I've been getting calls from a few people asking how the pseudo-SWP show went in Greenville on Thursday. Here's the rundown (man, I swore I would never write a show blog... so corny)
I got to Clemson real late on Wednesday night and met up with Areou and G-Sharpe. We talked about set length and whatnot, then I practiced my sets for a little and went to sleep. The next morning (the day of the show) I got some lunch at Peppino's and then went back to Rob's to practice some more. Around 5:30 I packed up my equipment and went to Ben and Jerry's to say hi to Grant. We chilled for a minute while he was on his dinner break, and then I rode out to Greenville to meet up with Biscuit and Rob at the show. I was finished setting up and getting my shit together by 7, so I took a nap on a couch at the venue while people started trickling in. Rob and Biscuit had finished assembling the backing for the mural they would be painting during the show, and they came to cool out with me while I drank some free beer and tried to relax before going on. G had even brought a record I left at a show back in the day, and I was real excited to get it back. Bobbi was there with a few friends, and it was nice to catch up with her. Mostly, I looked at Biscuit's Black Book (sometimes called a Bible... it's like a graff writer's diary where he puts pictures of previous works and sketches of pieces to come). J showed up right before the show began, and we caught up while he set up his sampler and I ran through last minute preparations with the sound man and the other DJ's for the show.
The show started around 9:30 with me doing some pre-planned sets on the turntables. I did the Sunny Sunday in Battery Park mix as well as a new mix of straight-ahead hip-hop bangers (ATCQ, Rasco, De La... etc). There were some issues with the sound (lots of low-end feedback) which got resolved while I took a break to shotgun a couple of free PBR's and say hi to some friends that had recently showed up. I chatted Boot up for a minute while he was talking to an ex student of mine (Kelly... check out her show on wsbf or peep her promo mix here). Tara came out to say hi, and Dani and Leanne were there to rep for Jeremi as always. Grant was doing it big, getting real drunk. I went back on to finish my set once the issues with the sound were fixed, and Wes (one of the other DJ's for the show) cut for a while while I mixed to finish the set. I came off stage sweaty--the stage lights were crazy hot--and relived to take a break and drink with my friends.
Boot and I went outside to talk some shit and get some air while I cooled off. It was great to catch up with him. Rob had finished his mural with Biscuit and he came outside to talk shit with us. We talked about how awesome it is to see someone you teach do it big on the turntables (G-Sharpe... one of my former students was on stage cutting for Hafez). I made sure to tell G and Kelly that I was proud of them for sticking with the turntables and trying to master DJing. Around this time (a few drinks deep at this point) things got hazy. Dani got a little out of control with the come-ons. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to feel lilke a rock star and whatnot when you come off stage and have a fly girl steezin on you, but it got a little over the top for being in public. Anyway, me and Dani danced for most of Havez' set and even through Picture Me Free's set (both were pretty good, Havez has always held it down). She tried to make it about more than dancing, but I was just trying to have a good time with my people, so I tried to keep that steez to a minimum.
Soon (around 1 am) it was time for Jeremi's set. He put on some hillarious sunglasses and started banging away on his SP-404, freaking some new beats and using effects to steez it up. I was cutting over the beats and even layed over some acappellas to do like a live remix. We made live blends of Method Man's P.L.O Style, Nas ft. Lauryn Hill's If I Ruled the World, and a couple others. Shit was wild. John Kutter (from Projekt Lotus) even came up and we went back and forth scratching to J's beats. Wes cut with us too, and shit sounded real good. Then came lights on and last call. G hit us up with some money (more than I was expecting) and we all exchanged thanks and gave each other big ups. We started packing up and talking shit with everyone who was still around (J's girl is reall cool, lots of fun to hang out with). Then came the afterparty.
We finished packing up and making sure everyone had a ride from the show. J and I rode out to Dani and Leanne's place to party with them. I didn't know when we left (around 3 or 3:30) that Dani's place was so far away, and by the time we got there, Leanne was asleep on the floor and Dani was asleep in her room. J and I sat in there living room watching Adult Swim, and then we both drove home around 4:30. I got back to Rob's place around 5:15, but all the doors were locked. I went to sleep on the couch on his front porch happy with the show and happy do be doing it big with my people in Clemson again... I mean, crashing on a couch outside after a show you got paid to do is the definition of doing it big in oh eight.
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