Three days removed and the show is fairly fresh in my head so here we go...
After the usual Tuesday ritual of 30 cent chicken wings and beer and some procrastination we head down to Peabodys at about 11:40, even though we should have known better. When we saw Mike Jones he was scheduled to hit the stage at 12:30-1am. Juelz Santana was supposed to get on stage about the same. Both didnt get onstage until about 2:15am (however the Mike Jones show did have a VIP in the upstairs bar where dub/reggae was being blared at the highest of volumes and these fine curvacious ladies were wearing kleenex for clothes...in February). However all day the kid put in charge of the show was telling me "He'll be on stage by 12:30" (grant it he told me this for Mike Jones and Juelz too) and for some reason I thought it was true. Before entering the club we (FYL boyz and ladies) were greeted by some Young Jeezy posters lining the streets. Featuring a big picture of what Vice magazine described best as "an adorable drawing of an iced-out snowman" (I tried to find a picture of it to post here but apparently nobody has thought to scan this thing. If you havent seen it its your basic snow man, 3 circles going from small to large with dots for buttons, dots for eyes, but with two lines sloping downwards above each eye signaling that this snowman means business) and some info about his upcoming album. After marvelling at these posters we waded our way through a couple dudes outside and made our way into the sauna that was Peabodys. Easily 100 degrees we bought some drinks and went through 80s Night in the club adjacent to Peabodys (Peabodys is the same place that once placed a show by skinhead punk favorites Blitz next to a show by Kansas City's favorite rapper Tech N9ne, in which at said show Tech made the comment "dead bodies aint good for business") and hung out on the patio. This routine was repeated for the rest of the night until Paul Wall hit the stage. Drink, finish, go inside, get another drink, check to see if Paul Wall was onstage, go back outside, wait for Paul Wall. While there was slight tension between the Paul Wall fans and the hip young kids that dance to 80s Music, overall everyone got along. 80s Night kids were seen at Paul Wall and vice versa. Nothing better than seeing some dude in a Gucci hat getting down to "Safety Dance" or a kid in Cocksparrer tshirt watching a rapper in a wheel chair perform.
I guess I should get to the performances now. Caught a few minutes of Johnny Givens' set as we walked in. Not bad, but nothing spectacular, even though I honestly didnt pay much attention as I was too busy trying to get my drink on. A little while later we caught a performance by Lil Craig...a dude in a wheelchair. First we thought it was just a dance performance because there was all these dancers on stage doing these "In Living Color" type dancing. Then you heard some rapping. Then you see this head gliding back and forth on the stage. Then you realize its a dude in a wheelchair. And for a dude in a wheelchair, he did his thing. Even with dancers he moved around that stage with ease and at one point he said "I dip" and he leaned back in his chair. Talent wise he was pretty decent as well. The highlight of his set was when he had a slow little r&b number featuring 2 singers: a skinny less talented one at the fore front, and a chubbier, more talented one in the back hanging in the shadows...didnt we learn anything from
C+C Music Factory? Overall though he was pretty good, as generic as that may sound, but he was still keeping us from what we came to see: Paul Wall.
After a couple more sets by ultimately forgettable crews, a 30 dude brawl (we cared not to see it and just stayed outside), and trip to the upstairs VIP (rowdy dudes trying to battle each other and catering featuring chicken wings and macaroni and cheese) Paul Wall finally hit the stage...at 1:30. Not so bad compared to Mike Jones. He came on stage with a couple "What it do's" and the room filled a little more (a lot of space was made after the brawl and dudes were kicked out). On stage with a hype man and Bone's DJ Uneek as his DJ (as opposed to the 200 dudes Juelz was on stage with), the Peoples' Champ went through a set of hits, including his verse from "Still Tippin", his single "Sittin Sideways" and even a portion of the underground hit with former pat-nuh Chamillionaire "Im In Love With My Money" Paul Wall was easily onstage for at least a 1/2 hour. Both Mike Jones and Juelz's sets put together (dont think im trying to hate on Mike Jones or Human Crack In The Flesh, im just saying that 15 minutes aint shit...now that I think of it, 1/2 of Bone did 45 minutes no problem. but then again theyre hungry). Near the end of his set Mr. Wall started plugging his jurry store (TV Jewelry) and grills and signing autographs. Things started to look bleak until Paul announced that Cleveland's own up and comer
Ray Cash was in the building and Ray hit the stage to the beat of his current hit "Sex Appeal". He was greeted with a bunch of "ohhhhhhh's" and arms in the air and he went through his jam no problem, all while Paul easily signed the most autographs Ive ever seen one person sign. Then after Ray left the stage Paul Wall did one more song, whose title I do not know.
Leaving the club we grabbed the previously mentioned Young Jeezy posters and left pretty satisfied (at least I was). No post-show fights, no gun shots, a 1/2 hour quailty set, some snowman posters, a surprise appearance by Ray Cash, and even a slow cruise by the club in my Toyota camry blasting some Slim Thug, I give the show an B+/A. Paul was fairly timely and he gave a good, effective performance, thus furthuring the notion that
Swisha House and the whole Houston movement is definitely worth mine, and everyone else's time.
Look for an upcoming Supposed To Bubble interview with Cleveland's own Tha Middle Men conducted by your dude Mike.
Oh, and for no good reason, here's something to think about:
Fuck yo life bitch.
