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.
