In one
of the most complete lineups to ever hit Seattle, the
Electric Circus tour hit the Showbox Wednesday March 12th in
a crazy packed sellout show. Starting things off DJ Trouble
Tone played a varied mix of 90's classics that brought out a
real positive vibe in which people were actually dancing (go
figure, heads are dancing at a hip-hop show). Leading off on
the performance tip was half of Black Star in Talib Kweli.
The Brooklyn representative started the show out wth "Shock
Body", then followed it up with "Rush" and then led that
into the song that took him from an underground sleeper to
the mainstream in the Black Star hit "Definition."
Never before has Seattle
seen such an incredible opening act that given any other
lineup would more than likely be a headlining act. Talib's
stage presence left the crowd real satisfied, and even
excited for more. After Talib's set, Trouble Tone and his
vast amount of crates laid down some cuts reminiscent of
Soul Supreme at Des Amis every Saturday by playing a slew of
old school cuts that kept everybody dancing and set the mood
to be ready for one of the greatest MC/DJ groups to ever
bless the stage as DJ Premier came out rocking a ski mask
then pulled it off as the instrumental to "Code of the
Streets" rang out with the Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal
(Guru) stepping on stage. They went through all their hits.
It was quite amazing seeing the legendary producer/DJ Primo
at his finest, hyping up the crowd and playing a few songs
in the middle of set. Krumbsnatcha came on the set and
performed a couple joints from his slept on gem Respect
All Fear None, then Big Shug came out during "The
Militia" which made many of the hardcore fans wonder to
themselves 'What's been up with Freddie Foxxx as of late?'
Their rep just kept getting bigger as they rocked more and
more classic bangers like "You Know My Steez", "Royalty",
"Mass Appeal" and "Dwyck", then closed out their set with a
tribute to the late great Harlem rapper Big L in "Full Clip"
As they exited the stage, Primo dropped the instrumental to
"All For The Cash" (Can you tell I'm a hardcore Gang Starr
fan yet?) to satisfy all the fellas in an excellent set and
setup for the heads to turn into gentlemen and secure their
lady for the night as the artist formerly known as Common
Sense got on stage with his 5-piece band.
Common started out performing
several songs from his new album Electric Circus, then went
into a medley of hip-hop classics like Black Moon's "Who Got
The Props", Wu-Tang's "C.R.E.A.M." and Nas' "The World Is
Yours" and tied it in very nicely with his own golden-age
classic "I Used To Love H.E.R." All in all Common went
through a ton of his classics, as well as doing his crew's
take on Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland" for the finale.
All in all one of the best shows that's come through Seattle
in a very long time. The only disappointments were the tons
outside who waited in the rain to find out the show sold
out.
