So the Ghostface and friends show was yesterday at the Cat’s Cradle here in the triangle. I got to the cradle pretty early as usual (5:30 pm for soundcheck) to set up my equipment. This soundcheck took forever, because Swollen Members brought their own sound man who insisted on taking 2 hours to check their shit. I had to rearrange how I had my equipment set up like 2 times. Later in the night I realized how wack the whole thing was because they only did a 20 minute show. Why do you deserve a tour bus if you only do 3 songs? Indy rap…
So I get all my stuff set up and head next door to grab pizza with some people. No sooner than I finish two slices before Bumrush is calling me saying that they’re opening the doors a little earlier and that I need to go ahead and start DJing. Now usually when I DJ a show at the cradle, it’s an hour tops. Typically the doors open at 9, I DJ, and the act comes on at 10. Tonight, as I found out, was to be a little different. I was informed that the first act (Swollen Members) wouldn’t be coming on until around 11:30! Luckily I came prepared with about 4 crates of records…
It’s incredibly difficult to hold a crowd at a show for more than an hour, let alone 2+. I had to pull out all the stops on this one folks. I ran a primo set, a BCC set, a mid-90s set, etc. Luckily there’s always the front row, who will sing/rap along to all the hits. They were really wildin’ to Shook Ones. Anyway, right before Swollen Members decided that they finally want to go on, I played a Big L song, and we got some people to throw up their Ls. I managed to grab my camera for this moment. Take note of the size of the crowd too, it actually goes all the way back to the blue wall back there…
So I go outside to get some fresh air and take a break since I’ve been up there for 2 hours with 500 people staring at me. I’m out there just hangin out for about 15 mintues when Bumrush comes out and says “yo, they’re on the last song” . In my mind I’m thinking why the fuck did they do such a long soundcheck for a 15 minute show. Wack!
So I got back up there to face the crowd again. It would be another hour before Ghostface and company showed up. At this point some of the people in the back are getting wrestless and throwing their beer cups on stage, hahaha. I’m up there thinking if I get hit I’m gonna have to wild out on somebody. Fuck that, I’d been up since 4:30 a.m., went to work, and came here to spin, I WISH somebody would have hit me, haha. (you won’t get that unless you’ve seen the kings of comedy). Somehow I kept their attention until Theodore Unit came on stage. I’d never felt so relieved to see somebody take the stage.
For the remainder of the night I just chilled on the side of the stage, and actually on stage at some points. Theodore Unit did their thing, then Cappadona came out to do a set, and at one point decided he wanted to DJ too:
So Ghostface finally comes out, and the place goes crazy! I can’t even really begin to describe to you the energy that Ghost brings to the stage. He did all his classics, a few joints from Pretty Toney, as well as his new joint “Be Easy” (produced by Pete Rock). Here’s a couple of shots I managed to grab while I was on stage (the second one has his DJ, who Khrysis swears is my brother, hahahaha):
I actually have a lot of pics and some videos, but I don’t have time to put them all up right now, I’ll save them for another update. I did manage to get one of the videos up though. This clip should give you a good idea of the general craziness of his show. Ghostface performing “Run” from the Pretty Toney album.
Despite the fact that I had to DJ for an insanely long time, I’d have to say overall it was a dope night. Big shouts to everyone that managed to make it out…
