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April 28, 2004
Live on Stage
Despite what my last two posts might imply, I don't always leave live shows wishing that I had been watching the performer 9 or 20 years earlier. Last Wednesday I actually saw not 1 but 2 hot shows featuring artists who are making their musical mark right now. I'm starting to realize that for me, that sort of currency ("current-ness") carries more weight than I thought it did. I meant to write about these 2 shows last week but I got caught up in other deadlines...damn, I guess I'm already starting to have backblog!
Duke had their annual outdoor "Last Day of Classes" concert last Wednesday, and this year they lined up the chart-topping "College Dropout" himself, Kanye West. I was already in a great mood before I even got to campus, but man....throw in some perfect weather, a lax alcohol policy, and Durham's 9th Wonder DJ-ing a set of great hip-hop (including some of his own Jay-Z remixes), and the stage was set. UNC baller Rashad McCants made a foray into enemy territory and my pal John blogged some good anecdotes about Rashad and the other b-ballers who came to see the show. Dilated Peoples didn't play for some reason, so Kanye came on earlier than expected, maybe around 9pm or so? The sound wasn't very good (though it wasn't nearly as bad as Prince), but it didn't seem to really matter. Kanye performed most of his album, of course, but he also threw in many fragments of the hits that he's produced (Ludacris - "Stand Up", Talib Kweli - "Get By", that Alicia Keys song, Jay-Z - "Encore", etc.). That really helped pump the crowd and it got me thinking about how hip-hop producers are pretty much the chart-dominating rock stars of today. In addition to his DJ, Kanye also had some live musicians accompanying him...one of them was this really talented singer/keyboardist named John Legend. Man, what a soulful dude. I looked in the Black Album credits and found out that Legend is the one playing on "Encore". He's apparently got his own full-length coming out this fall...if that album has its share of Kanye beats and hip-hop guest stars on it, I wouldn't be surprised if Legend blows up and becomes the D'Angelo of 2004....uh, or something like that. One of my favorite parts of the show was when Kanye got John Legend to play instrumentals of hip-hop hits for the crowd to try and sing along to. After singalongs of both the Fugees' "Ready or Not" and Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop", Kanye got in a sarcastic jab about Lauryn Hill! It was pretty humorous payback for Hill not allowing him to sample her song for "All Falls Down".
As the concert started coming to a close, my friends and I high-tailed it back to Carrboro to catch Four Tet at Go! Studios. I got inside just as the big-afroed genius behind Four Tet was building up a swell of noise on his multiple laptops. This went perfectly into this awesome song off Rounds (track 2?) where it sounds like a distorted guitar keeps cutting in and out because of some cable malfunction. From there on out Mr. Four Tet kept rocking the beats pretty hard and the whole set was a lot harder and crunchier than I would've expected based on the pleasant folkiness of much of the albums. One of those beats was so sinister and forceful that I swear it sounded like it could've fit in on a Wu-Tang record! The whole set was fantastic and Mr. Four Tet (OK, his real name is Kieran Hebden) wasn't able to escape without doing an encore, even though he had already closed those laptops. There was apparently a live Four Tet CD-R for sale earlier in the tour....before the show I wouldn't have thought that such a thing was necessary, but I'd really love to hear it now.
Posted by Tim at April 28, 2004 11:53 PM
Comments
imagine an artist giving out live CD-Rs at the end of a show. like at the end of every/any show. for like $5. kind of reminds me of the rollercoaster ride insta-photo booths capturing a split-second moment of terror.
assuming they had the technology and the ability to burn (quickly) on demand, holy shit. dude, we need to start a dotcom.
Posted by: justin at April 29, 2004 01:32 AM
Frighteningly enough, someone already did! This company called Instant Live does that for big arena/amphitheater shows....I think they're also in cahoots with Clear Channel, everyone's favorite paradigm of vertical integration.
http://www.instantliveconcerts.com/about.php3
Tim
Posted by: Tim at April 29, 2004 08:04 AM
Dude, you told me Kanye and Fourtet sucked, were you just saying that to make me feel better for missing out? Or are you trying to front on your blog like you still actually enjoy live music?
Posted by: Todd at April 30, 2004 05:10 PM
Neither of them came close to sucking, I was just trying to avoid rubbing salt in your academic wounds!
Posted by: Tim at April 30, 2004 05:25 PM