written by Willie/The Tape
Only a couple of nights after Beck opened the brand new Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, Lupe Fiasco graced our mortal souls for a spectacular, sold out show. This was my fifth time seeing Lupe (so my expectations weren’t too high on seeing something new and spectacular), but something was different about this show.The way he controlled the stage was something he lacked the last time I saw one of HIS shows (the others were Lollapalooza ‘07 and ‘08, and the GITD tour). He has always had tremendous stage presence and energy, but he had a sense of control and confidence that I’ve never seen him display before.
The show started off poorly as the opening act Hey Champ, was treated to a “We want Lupe” chant as soon as they hit the stage. Being Lupe’s newest band, I figured that they couldn’t be that bad. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised. They seemed a little nervous at first, as the anxious crowd didn’t help calm their nerves. They got a lot more supporters as soon as they mentioned Barack Obama. Them being from Illinois, they said that their only connection to California, is that we both supported Obama. By the end of their set, everyone was eager for Lupe to come on, and they weren’t afraid to let Hey Champ know. The only time they got legitimately cheered, was when Mr. Fiasco was spotted at the side of the stage rocking out to the electronic glam rock, that is Hey Champ. At that point everyone decided to get really into the music, until Lupe left, that is. The standout of their set was “Cold Dust Girl”.
After a very short wait, Lupe’s band (absolutely amazing) hit the stage and immediately started pumping the crowd up. He had the same introduction at the House of Blues in 2007, but it still gave me the chills as soon as the music came on. He blasted into “Kick, Push” and didn’t look back the rest of the night. He played pretty much every song I expected him to, plus a few treats. He had a bit of a freestyle over Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.” in which he screamed out “L.A. if you’re in the house, do me a favor and open your motherfucking mouths”, which really got the crowd into the show.
He featured a few LUPE.N.D. freestyle/tracks, which the crowd really didn’t pick up on. The whole show was absolutely thrilling and fantastic, but there were quite a few standout moments....read more here
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your take on the crowds response to hey champ was 100% incorrect...the guys set rocked and the crowd was loud and active during their whole 30+ minutes! when lupe came on stage during their last song (after playing air guitar and mouthing all the words to all their other songs backstage), then the crowd really went nuts...it was funny to see the band turn back and find out the explosion was for lupe. big ups to hey champ! you guys killed it in LA and from what i see, have been holding it down the whole tour!!
ReplyDeleteyou were obviously watching a different show than I was. The whole set people around me were groaning after every song and begging for Lupe to come on. Granted, there were quite a few people into Hey Champ, the majority of the crowd was anxious for Lupe.
ReplyDeleteall i got to say is one thing , BE THANKFUL THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE LUPE FIASCO IN A CONCERT ! there is hundreds of people in Mexico waiting for him to come
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