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Wanted to let you know how the Fugees and the Roots show
was last Friday. It was VERY good. The place, the Fillmore,
is this medium/small venue, a little larger than how I remember
Irving Plaza, with red velvet walls and crystal chandeliers.
Nice size, pretty place. The crowd was totally mixed: younger,
older, lots of blacks, asians, whites. Not too many gangstas,
much more leaning towards the chilly acid/dance hall style.
While we were waiting on line to get in we were standing
by the special guest/performer entrance, and there were lots of
burly security people there and there were even more young toughs
trying to force their way in. It got a little hairy, with some
pushing and shoving, with these guys saying 'Yo, I'M WITH the Fugees,
man!', trying to their best to get in. It was funny.
The Roots were good. Their drummer has a huge afro. They have a
sort of weird show because they alternate between their own cool
stuff and then go off on these ironic Rock riffs like a classic
drum solo, and they used spotlights to promote the rock concert
feel. The last third of their show was this amalgam of classic
old school bits and pieces. I guess they had a dj who was putting
on the records and then they would rap the classic lyrics? Stuff
like Eric B and Rakim and RunDmc. I enjoyed it cause it sounded
good, but my friends were a bit sceptical. I think they thought
it was too easy to do that, like riding on the coattails of the classics
to enhance your own image.
The Fugees were also tres tres good. It's the three of them, none
on an instrument, and a drummer, bass player, and guitar player.
Of course they had a dj. He opened up the set by scratching and whatnot,
a true virtuoso performance, doing flashy things like mixing behind his
back, mixing with his eyes closed, taking his shirt off while still mixing.
More fun. Got the crowd excited. They played a good number of their songs
from the album. Of course none of the songs sounded much like the cd. Too
much noise to hear the lyrics and tune clearly. They had about three or
four special guests, which was fun too. I guess that is a classic thing for
rap shows? Wise Intelligent was there. the other people I didn't know. One
huge fat dude with a reggae dub style. It was a party. L Boogie sounded
a little hoarse, especially on Killing Me Softly, but otherwise it all
sounded good. Definitely a fun show.