by: thePRIMEminister

I received an email about Zune’s Live at the BBQ show and at first wasn’t that interested. Then I realized that Common would be performing and that the show was for free. The show went down on a weekday afternoon and like the idiot that I am, I arrived on time… a good six hours before Common would perform. It turns out, it wasn’t so bad. True, it was a blazing hot day in LA, and true, there wasn’t much going on besides the performances, but luckily I was with some friends and there was a nice Xbox tent. Whenever there wasn’t anything interesting going on at the stage, I would just make my way over to the super air conditioned Xbox tent and play Guitar Hero.

As for the performances - the lineup went like this:

* DJ Reflex
* DJ Mr Choc/C-Minus
* Collie Buddz
* E-40
* David Banner
* UGK
* Common

Some notes - I didn’t get to see any of the acts till E-40 got on. His set started off with two dudes dancing, their dreads flying everywhere. Sometimes referred to as the “Ambassador of the Bay”, E-40’s been busy representing the Hyphy movement to those willing to listen. I understand his significance, and I respect his love for the Bay, but E-40’s never been my thing. If you like his songs, you like his songs, but the performance as a whole was OKAY. Truthfully, seeing the dancers get hyphy was a lot more entertaining to watch.

After E-40’s set ended I headed back to the Xbox tent where I battled out a furious session against a redheaded chick who looked like she should’ve been at the Warped Tour instead. Needless to say she gave me a whipping, and I stumbled back to the stage after David Banner had already began his performance. Man, was I bummed I came late, because Mr. Banner was tearing it up! He had a great connection with the audience, and his laid back homey vibe was reaching out to everyone. At one point he jumped off stage and started doing his thing while standing next to his fans, here’s a clip:

After lots of delays and a failed “secret” guest appearance, Common finally made his way to the stage. I love how he had a live band backing his instrumentals and at times they would even go off to do some improvising. Not to be outdone, Common responded with some improvisation of his own - a nice freestyle bit about LA.

Overall his set was great, and it was a treat to hear the new stuff, period. Although I could’ve done without his romancing (he got a girl from the audience to join him on stage for a dance), it was moments like that which made his performance memorable. After the lights were dimmed and everyone started trekking back to their cars, I definitely heard a kid or two claiming that to be the best live show they’ve ever been to.More features: As Cities Burn, Drowning Pool, Erfan, FM, Lifehouse, The Pink Spiders, Restitution Press, Vans Warped Tour, Xavier