I can honestly say that last nights concert was the best performance I have ever been to. Everything about the event contributed in my opinion: from
DJ mr. E rocking the crowd in between sets, Zion-i paying tribute to the bay area, the Dilla & MJ tributes along with new & throwback jams not from just
Blackstar but from each of
Mos Def and
Talibs solo albums too. (these pics were taken on my jankie phone, and didn't do the concert justice)
I had never been to Fox theater in Oakland prior to this event; when we entered,
106 KMEL greeted us and took a picture of me and two of my homies. Walking into the theater, we found that we were one of the first people there, and took our place at the front of the crowd on the floor. The venue wa huge! Similar to the Warfield in SF but it had two whole floors above the first floor, which were completely filled by the time
Blackstar hit the stage. The concert was supposed to start at 8 o'clock, but I never expected it to start on time, but it was al good because
DJ Mr. E was on the tables making the wait seem like a party. He kept it live until Zion-I finally took stage to pay tribute to their hometown: Oakland. The amazing thing about this is that I used to see Zion-i perform before they blew up at random events at bookstores and music shops, and now they're opening for two of hip-hops most decorated legends. They performed a lot of their new music, but didn't fail me by the end when he performed "the bay" and "a birds eye view" - my two favorite songs from them.
By the time their set was over the whole crowd was set for
Blackstar to hit the stage, the crowd was dying off of the anticipation since they rarely ever perform under the Banner of
Blackstar. But it took about another hour for them to set up, but until then
DJ Mr. E turned the party vibe back on, and everyone got their boogie on until one last opening act that lasted about 10 minutes from one of bay areas own called
Curtains.
Then, finally,
Mos Def started talking to the crowd from behind the stage, and then comes in from the right side of the stage where I was at, and
Talib came in from the left; it was on! They opened up with the very first song of their album "8th light," all of the legit fans in the crowd got hyped. After each song Mos and Talib spoke to the crowd gradually transitioning to their next hit. Each of them performed songs from each of their solo albums along with their collabs, it was way more than I expected. Throughout the concert you could tell that
Mos Def was their to pay tribute to his childhood hero Micheal Jackson; his whole outfit was a tribute, along with his dance moves, you could tell they were both enjoying performing here stating multiple times that its been way too long since they have been here together.
I felt like I was going to loose my voice; "the definition" right into "the re-definition" to
mos def's "Hip-Hop," then songs from Ecstatic, then to
Talibs acapella version of "Revolutions Per Minute" "in this world" back into the
Blackstar jams with "Respiration" right into "Brown Skin Lady." I think its impossible for me to recap each song they played because they pulled out so many from their repituar. I jsut remember rapping along to each one...by midnight
Mos Def pulled out an olde: "Traviling Man" which seemed to signify the end of an incredible performance...But then a few mintutes after they took their leave from the stage, the DJ's called for the crowd to bring them back... and sure enough, the show that had already satisfied even the most die-hard fan continued.
They came back right into a classic: they performed their own version of
Gangstarr's "DWYK" obviously paying tribute to the fallen ledgend earlier this year: Guru. But, after that, they were not done paying tribute to fallen soldiers, they pulled out one of their favorites from
De La Soul "Stakes Is High" to pay tribute to
Batan and
J Dilla from
Slum Village. After these two epic tributes to their idols, I thought they would once again take their leave, but, I was wrong.
Mos Def blessed the crowd with a new joint of his, one of his favorites, then went into a classic: "umi says." It seemed like the show was never going to end as he pulled another one from his album
Ecstatic that paid tribute to the greatest himself: Ali, the song was "Pretty Dancer." Right after Might Mos had his shine, Talib brought it back with a classic
Reflection Eternal jam : "The Blast," and the crowd went nuts. After that song they pulled one that I never dreamed of them performing, and over half the crowd didn't even know the song, beacause it was the first song they ever did together, that songs was "Fortified Live." They took all the way back to their roots at the Lyricist Lounge, I was one of the few people rockin with them to that one. Then for their final curtain call, I believe it was one of their relitively new ones, "Just Begun" (which also features Jay Electronica and J.Cole). The Crowd gave a thunderous applause afterwards, and Mos and Talib just stood their in appreciation of the crowds love, thanking everyone. After one little goodbye freestyle from Talib, they finally exited the stage. Best Concert I've ever been too.
