I'm pissed...but there must be something in the air, cos there's a lot of people pissed here to! The HERE is Portland, & last night, I went to Mighty Mos Def, at the Roseland Theatre, on the corner of Broadway & 5th...I'm getting hip to the city!! but if I've got it wrong, here's a link to the website, it has some good headline guests!
[ http://www.doubletee.com/rose_schedule.html ]
Anyway, after getting buying a $28 ticket for $75 from a scalper!! [a ticket tout to us brits] I got in, to be greeted by a real array of Portland hip hop fans...
From 12 yr old skater boys, 17 yr old 80's fans, girly b-boys [can I say that?], Back in the Dayz stylers, Neo-soul diva lookalikes, sporting 'naturals' , I saw the most black people that I've seen in one place in Portland, [except outside the soup kitchen...what can I say, Portland has a LOT of crazy-ass crack-looking folk!].
Opening before Mos, were Portland own LifeSavas..& they kinda kicked off the theme for this blog, telling the crowd vote for Obama...& invited everyone to put their fists in the air & ask for CHANGE, Obama's mantra.
Then the killer for me. Now...to put this into context. I LOVE Mos, but when he was in Amsterdam in Dec, he was Terrible, so for me, this was his redemption gig. So I'm all geared up for him coming out on stage...camera at the ready, like a groupie. Then, as soon as his first lyrics, hit the foam on the mic, & I start filming...I get snatched up by security, & they DEMAND' by camera battery!!
'What!?' I give it up, cos he's on stage NOW! It's his REDEEM TEAM...NOW!
Then, 10 minutes into the show, security starts snatching up other devotees, but this time Mos notices & you know what he says to security?
'Yo, what you doing? stop that, you can't stop that! That's the future right there! If ya'll want to take pictures & put some of me on YouTube, go ahead...just don't take photos of me when I'm walking down the street..I need my peace too!!'
So the show continued, as he raced from Umi Says, to Travelling Man...interspersed with the orginal tracks from where he took his samples, & a reggae medley...A great performance! REDEMPTION was achieved. But he was right. The array of phones [how many people have iphones in Portland? Damn!] & cameras that were filming are great for him & any other perfrmer. WE are the medium, for them, WE are the artist's BEST press. Similar to any download, seeing a bad mp4 on YouTube, will NEVER substitute seeing a great live performer, but it DOES give you a preview...'hmm maybe I should go & see 'em in the flesh?' & just think about what else you'll see & experience there?
[but this clip's cool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKBnKryoVZQ ]
Would I have met Tristan, the 17 yr old high-top fade wearer & his buddy behind him,
or the 28 yr old breaker Illisa, who's photo's in Martha Cooper's We B-Girlz, or DJ Kid Skylo, who's putting on Juice Jam, a Hip Hop park Jam, Saturday Aug 30th, Obryant Square, in Portland[ http://www.myspace.com/applejuicecrewpdx I hope he appreciates the free publicity, if anyone's reading this blog!]?
NO I WOULDN'T
CHANGE!
