like, what the hell –I’m 30 now, it’s not the first time I’ve had to go meet a girl just to get canned
But I can’t sleep either, my mind is overclocking
So I decide to get up and head downtown
It’s still dark out, and cold
I walk to the subway, ride it down to the Rockefeller center, have a walk round the plaza
The sun is coming up, it’s a clear day, so I head east to watch it rise over the east river, Brooklyn
I’m thinking I could walk to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn bridge[2] maybe
But let me tell you –that is a serious walk
But I like to walk
I do my best thinking while I’m walking
My legs drive the crankshaft that turns the cogs in my brain
So I set off, put the cursed headphones on
Yes, I have them with! (I shudder to think what kim would have done to me had I shown up without them –the word eviscerate springs to mind)
Figure I might as well get one last use out of the fuckers –they’re good headphones (even if they’re not worth $70)
I get some soothing Erykah Badu on the wee ipod shuffle, and set off.
Now might be a good time -as I head towards 1st Avenue, the UN building and so on- to tell ya’ll about this amazing gig me and my friends went to the Sunday before all this shit kicked off
I’ve been having fun and doing cool stuff too!
But I can’t really do justice to how great this gig was –I’ve got to hand over to my man chris (AKA stoney jackson) who sorted the tickets etc and knows of what he speaks when it comes down to east coast hip-hop.
The day after the gig he sat down at his mac and wrote this stream-of-consciousness piece that has what it was like to be at that night fucking NAILED.
Here it is (I’ll be continuing my story once I’ve got a computer –it’s on its way!- and I don’t have to try and write this shit piecemeal on other peoples’ laptops/internet cafes):
"hey guys,
I'm writing this partly to share, partly to make sure i recollect every detail i can of what was without doubt the best concert i have ever been to in my life. Stones Throw Tour featuring Madlib & Karriem Riggins as Supreme Team , J Rocc , Peanut Butter Wolf, Percee P, & Guilty Simpson Now some of you out there might not alot of these artists, but thats ok, you will recognize some of them by the end of the piece.
We arrive at this small club down in the meatpacking district about 8:30 or so, called the highline ballroom. Walk in and crowd is small but you know its getting bigger, this is new york, people party LATE. Order a drink, there's some dude getting photos with someone over there, oh yeah must be some local legend. On comes the first dj spinning some crazy 80s psychedelic funk, crowd feels it a bit, I'm loving it, out comes peanut butter wolf just chillin on stage. After about 45 minutes its time for his set to be up, and guess who it is? None other than Baron Zen, a great DJ with a lot of work done on the stones throw podcast for example. Nice, nice I'm thinking.
So PBW starts spinning some tunes, and on comes Percee P, high as a mutherfucker, in fact so high all he could do was play tracks off his cd and tell us how dope they were. PBW is saying to him "man, you could at least rap WITH the tracks". But he's too high, no show. Wow, that guy's high. Next up, MED comes out on stage, WTF? MED wasn't meant to play tonight! But there he is, PBW spinning, MED rapping, me dancing, everything is doing nice. Then Guilty Simpson comes on with MED and they do a few duets. Oh shit man this is TIGHT! Once MED is done with his shit he leaves, and Guilty Simpson decides its time to do the ultimate tribute to J Dilla. Spits the most vicious lyrics over Dillas tracks man all I could do was throw my hands in the air and jump around like a madman. This maybe went on for close to an hour, Guilty finishes his shit, PBW says J-Rocc is on his way but flight is delayed. No worries, we still got madlib to come on.
Then this crew who I've never heard of jumps on. This insane guy called CXTronics, promoting his new shit Crak Attack. This guy produces more weird sounds from his mpc then I've ever heard in my life, and him and his two bros basically beat each other up on stage while playing this cray head fuck music. They get booed at the end but man people are fucked, that set was tight as prom night. I go over to the bar and one of the MCs, Sup (soup) is at the bar, we chat, exchange numbers, he says come back soon, we'll do some blunts. Ok i hear you my man! CXTronics gives me a badge, we chat, back to the crew.
Percee P storms back on stage, not so high this time, and absolutely KILLS IT. Spitting some of the freshest shit I've had the pleasure of hearing, the whole crowd is bouncing and banging and just lovin the whole episode unfold. PBW grabs his DVD turntables and spins what has to be the most amazing old skool/golden age/reggae set I've ever seen, scratching and juggling not only the music, but their film clips too, sheer madness. I turn to my buddy, dude this shit is off the HOOK! We are dancing our asses off the whole time, screaming, drinking, partying, hugging, snapping pics left and right, oh man are you feeling it? Suddenly, J-Rocc appears, oh yeah baby lets get this shit on the new level. He's spinning, juggling, throwing beats around like an italian throwing a pizza dough in the air, pure magic. The crowd is feeling it, place is packed, time to go find Sup....
Suddenly madlib comes on. OMFG! the dude who was standing next to me at the beginning of the night! That was fucking MADLIB! DOH DOH DOH DOH! J-Rocc is spinning, Madlib is rhyming, I'm blunting it up with Sup right at the front of stage, can this shit get any better? I think I've reached heaven, but we're only halfway there yet.....
Madlib absolutely tears it up on stage man, and Jerry, HE DID THE MUTHERFUCKING RED! dude, are you hearing me, THE RED! Live! ooooh weee! I am jumping around, my dilla shirt on, my cxtronix badge on, drink and blunt in my hand, life is the peak of everything. He finishes his MC set, then hits the turntables. Thats when Karriem Riggins comes on, and starts playing the drum-kit on stage, reserved all night for something big.... madlib spinning jazz, karriem playing the mad beats, people chilling on stage with all sorts of rhythm instruments, tambourines etc. Everyone is nodding their heads or shaking their ass.
Suddenly, the music stops, madlib walks to the mic, I look around, maybe 100 or so people left. Madlib starts to speak, "hey y'all, we got a special guest in the house tonight". Everyone screams DOOM! MF DOOM! naw naw doom aint here tonight, someone else. Who the fuck could it be? Out walks this fine looking girl,
OH. MY. GOD. ERYKAH BADU! ERYKAH FUCKING BADU!
she starts singing and my body turns to a pool of jelly. I'm high, drunk, rocking it to Erykah Badu with Madlib & J-Rocc on the turntables. This shit is just soaring into the sky man, what the fuck is going on? Erykah, you beautiful woman, I want you to have my babies, I want to run away with you to a special place and live our lives out being beautiful together. She sings for like 45 minutes, new shit featuring madlib as producer, old classics, man that girl commands respect when she performs. And I'm standing 5-10 m from stage with my jaw dropping, my feet moving, heart pumping, high fives are going around everywhere, I turn, man I cannot believe the shit I am seeing! I cannot think of anything more that can be done.
But theres more. PETE ROCK makes an appearance, and spits a few lyrics of his own. Holy fucking shit guys, we are seeing hiphop history here my friends. Erykah is chilling behind playing the tambourine, Karriem is playing drums, PBW is just chillin with a big smile on his face, the entire crew who played is on stage, we're witnessing a bunch of hiphop legends partying with themselves and we have the pleasure of joining them. We are in the presence of giants people. Listen hard, you'll never hear this shit again.
Dilla tributes keep coming, they must have played half his repertoire. Everyone is just jamming, Karriem is rocking the drum solo, I'm done with my beer I don't need any more, I have my intoxicants on stage and in my belly already.
It all has to come to an end at some point. Lights go on, PBW says this shit is dedicated to the 60 people who decided to stick around. Where the fuck did all those stupid people go? Did they not just miss one of the greatest hiphop shows ever? Loss to them man, loss to them. PBW thanks us for sticking around for 7.5 hours. What? 7.5 hours? seems like it just started, but it hasn't ended yet.
We stick around, man we can't leave! I turn to the bar, madlib, guilty simpson, and MED are all just chillin at the bar, long night of partying takes it out of you. I go over, Madlib apologizes to me for not playing Brisbane, like man dont sweat it, this is the best present an aussie could hope for my man. We get photos, me guilty simpson and madlib, Uwe gets one with MED. Ok we got photos, we got our asses kicked by music, we saw Erykah Badu lets end this perfect night on a perfect note. As we're walking out Percee P is just sitting near the top of the stairs, shaking the hands of everyone leaving "her man thanks for coming". What? My man, we should be thanking you for even giving us the opportunity to participate in this, the most epic night of nights.
Best.
Gig.
Ever.
And it was $30. Hell yeah!"
Also some cool B&W photos from the gig:
www.villageslum.com/page/2/
And some clever so-and-so filmed the badu bit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1KVwuBNkn4
(yeah yeah yeah. I'll get back to the story next time, I promise.)
[1] Since living in NYC I only need 4-5 hours sleep a night. I’ll sleep when I’m dead!
[2] Check out this picture that my mate Chris took from the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset:
see it full size and others at flickr.com/photos/stoneyjackson
Some of the best things you see in New York are totally free :-)
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