Show Review: Lost in Company

I finally got around to seeing Lost in Company when they opened for JaE and Darienne Rose at the Hard Rock Cafe. After some brief protestations from one table, our group settled in comfortably dancing immediately in front of the stage. Funky originals mixed well with excellent covers of notables like Teddy Pendergrass for a sexy, soulful sound that left me thirsting for more. Immediately after their set we all left to try and catch mass stickering gurus Out of the Beardspace at a house party west of Temple campus, but were unfortunately unsuccessful and missed out on both shows. Luckily we'll be having both Lost in Company and Out of the Beardspace (as well as Banned Books) at a benefit for Saving Grace Orphanage at Little Bar on MLK Day.

Feel Tall on MTVU

Cuey and his fans successfully voted the video for "Feel Tall" into rotation on MTVU over tracks by Ninjasonik and 50 Cent weedcarrier Hot Rod, among others. Congrats to OnCue, producer CJ Luzi, and director Adam Ross. Make sure you watch that jawn at J & H during Temple's 4th meal, or wherever else they play MTVU.

Explanation of Situation

Here's the deal: I've been busy.

I realize that not posting from November to February essentially kills a blog if the author isn't otherwise famous (which I'm not). I got caught up in finals and end-of-semester stuff at Temple and preparations for a trip to California and then a semester in Oxford (where I am now).

I have now posted all my show reviews from November, and will hopefully be posting more often since I have little to no scheduled obligations while I'm here. As a sidenote, show schedules will be on hiatus until I return to the US of A, because I honestly don't want to know what I'm missing out on. Here's a list of the websites I check if you'd like to keep up with that yourself:

R5 Productions, The Troc, Electric Factory, TLA, Khyber, Champion Ship, B-sides, SAB, Chameleon, Croc Rock, SBC, Merriweather, Ram's Head, Sonar, Ottobar, 9:30 Club, Hangar 84

I'll be going to some shows in England, as well as passing on friends' reviews of shows elsewhere. When I get back (in April), I'll be kicking into high gear with a new promotions company, initially focusing on my friend Marc Seeley, aka Letters from the Prom (who you might remember from here). In the meantime, let me know of any shows, venues, artists, etc. you think I should cover, and check out this video from blogger favorites The Soft Pack (formerly known as The Muslims):

Rave Review: Let Your Body Take Control

Well I keep waiting and waiting to find some photographic evidence this went down and can't seem to do so. I thought it was documented online when kids sneeze in the Northern Liberties and Fishtown. I probably missed it cause I don't have a twitter.

Anyway, after the Asher Roth/Lupe Fiasco show, me and a couple friends headed over to 941 Theater (which by the way is about to get shut down because of money issues, educate&donate here) to catch the latter half of Let Your Body Take Control, an occasional throwdown done by the Seclusiasis crew. In this particular case, they were celebrating a bunch of birthdays, the release of the Philly issue of XLR8R and the Street Bass vol. 4 12" with open bar for the 21+ crowd (18+ to get in), free copies of the magazine, and on-site screen printing (?). I got on the list via 51:51 so we all got the discounted $12 cover.

More musically, AC Slater (a Philly native now tearing up NYC and elsewhere with Trouble & Bass), Starkey (who is from Philly but plays more in England), and Dev79 were spinning (I missed Sonkin and Dr. Ew & John Bean). These guys are into heavy bass music of all kinds, which they call "street bass", including dubstep, electro, grime, rap, and much more. They played great sets, some stuff I knew, some I didn't, all with the unifying aesthetic of bass that was evident from 3 blocks away where we parked. The crowd was a mixed bag of ravers, people just looking for a party, and uncomfortable-looking tagalongs scattered among a bunch of hipsters, including one I see around Temple all the time and recognize from this hilarious website. I danced hard enough to notice the building had been ventilated as a theater, not a club, and ended up stripping down to my booty shorts and a wife beater, which was unorthodox but acceptable in this environment. If Seclusiasis is throwing the party, go.

Show Review: Lupe Fiasco and Asher Roth

This year's Temple homecoming concert featured Lupe Fiasco, Asher Roth, and Dosage (the opening act I missed because of a friend's birthday mishap involving Distrito). Unlike my previous Temple concert experience, there were no djs working the crowd in between acts, just a bunch of opening shoutouts from MCPB personnel.

Asher Roth took the stage fairly promptly, in contrast to the last time I saw him. Perhaps his punctuality was connected to his seeming lack of marijuana or alcohol, again in contrast to my previous experience. His performance, though slightly less enthusiastic, was otherwise unaffected by this alteration. Approximately a third of his crowd interaction was still dedicated to the promotion of marijuana and alcohol consumption, the remainder reserved for criticizing the evils of commercialism and demonstrating his love for and knowledge of Philadelphia (shouting out Harry Kalas, Jim Johnson, historical sites, and repeatedly claiming Philadelphians as the best people in the world). Despite obvious effort, it seemed much of the crowd were either dismissing him as the one-hit wonder behind the party anthem "I Love College" or drunkenly waiting for that song to justify their attendance. Bright spots included interludes from various other popular songs supposedly being played from his boombox, DJ Wreckineyez' impressive turntabulism performance using Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" leading up to the aforementioned single (the original mixtape version with the Weezer sample that he couldn't clear for the album), the addition of a live drummer to his crew, and Temple girls packing the stage to scream and dance along to dancefloor anthem "She Don't Wanna Man".



Unfortunately the glowing white ball of fun on the stage had no sooner left than the crowd's "Lupe! Lupe!" chant preempted his planned encore... which was then done anyway. Roth's excellent "A Milli" and "Roth Boys" were overshadowed by both the crowd's overwhelming desire for the next act to arrive and familiarity with the original songs using those instrumentals. The ensuing interlude between performances serves as an excellent segue in a brief mention of the venue and atmosphere more generally. This concert was held in Temple's Liacouras Center, a cavernous space the college students only filled up to the first level in most places. Security was fairly tight, but that didn't prevent many concertgoers from smoking assorted varieties of ganja, an activity discouraged only by shining flashlights at offending parties. One couple chose an activity evidently much more discouraged, and provided my friends and I with the amusement of watching security interrupt a repeat sexual encounter on the upper level, unceremoniously escorting the two lovebirds out.






















When the lights came down and a DJ, guitarist, and drummer played the intro to "The Cool", the screaming fans finally got what they wanted-Lupe Fiasco. With guitar and drum solos, fans singing along, peeling off layers of clothing, coming down into the crowd, and his manic stage presence, Lupe was put on what could have almost been described as a rock show, right down to the Jimi Hendrix-sampling "Fire" (free mp3). Any attendees unsure of how hip-hop this was were immediately pacified when he began asking his DJ for various beats, freestyling and performing his "Everybody Nose" N.E.R.D. remix and Kanye collabo "Touch the Sky". Despite substantial contributions from and shoutouts to the instrumentalists and backup vocalist he brought onstage with him, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was Lupe's show. Mesmerizing flows from albums new and old, mixtapes, and off the cuff over a variety of beats kept the crowd's attention from start to finish. At one point he almost lost control when he went off on his new album title (L.A.S.E.R.S. which stands for love always shines everytime, remember to smile) in a way my friend Evan Scott described as "a universalistic sermon" that another reviewer complained about here. This diatribe went on just long enough to be memorable, then he got into several snippets from the new album-just enough to interest the audience without providing any bootleg-worthy moments. Clear crowd favorites included skating anthem "Kick Push", "Paris, Tokyo" (dedicated "to all my beautiful, respectable ladies"), and singalong hit "Superstar". Check out some videos taken from far enough back not to blow out the camera mic here to get an impression of what I'm talking about. It was honestly the best live hip-hop show I've ever seen, featuring one of the more versatile artists in the game right now.
Apologies for the terrible sound quality, this is meant to get the vibe of the actual show right in front of a sub. If you want to listen to the music, check out the mp3 link above or buy his album.

Show Review: The Dream and Keri Hilson

Welcome week at Temple was filled with activities, including a free concert featuring The Dream and Keri Hilson.

The Dream is a genius in pop music, producing Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyonce's "Single Ladies", along with many other smash hits, having written for Mariah Carey, B2K, J. Holiday, Usher, Yung Joc, Jesse McCartney, Ciara, and Mary J. Blige. His performance career has also been filled with hits, included "Shawty is a 10", "Falsetto", "I Luv Your Girl", features on LL Cool J's "Baby", Gym Class Heroes' "Cookie Jar", and his own more recent hits "Rockin That Thang", "My Love" with Mariah Carey, and "Walking on the Moon" with Kanye West. This success has led to marriages to Nivea and more recently Christina Milian, as well as a vice presidency at Island Def Jam Records. Having seen him live, I think perhaps the Dream should stay more behind-the-scenes. Though he (surprisingly) managed to replicate his famous high notes live (for the most part), his stage presence was less than mesmerizing, with little to no dancing, only brief moments of crowd interaction, and a lack of light show or backup dancers for most of the performance to distract from his onstage inactivity. It would have been more interesting if they'd simply played a collection of his music videos on a large screen. To prove my point, here's his clip for "Rockin That Thang":


Keri Hilson, on the other hand, took the stage with an actual DJ backing her up like a rapper would, hyped up the crowd frequently, and was almost constantly joined onstage by backup dancers WITH whom she performed carefully choreographed and actually interesting routines. I had to leave because my friends weren't being allowed in due to late arrival and there was no re-entry, but Keri-for me anyway-lived up to the hype of her early work singing hooks for Timbaland on "The Way I Are" and other songs, writing and singing backup on Britney Spears' Blackout album, and playing the lead role in Usher's "Love in This Club" music video. Her debut album has spawned several hits including "Energy", "Turning Me On", and "Knock You Down". Her willingness to perform some of her early non-solo material and even a cover or two set her apart even more than her entertaining performance already had. If you're into pop/r&b, Keri Hilson is an excellent performer.