gym class heroes at the target center
today, i went to my first arena rap show. it was lil wayne, t pain, keyshia cole, and gym class heroes at the target center. i have to admit that i probably would not have gone, had whit not gotten me in. hehe. i don’t know for sure, but i’m pretty sure that tickets were anywhere from $40-100+? my limit for paying for a concert is $7. haha.
i’ve seen/heard gym class so many times, cause of warped tour and bamboozle and whatnot. this was the first time i actually watched their whole show from front of house. it wasn’t too bad. the most ironic thing is that they were one of the bands with the most (and biggest) gear on warped, but on that giant stage, it was almost cute how tiny their stuff looked. hehe.
keyshia cole was great. i respect artists who can sing well and still manage to move around. i even sang along to some song i had never heard before, because the lyrics were up on the video screen. haha.
t pain was great! i had never heard anything, except for that “low low low” song, which i’m pretty sure was played on the mtv vma’s. (why was i watching the vma’s? who knows). at any rate, his set was very a.d.d.-friendly. i think there was something weird/strange/exciting happening at all times, including little people, fire breathers, and stilt-walkers. i guess it went along with his circus theme. anyway, the most impressive part of the set, i thought, was when he actually played the piano and sang. he’s got some pipes!
lil wayne was not too bad. his production was pretty incredible. floating risers and pyro! also, i’ve said it a thousand times, and every time i see a band like that, i always get reminded about how much i’d love to be a drummer for a big pop/hip-hop group. i feel like even though they aren’t doing anything too crazy or flashy, they truly are the most talented musicians out there.
i think the starkest difference between a rap show and a rock show is the marketing aspect of rap. granted, it’s creeping into the rock genre, for sure–i don’t think rock bands have status for how many “features” they get. (a feature, i later presumed, being a spot on someone else’s record). that, and the parade of lil wayne’s label artists (which felt like half of his set), made the whole show seem like one giant plug. like watching a 2-hour-long super bowl half-time show.
did i mention that during “lollipop”, two girls were giving their two boyfriends lap dances, about 6 seats to the left of us? cause, yeah, that happened, too.
