Saturday, March 7, 2009

Erykah Badu Concert

I give the concert 1 and 1/2 thumbs up. The only negative was that it was a little too short for my liking. Erykah kept saying they were going to kick her out; so I wonder if the concert had begun at 8pm as scheduled instead of 10pm, if we would have heard more songs. Nevertheless, WOW. As my husband said last night, she has great stage presence. She is a natural performer and entertainer, funny, sassy, country, and so down-to-earth. The Arena Theater in Houston is semi-intimate; there really aren't any bad seats. The stage rotates so everyone can see the performer(s). She walked slowly out, like a bad-ass, down one of the audience aisles with a smoking incense stick hanging out her mouth. Here are the songs she performed that I remember, in no particular order:

1. The first song was The Healer
2. On and On (now that I'm thinking about this, I think I might be making this up. I can't remember if she performed this now : - l)
3. Apple Tree
4. Bag Lady
5. Didn't Cha Know (I was hoping she would sing this! Video below)
6. Otherside of the Game
7. Danger (Then she chopped and screwed it toward the end! Total awesomeness. For those unfamiliar, screw music originated in Houston and just imagine slowing down the music as much as you can...that's screw. Chop is...well, chopping up the music. For examples from Erykah Badu, look up the Love of My Life video, second verse or listen to the very end of her song I Want You) 8. I Want You
9. Love of My Life
10. Me
11. Black in the Day (Puff)
12. ...And On
12. Tyrone
13. Soldier

Maybe I'm greedy, but I needed at LEAST another hour, lol. I like to milk concerts for all they're worth (even though this is my first real concert).

Toward the end of the concert, her and her back-up singers took a break to take off their shoes. The band played some fake gospel/church music and Erykah sang, "Do you wanna go to hell? Hell no!" Her back-up singers helped her take her shoes off, after which she exclaimed, "Throw them mugs in the trash!" She made comments about her figure, namely her ass (she has mad junk-in-the-trunk now), saying "That's that baby weight!" She stopped one of the songs in the middle because the ushers were trying to get people out of the aisles who were trying to take pictures saying "They ain't tryna hurt nobody! Give my people free! Come on police!"

In conclusion, I would definitely see her again. This concert was to benefit the 20th anniversary of the Imani School (her kids attended the sister school in Dallas) which is a black-owned/headed charter school, so that could also be why it felt short. I leave you with some pictures--OH! OH! THAT REMINDS ME! MY CAMERA WAS A PUNK ASS BITCH! What the eff is the point of having a flash on the camera if it doesn't capture what you need it to capture in the dark? My husband was laughing at me because I was looking at the people around me capturing all these National Geographic quality ass pictures and I had THE saltiest look on my face. A couple of peeps on Twitter recommended Canon Powershoot so I will research it. Anyhoo, here are some pictures that I was able to get, and a video of Didn't Cha Know. The tone-deaf singing you hear in the background is TOTALLY not me. : - l








P.S. The opening act was a Houston group named Neon Collars...they were jamming!

10 jewels of thought:

Beautifully.Conjured.Up said...

Dang, I wish I could have been there!!! I love her music, and I'm ashamed to say I have yet to go to one of her concerts.

Is it me, or does it look like she is getting thicker?? O', I forgot, she just had a baby...never mind.

Anonymous said...

I woudl luv to see her in concert. I can't believe she stopped mid concert to tell the ushers to leave those people alone, classic! Glad you had a good time!

Ambz said...

I love Erykah. I have friends who think she's a fake biatch but I still like her music.

InnyVinny said...

COOL! Glad you liked it. Her show out here was hella short too, but it was the fault of the venue.

Chanel said...

ENVIOUS!! dude, im gonna go look up concert dates, see if she's around DC. awesome. sorry your pics didn't come out! lol
it sounds a lot like the jill scott concert i went to. she had these cute ass heels on and in the middle she was like, "ya'll, these shoes are cute and make me look slim but my pinky toe hurts..." then took them bad boys off lol

Gem said...

BCU: This was my 1st concert of hers too, so don't feel bad. She has def. gotten thicker, and has a donka-donk...as I mentioned in the review she yelled out, "That's that baby weight!" Lol

Vanessa: Yeah, she just kept saying "Give my people free!" I didn't know what was going on at first, then everyone started laughing.

Amb: I have heard that too! Among other things. I would love to know more but it wouldn't change how I love her music.

Alicia: It was nice. I wanted more jams!

Chanel: Lol @ Jill. Yeah Erykah said her pinky toe was like...and held up her hand to demonstrate and the pinky toe was all bent and crooked.

Laquita said...

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. My sister would have been disappointed no Certainly - lol@the description of your camera - I feel the same way about mine at times :o(

LEX$ said...

yeah, Healer is my joint (partially because Madlib produced it) and i remember i had a Boss Hogg Outlawz cd where they had the entire Danger song S&C'd and i used to jam the hell outta that joint. i wanted to go but i had to go see Watchmen IMAX that night. but i'm glad you finally got your Badu concert you'd been beggin for.

PS. did you call Kim?

Gem said...

Laquita: I was cracking up at a child runnin' around talmbout "slipped me a mickey!"

Lex: Healer is the ish...yes, I finally got to see her! I heard Watchmen was not too good. I will be calling Kim this week homie.

kit von b. said...

i saw her @ a free concert this summer in bk...homegirl tore it DOWNNNNNN

she came into the audience and sang "bag lady"

-kb

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