10. Fresh Fest 1- Run DMC, Whodini, Fat Boys, Cool J, nuff said....One of the highlights of the night was they turned all the lights out during an itnermissiona nd just played Mantronix "Needle to the Groove"...NOBODY had felt bass like that before....Grandmaster D and JMJ rockin' S!@# in the same night....? OMG....I had never seen beat juggling before that night...My jaw dropped....Jermaine Dupri was a strutter and he used to do this routine under a green laser....OFF THE HOOK!!!
9. Fesh Fest 2- See above, only more madness....
8. NWA and Eazy E at a roller rink in Richmond CA- Off the hook....Cube was not there becuse his dad would not let him tour...Thats what Eazy said at the time....I met him....Nobody really knew what they looked like at this point in their career.....Unless you knew Dre. and Yella from wereckin Cru....They rocked it...they sang- "Where is Eazy? Where is Eazy?"...."Here I am...Here I am".....Amazin...Somebody got shot in the parking lot....They shut it down....I got photos of that night...
7. Tupac and Serch, Townsend (GAVIN CONVENTION)-OFF the hook. I was talking to Pac he said for me to come with him...I was an MC and like everybody else...We were cool...Not that close but he knew I fought hard to free his uncle (Geronimo Pratt) and he knew my rap stuff was positive...So he's walking by me and he taps my arm....says like, 'Yo Bishop, come with me man..."I'm forgetting who I'm talking to and I'm like "Hold on man...I wanna be down but hold on"....He says "OK man, you gonna regret it" and took off....Like, 3 minutes later he's ont eh stage with Serch, they start busting freestyles and Serch is going off about "Tieneman Square, Bush don't care, 'cause he's planing the same thing right here" all kinds of ill political shit....Pac grabs the mic and rips....He gives the mic back to Serch....Later that night I saw Pac and he was laughing 'I TOLD you to come with me fooool, I tolf you!!!"....I laughed hard, but I gotta admit.....I don't think I would have done well on stage with them two...They were on fire for those 5-7 minutes....on fire.....I had skill...But now, I was never like Serch or Pac....And it showed that night...
6. Run DMC, Townsend- They did "Together Forever" live. Thats all I have to say. This was the same night as Pac and Serch.
5. Beasties at Civic Center, I don't rember the year (maybe 91)- They killed it...Henry Rollins and Cypress Hill opened up...I was on the floor but as soon as they hit the stage a HUGE MOSH PIT started....I went to the upper level to watch....The pits looked like blenders with bodies in them...I took my buddy Tiger with me...He though they were fighting I had to explain the MOSH to him....Brothas don't get down like like that....LOL!
4. Ice T at The Stone in SF- I don't remember much about the time frame except that "Cop Killer" was all the rage in mainstream press. Ice T came out with Bodycount and tore it up...me being a suburban Black cat, I loved rock anyway....So, I saw him using rock as a tool to F!@# with Cops as genious....pure genious....the Stone is gone now...Used to be on Broadway in SF (remember when cats used to cruise in the tunnel...hmmmm those were the DAYS)...But I'll never forget it...Never...
3. Public Enemy at the Shoreline theater 1989- This was off the chain, I ditched work at Tower Records to go...I told my boss I was sick, she knew I was lying, had comp tickets and had spies at the show....What they did NOT have however, was backstage....LOL!!!! Kid n Play, Queen Latifah and Digital Underground were also on the bill...Everybody rocked it....I stayed backstage on and off for most of the show....It was a warm, windy night....It got really windy byt he time PE hit the stage...I went out into the crowd to see it....Shoreline has a big hill that you can sit on and look down at the crowd from....I went to the top...
The S1W's set it off, the crowd goes buckwhyld.....Then after a psycho intro they open with Terrordome....The wind is blowing his jacket back like he is in a tornado....The crowd is yelling ALMOST louder than the speakers are blasting....The SW1's have their "marine whites" on and they tore that stadium apart....bolt, by bolt....my manager tried to say her folks saw me, but she never fired me, no real witness....But I was a witness to the power of PE....That night, it would have taken a nation of millions to hold us back....I never really stood in AWE of an MC before....until that night....He seemed like the eye of a storm...
2. KRS ONE, Maritime Hall (the day after BIG got shot)- KRS is probably the best MC I've ever seen live....No entourage, no dancers...A mic, a turntable and a stage- he's on it...I had seen him perform a few times already and as most people in Hip Hop, I am a fan... don't know if it was because BIG had passed, or if he was worried for his own safety (probably not) but he gave his soul on the stage that night...For the first time in a long time I saw B-boys on the floor while he rapped....I saw cats building on wisdom in the hallway inspired by his rhymes....Tight show...Had hella fun....
1. Prince at San Jose State- If you never saw Prince in concert, I have to say you missed something MAJOR....I don't believe the planet will see the likes ofa musician and hshowman like him for many, MANY decades to come. I waited till I was like, 25...Too long once I saw how incredible he was...His fans are possibly the most loyal of any artist I have seen before...He closed it, get this...By doing an encore performance where he did a guitar battle with Carlos Santana and then hit a berzerk piano solo and killed it....No show I have EVER seen compares to that....Thanks Prince, for tearing down the house...
9. Fesh Fest 2- See above, only more madness....
8. NWA and Eazy E at a roller rink in Richmond CA- Off the hook....Cube was not there becuse his dad would not let him tour...Thats what Eazy said at the time....I met him....Nobody really knew what they looked like at this point in their career.....Unless you knew Dre. and Yella from wereckin Cru....They rocked it...they sang- "Where is Eazy? Where is Eazy?"...."Here I am...Here I am".....Amazin...Somebody got shot in the parking lot....They shut it down....I got photos of that night...
7. Tupac and Serch, Townsend (GAVIN CONVENTION)-OFF the hook. I was talking to Pac he said for me to come with him...I was an MC and like everybody else...We were cool...Not that close but he knew I fought hard to free his uncle (Geronimo Pratt) and he knew my rap stuff was positive...So he's walking by me and he taps my arm....says like, 'Yo Bishop, come with me man..."I'm forgetting who I'm talking to and I'm like "Hold on man...I wanna be down but hold on"....He says "OK man, you gonna regret it" and took off....Like, 3 minutes later he's ont eh stage with Serch, they start busting freestyles and Serch is going off about "Tieneman Square, Bush don't care, 'cause he's planing the same thing right here" all kinds of ill political shit....Pac grabs the mic and rips....He gives the mic back to Serch....Later that night I saw Pac and he was laughing 'I TOLD you to come with me fooool, I tolf you!!!"....I laughed hard, but I gotta admit.....I don't think I would have done well on stage with them two...They were on fire for those 5-7 minutes....on fire.....I had skill...But now, I was never like Serch or Pac....And it showed that night...
6. Run DMC, Townsend- They did "Together Forever" live. Thats all I have to say. This was the same night as Pac and Serch.
5. Beasties at Civic Center, I don't rember the year (maybe 91)- They killed it...Henry Rollins and Cypress Hill opened up...I was on the floor but as soon as they hit the stage a HUGE MOSH PIT started....I went to the upper level to watch....The pits looked like blenders with bodies in them...I took my buddy Tiger with me...He though they were fighting I had to explain the MOSH to him....Brothas don't get down like like that....LOL!
4. Ice T at The Stone in SF- I don't remember much about the time frame except that "Cop Killer" was all the rage in mainstream press. Ice T came out with Bodycount and tore it up...me being a suburban Black cat, I loved rock anyway....So, I saw him using rock as a tool to F!@# with Cops as genious....pure genious....the Stone is gone now...Used to be on Broadway in SF (remember when cats used to cruise in the tunnel...hmmmm those were the DAYS)...But I'll never forget it...Never...
3. Public Enemy at the Shoreline theater 1989- This was off the chain, I ditched work at Tower Records to go...I told my boss I was sick, she knew I was lying, had comp tickets and had spies at the show....What they did NOT have however, was backstage....LOL!!!! Kid n Play, Queen Latifah and Digital Underground were also on the bill...Everybody rocked it....I stayed backstage on and off for most of the show....It was a warm, windy night....It got really windy byt he time PE hit the stage...I went out into the crowd to see it....Shoreline has a big hill that you can sit on and look down at the crowd from....I went to the top...
The S1W's set it off, the crowd goes buckwhyld.....Then after a psycho intro they open with Terrordome....The wind is blowing his jacket back like he is in a tornado....The crowd is yelling ALMOST louder than the speakers are blasting....The SW1's have their "marine whites" on and they tore that stadium apart....bolt, by bolt....my manager tried to say her folks saw me, but she never fired me, no real witness....But I was a witness to the power of PE....That night, it would have taken a nation of millions to hold us back....I never really stood in AWE of an MC before....until that night....He seemed like the eye of a storm...
2. KRS ONE, Maritime Hall (the day after BIG got shot)- KRS is probably the best MC I've ever seen live....No entourage, no dancers...A mic, a turntable and a stage- he's on it...I had seen him perform a few times already and as most people in Hip Hop, I am a fan... don't know if it was because BIG had passed, or if he was worried for his own safety (probably not) but he gave his soul on the stage that night...For the first time in a long time I saw B-boys on the floor while he rapped....I saw cats building on wisdom in the hallway inspired by his rhymes....Tight show...Had hella fun....
1. Prince at San Jose State- If you never saw Prince in concert, I have to say you missed something MAJOR....I don't believe the planet will see the likes ofa musician and hshowman like him for many, MANY decades to come. I waited till I was like, 25...Too long once I saw how incredible he was...His fans are possibly the most loyal of any artist I have seen before...He closed it, get this...By doing an encore performance where he did a guitar battle with Carlos Santana and then hit a berzerk piano solo and killed it....No show I have EVER seen compares to that....Thanks Prince, for tearing down the house...
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