@ It Again

Rhymesayers Entertainment's @ It Again tour rolled into San Francisco last night, with a show at Slim's last night and one tonight at Bottom of the Hill, both sold out. Thanks to my hero JBird (DeeJay Bird), I was on Atmosphere's guest list. JBird isn't working this tour, but came out to catch a couple of the California dates.

Special guest (He's not on the whole tour.) Crescent Moon opened, surprisingly playing guitar and rapping/singing. He and Buck 65 should collaborate. Ironically the other Oddjobs guys, Deetalx and Nomi, were in Minneapolis doing a show as their new group, Power Struggle. P.O.S. was dope -- he got the crowd going ("Who said 'Fuck Bush' but didn't vote?") and even though I didn't know any of his songs, I liked his voice and hard sound. I'll be checking for his records. He asked the crowd, "What's my DJ's name?" (Answer: Boombox. It was a boombox.) Reminds me of when I saw Ice-T in the 80s and he said, "This is my DJ Evil E. What's my DJ's name?" and the crowd yelled, "Cut Creator!" I don't know what P.O.S. stands for (Point Of Sale?), but his name is Stef too. Grayskul went on at around 10 but I have to admit I didn't pay much attention to their set.

When I first heard about Slug touring with a band instead of Mr. Dibbs, I was disappointed because I looooove Dibbs. And I also thought JBird wouldn't be there. But once the tour started, the reviews were positive and JBird told me he'd be at the San Francisco show, so I was really looking forward to it. Atmosphere really killed it. The band (keyboards, drums, guitar, bass) didn't just play the beats live, they interpreted them with sounds that went very soulful, bluesy and even metal at times. Slug was Slug, and that's a good thing, doing a lot of the hits as well as a couple of new songs. He seemed refreshed and excited by this different turn he's taken, and rocked it for two hours straight. After the show he introduced my friend Diane and me as "famous around here" and genuinely asked our opinions of the show. JBird noticed my 1986 Beastie Boys shirt peeking out of my hoodie and told me he has one too. Those were sold on the Licensed to Ill tour back in '87. He also told me that he recently met Cey who still rolls with the Beasties. It was great to see everyone, but I'm too tired to go again tonight. Last night's show was a benefit for Dax Pierson. Jel told me that Sole and the guys on the War On Self Tour got to visit with Dax when they stopped in Houston. Good to hear that Dax enjoyed that visit. I can't wait to see Tim. I never call him Sole to his face even though he still always calls me DJ Stef.


Photo by Raw B.

Friday night we donned our fresh from Texas gear to hit up 26Mix and wish Ross Hogg a Happy Birthday. I wonder if Rapid Ric knows about the What It Do cocktail. OH and check out Serg's What It Do story. This person who calls himself Pretty Flaco apparently doesn't have a life of his own and has to steal Serg's posts for his blog. But this time it's a story that's mine as well as Serg's: Pretty Flaco's bitten story -- insane.

Anyway, DJ Raw B's monthly party First Serve Basis, every 2nd Friday at 26Mix, is always fun and the music is always good. Even though Ross said a girl asked him, "Can you play something I know?" He doesn't know what you know!