When you think of Pete Rock & C.L Smooth, you definitely think..what a great calabo right? You think back to 1991 when their first album "All Souled out" came out. You think of Pete Rock's soul and jazzy samples backing up C.L Smooth's conscious lyrics. So naturally when I got notice from The Mezzanine that Phife from A Tribe Called Quest was hosting a Pete Rock & C.L Smooth reunion show, I had to round up the posse and get tickets to go to this rare performance.
We were all excited! Couldn't wait to hear and see the two do their business on stage. We got their pretty early, making sure we wouldn't miss a thing. DJ Halo was on stage playin' the jams! Old school to new school...I didn't mind listening to DJ Halo spinning..but I was also wondering why he was on stage for such a long time. I didn't sweat it much cause I knew how hip hop shows can be, and they can start really late and last a very long time. So I just brushed it off and waited patiently for the main event.
Finally!!! Phife comes on, gives a meaningful introduction and introduces Pete Rock! Crowd goes crazy! Pete Rock comes on, get's on the turn tables and starts to spin. Watching Pete Rock spin on the turn tables was an honor, and a treat. It was like taking a time machine back to the 90's! He spun a whole mess of songs...just like DJ Halo did. From Old school to new school. As the time went by, Pete Rock was still spinning and no C.L Smooth! I was beginning to think that he wasn't even gonna come out. Or worst that he wasn't even in the building. I started to really get my doubts, and started to really get bummed out. I even heard other people that were leaving, were disappointed and thought C.L Smooth wasn't going to join his partner in crime on stage. I started to feel my feet, they were killing me from standing for so long! I had to start walking around, me and Tiff gradually moved to the back where there was more room and air. Signs we really are getting too old for this. Just as I was really going to give up on this show...C.L Smooth finally comes out!!!
Finally!! Both on stage!! Together!!! My spirits began to rise!!! But what happened was strange. Pete Rock continued to play random hip hop songs, not there's..but other peoples songs. C.L Smooth reverted to becoming the hype man! "Everybody say Ho!" I was completely confused. Why weren't they doing any of their songs? It continued like that for a hand full of more songs...THEN!! I hear a familiar sound. It was "I'll Take You There!" Pete Rock put that record on, but guess what? C.L Smooth was rhyming over his lyrics on the record!! They did the same thing to "Mecca and the Soul Brother", "Straighten it out" and "T.R.O.Y!" I mean don't get me wrong it was great hearing those songs, but It was a shame to see that performance from them. Maybe they didn't have the instrumentals to their songs? I dunno...I'm clueless, and the rest of the night was exactly the same, and I was left with, hurt feet, super tired, sleepy and ready to call it a night! This definitely wasn't what we all expected. For legends like Pete Rock and C.L Smooth, one would only expect the best. And this show was NOT their best...by far.
In their defense they did have a show earlier that day at Laney College. Wondering if that show was any better. I'm still waiting for, or even trying to come up with an excuse for them, and why it was the way it was...Nothing really makes any sense.
it's a shame.
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