Determined to make the most of my Halloween weekend I kicked things off with a trip down to Jannus Live (which will always be Jannus Landing to me) and caught the Method Man / Redman show appropriately dubbed Smoke-A-Ween.
Conventiently priced at $18 (even though with stupid ass Ticketmaster my shit came to $26!!!) this was a can't miss show for Bay Area hip hop heads.
I showed up around 9 pm and witnessed the scariest site a 90's hip hop fan could lay eyes on, a "metrosexual boy band"! My first impression was what the fuck? Then after a few minutes of listening to this gay ass bullshit my next reaction was why the fuck aren't fans storming the stage with pitchforks and torches? Then I realized everybody was high and had no idea what was going on anyways, far as they were concerned it was Howard The Duck onstage or something.
From here on things steadily improved. The next act although almost equally as gay but not quite as metrosexual or boy bandish took the stage and tried to swoon the audience with their own unique brand of lyrical white boy bullshit. The lone black guy in the group was dope though so props to him. The other two guys just looked akward. With so much local talent in the area it is tragic that Jannus allowed some fratboys from Orlando to pay their way to opening for Meth and Red but whatever. Which is all this was. Some kids who use daddies credit card to swipe their way to the top....of the toilet!
One of the shows highlights was the costume contest. I wish I had been closer to the stage to snap some pics but I chose to spend the evening posted up on a wall near the wall throwing down $5 drinks. One girl just used the opportunity to get on stage and dance like a stripper (which was the fucking bomb!), another guy dressed as Redman from "How High" with a B.U.F.U. outfit but the crowd favorite were the two guys dressed as a sack of weed and a blunt. It was an epic costume to say the least.
The dj at the show was a little lame. It is normally standard precedure at these 90's rap shows for the likes of local legend DJ Sandman to rock the stage with a variety of old school jams. I've become so used to his sets that now days I look forward to what gets played before the show almost as much as I do for the main act. This guy was no DJ Sandman. It was tragic to hear Lil Wayne and other mainstream friendly crap to be used at such a show.
Thankfully all was not lost, DJ Sandman did arrive eventually along with the lovely and talented indie local artist Dynasty. He opened the Dynasty set with the theme from John Carpenters Halloween which earned him extra cool points from me. Then followed it up with Mobb Deeps classic "Shook One's Pt 2" to warm up the crowd. I swear the place almost exploded when this record came on. Dynasty's performance was charasmatic as usual. It won't be long before this chick is headlining her own shows.
Finally Method Man and Redman hit the stage about 10:30 and did a hell of a show until close to midnight. The only problem is that the majority of fans at the show aren't really Red and Meth fans. They are more like Wu-Tang fans who came to see Method Man, Redman is sort of the bonus to sell a few more tickets because there is no way that in the present day Meth could pack a crowd in this area without a little help.
Since the majority of people there really aren't fans of the duo's collaborative efforts it makes the audience a little stale until they hear tracks they are familiar with. The songs that recieved the most energy back from the crowd were Meths more popular solo efforts and ofcourse the M-E-T-H-O-D Man (you can hear that song instantly in your head right?).
Thing is, when I see these guys on stage as much fun as they appear to be having they also make it look like a job. Like they don't enjoy themselves being rappers anymore. I'm guessing part of that is a disconnect from their fanbase. Two black guys from the New York / New Jersey area are probably a little dumbfounded as to who all these college aged stone white kids are at their shows.
Not only that, both of these guys careers are shackled by the influence of The Rza. Method Man because The Rza militantly crafted the Wu-Tang brand and early careers of the groups members leaving them very little lee-way to branch out and market themselves to their own liking. Redman has always been stuck because without his collaborations with Method Man his career would have disappeared into the ether many moons ago. So both are essentially playing a role that is paying their bills but at the same time not necassarily representative of who they truely are.
One thing that bugged me a little bit was the smug elitism spewed by both of these guys on stage. Normally this type of talk doesn't bother me that much because who the hell am I to talk, right? Thing is, everytime Method Man publicly opens his mouth and lets loose his opinion (the Waka Flocka controversy for example) he always winds up retracting himself then appologizing. Not to mention all of his bullshit cameos on lame TV shows and movies (Soul Plane anybody?). Don't even get me started on the low quality of his solo albums. So for him to stand before a crowd of made up mainly of white kids and talk about the sad state of modern hip hop is a bit insulting. Same goes for Redman who had the most to say on the state of hip hop. Who is he to talk after collaborating with the likes of Christina Aguillera and doing modern day minstral shows like the movie "How High" and the stupid Fox show "Method and Red" which was cooning to the twentieth degree.
After the show I was kind of shocked by how tight security was. I've seen quite a few shows at Jannus and the artist are typically friendly enough to do some type of meet and greet with fans afterwords. Hell after the Wu-Tang show Rza and Ghostface handed out pizza and KFC. Public Enemy let everybody backstage and even Big Daddy Kane was kind enough to pose for pictures. Hell a bum I met outside showed me a picture on his phone of him and Young Jeezy!
Method Man and Redman though had the place on lockdown like they were Paul McCartney and John Lennon or something. It may be standard procedure for police to be present at these shows but this was outrageous. Both artist ran as quickly as possible to their tour bus and got out of there asap. How lame. Especially considering these guys cult following you'd think by now they'd have built some type of rapport with their fans through signing autographs, etc. Hell, they could even do what Tech Nine does and just charge a minimal fee after the show for a meet and greet.
Anyways, it was a dope show. Definitly worth the money. Hopefully soon the whole Wu-Tang Clan will make a return to Jannus. One member just isn't enough.
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