So the guys from Paper Magazine through their issue release party at the new awesome hangout spot in Brooklyn, the House of Vans. This particular party, which has come to be known as “Sounds like Paper,” was supposed to be a showcase of the 3 people that have graced their newest cover: Swizz Beats, Joe Jonas, and Santigold. Unfortunately, our friend Santigold didn’t show up. She wasn’t originally billed for the show but then her name was added at the last minute. Apparently it was even too last minute for her, as she was a no show. Besides that though, the show was excellent.
It was supposed to be “door at 7pm,” which normally means you get there early and just wait for no reason and they don’t let people in until like 20 minutes later. Apparently that’s something that Paper Magazine does often, to make sure their people get in first. A lot of the people standing on line had never been to the House of Vans before, so they were asking about how big the place was. I, having been there a couple weeks ago, told them that they had nothing to fear, the place could easily hold over 1000 people.
When we finally got in everyone ran to the bar, because the beers were free, courtesy of Corona. They also had the Ben & Jerry Truck inside giving away free icecream, but there was nothing in the line of free food, like the flyer said. On to the show…
Joe Jonas came on first, to some very loud screams from the young female patrons that were up at the VERY front. I’m not very familiar with his stuff (no surprise there), but despite how I feel about the Jonas Brothers they are quite talented. He’s gone solo, but his stuff still sounds teenie bopper poppy, so I guess if you’re into the Jonas sound then you would probably enjoy his short 4 song performance. But I’m guessing that if you’re a Jonas Bros. fan that you’re probably not reading my blog!
After a quick intermission of music from the DJ they introduced Swizz Beats and his band. Now I wanted to go to the show specifically for Swizzy, not because I’m a huge fan of his (because I guess I am) but because I wanted to know what a performance of his would be like. Swizz Beats as many of you may know is a rap producer, who started off making beats for the DMX and the Ruff Ryders. He’s not a rapper, but he does do the chorus on many of the songs that he produces, so I was wondering whether he would just have a performance of choruses. He did…
But don’t let that statement fool you, his performance was full of energy, and actually lots of fun. Even I had forgotten how many songs he’s made the beats to, but he managed to touch on just about everything. He went from Ruff Ryders tracks like the “Ruff Ryder Anthem” and “Party Up” (both DMX tracks) to some Jay-Z stuff like “Jigga My N*gga” and “Money, Cash, Hoes.”
It was like listening to your favorite rap DJ just play a bunch of hot and fun songs while Swizz just did the chorus, then they would move on to a different track. He does have a couple tracks of his own that he did, like “Money In The Bank” and “Everyday,” which features rapper Eve. But for the most part it was a Swizz Beats greatest hits (or hooks really!) performance. They played “Swing Your Rag” by TI, “Who’s Real” by Jadakiss, “Fancy” by Drake, and “My Drink and my Two Step” by his artist Cassidy. It was surely a very fun performance if you enjoy a really fun performance DJ like I do. Weirdly enough, “So Apalled” wasn’t on the menu last night, but it didn’t really matter, everyone was already hot and sweaty by the time he was ready to exit the stage. And then, randomly, Carmelo Anthony showed up! He didn’t rap, he just came on stage, waived at everyone, then left. It was random, but kind of cool.
The event was abruptly over after that, with the people at House of Vans turning the lights on shortly after he exited the stage. It was a good show, even with the absence of Santigold, even with me posting on my Facebook that I was at a private Swizz Beats and Santigold show, which of course was only half right! It was a great time though, but I’m starting to suspect that good times are in store for the summer at the House of Vans.
No comments:
Post a Comment