Little Brother, David Banner, and Talib Kweli hit the Fox Theater - Boulder last week. The tour was called Hip Hop Live!, and featured a live band behind the artists - The Rhythm Roots All Stars. When I first read about the tour, I thought it was a strange combination of artists, but I’d have to say the show was fantastic…truly…an amazing Hip Hop show.
When I first saw the line up I thought it was going to be the easiest shoot to arrange. My boyfriend works with Spitkicker - Talib Kweli is a Spitkicker artist. My boyfriend also has connections with Phonte of Little Brother, AND I had Phonte’s phone number. David Banner’s record label also employees one of my closest friends. Easy. Peezy.
Or not.
Try as hard as I could, try as hard as my boyfriend could, we just could not get it together for this show. All my contacts were dead ends, Phonte’s number was disconnected, all of my boyfriends contacts were on the road - thus not responding. So the day of the show, I put up a link on Twitter asking for help. With some assistance from my long time friend Bryan Adams, and my boyfriend’s friend Tunji, I made it on the list, just about three hours before show time. Along with the ticket came the much coveted photo pass, and some rules. First three songs. No flash. Talib Kweli only.
So I drove to Boulder, got there an hour early, and sat in the car waiting for the show to start. When I got into the Fox Theater, and saw the stage….I was…flummoxed. The Rhythm Roots Allstars are a ten piece band, their instruments took up the entire stage. There was room for a few emcees at the front of the stage and that was about it. The side of the stage which usually has plenty of room for photographers, managers, body guards, and groupies was filled with equipment. There was going to be little to no room to shoot. BUT I was determined to make the best of it.
So I waited backstage for the show to begin. Here’s the thing. I’d actually never met anyone performing that night….usually I at least have some sort of contact person or know someone, but this was different, and with the way the stage was set up, and everything, I was actually a little nervous.
I set out on a mission to find Phonte and talk to him about shooting their set, as my boyfriend had brought up the possibility to him a few weeks earlier. So I went downstairs and made an ass out of myself for the first time that night.
I walked into the room, and there were two men in the room. Both obviously in their own world. Ugh…I hate interrupting people when they are in their own world….but I walked up to one and said “Are you with Little Brother?” Mind you I have Little Brother albums, there are photos of Little Brother on the covers of their albums, I’ve seen photos of Phonte…but I am HORRIBLE with picking out rappers. So I ask…then look stupid. So yes indeed, he was Phonte, and he even remembered that we’d talked on the phone a few times. I got to go ahead to shoot the show from the side of the stage from both Phonte, and Talib’s manager, so up I went.
Soo..they went on, and during the first song…..about 20 women came on stage with them. Twenty women. On the stage that’s already filled with a ten piece live band, and two emcees. Getting a photo was damn near impossible. But I did my best, got some shots, which you see here. Not for nothing, but Little Brother KILLS it live. Fantastic! See them if you can.
After the set I went downstairs, and made an ass out of myself for the second time. I’m sitting at the table, when a bunch of guys came in the room. I didn’t recognize any of them. One guy walks up to me and sticks his hand out to shake my hand; “Hello.” “Hello, I’m Rachel, nice to meet you,” I say taking his hand. ”I’m David Banner.” I continue shaking his hand, and looking at him like he’s an alien. Yo. Not for nothing, but David Banner lost hella weight, and lost the facial hair too….I mean …I am bad at picking out rappers, but I had a reason this time…
David Banner was amazing live. He pulled a girl from the audience and put her on his shoulders. He dove into the crowd like he was El Steiner. He surfed the crowd to the back of the theater and climbed to the balcony. He covered a Nirvana song. He did back flips across the stage. He parted the crowd like he was Moses parting the Red Sea….and I didn’t take one photo of it. Why??? Cuz I didn’t have permission. *sigh*
It’s all good tho….he put on an amazing show, it was hella fun to watch. My favorite part of his set was the crowd reaction. They ATE HIM UP!!! And after the show he jumped in the crowd and talked with his fans, took photos, and signed autographs. He was a really cool dude.
If you can even imagine more people crowding on to the stage at the Fox…do it now. When Talib took the stage there were so many people on the stage that it was starting to get claustrophobic. From artists to sponsors to label reps to managers to groupies to body guards to David Banner’s college buddies, to me…all of us….in about 10 feet of space….it was too much. I shot the first three songs Talib did, then put my camera away. I wasn’t really getting that many great shots, as I was confined to one space, and Talib wasn’t really moving around all too much…but I was. I was getting moved by bodyguards, managers, sponsors, stage workers, artists and groupies…I was super in the way. So I watched a few more songs from the crazed crowd and headed home. It was quite the show to be sure.
Make sure you catch it if it comes through your town….here are the last of the tour dates..
Many thanks to Corey Smith, Bryan Adams, Tunji, Little Brother, and Talib Kweli. It was an excellent evening.