Concert Review: 2 Chainz x Lil Wayne

Sorry for the wait.

LOL ^  Get it?  It’s a Lil Wayne mixtape.  But really, apologies for the delay in this post as the concert was on Saturday, June 25.

That concert seriously had the most energy.  From Lil Wayne to 2 Chainz to the crowd, and even the ushers – everyone was hype.  I can’t forget to mention who opened for the two headliners though.  Those artists being:  Ty Dolla $ign, Tory Lanez, A$AP Ferg, and Fetty Wap.  It was a true rap concert, and I loved every second of it.  My and Syd’s seats were also really really good, so that helped.  Thanks other Sid for the tickets!

MY OVERALL THOUGHTS:

  • Ty Dolla $ign should not have opened.  That man has too many bangers to be the opener.  And not to mention he performed for a VERY brief time.  Maybe he had to go somewhere after?
  • At one point during A$AP Ferg’s set, he yelled for the crowd to get closer to the stage.  You would think just people with floor seats would move towards the front.  Nope.  People in the 100 level section at Staples Center (first section up from the floor) HOPPED over the railings and rushed towards the front.  It was pretty epic and hilarious TBH.
  • Fetty Wap redeemed himself performance-wise, and everyone loved him.  He really does have solid tracks outside of ‘Trap Queen.’
  • The main attractions:  Seriously, Wayne and 2 Chainz had that place lit.  Weezy performed a handful of songs from Tha Carter III, which happens to be one of it not his best piece of work.  And 2 Chainz just has this stage presence, well Lil Wayne too, that gets everyone SO hype and about that hip-hop life!

So great.  Watch my Snap story below to see what I’m talking about.  I highly recommend you attend a Lil Tunechi and/or Tity Boi concert if you ever have the chance.

The concert ended with 1% battery left on my phone.  Don’t think the night stopped there.  Sydney and I ventured across the street to this Mexican rooftop lounge and shut the place down at 12:30am – still early.  We then headed next door to this restaurant – started another dance party there and ultimately made it home and in bed by 3am.  Aggressive but worth every second.

Happy Wednesday, yinz!

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Concert Review: MadeinTYO x Kehlani x Bryson Tiller x Usher

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh my gosh.”

The above Usher lyric was my exact reaction to his performance.  Everyone else did great, but like Usher.  He played ALL the old school jams.  Banger after banger, he did not disappoint.

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Okay, let me start from the beginning of the night.  Syd and I arrived DTLA (downtown Los Angeles) just before 7pm, and that was obviously ample time to stop at a bar to get a pre-concert beverage.  Refreshing AF.  We entered Staples Center, took our seats (in the nosebleeds, ugh) and patiently waited for this ish to start.  Wait, I actually forgot that before getting to our seats, we popped in on the 100 level section to catch the end of MadeinTYO perform his banger ‘Uber Everywhere.’  They even played it back with the Travi$ Scott remix.  Travvy didn’t show up though – bummer.

KEHLANI | Okay, now we’re back in the 300 level seats.  Kehlani killed it.  I’ve never seen her live before, so I was eager for her performance.  Her vocals are on point.  I sort of wish she had a stronger stage presence.  Again, this was only me seeing her for the first time – I’ve seen video snippets of her other shows, and they were more lit than last night.  Just my initial thoughts!  But overall, she is so very talented.  #girlpower

BRYSON TILLER | Now onto the baby making music maker himself, Bryson Tiller.  That was my second time seeing him live (first time back in January), and he did an amazing job.  I know I mentioned this in my write-up about his concert back in January, but I wish the stage lighting wasn’t so dark.  It clearly has to be the vibe and look he’s going for, but it’s difficult to see him.  I want to see that face!  And it’s harder to capture pictures/videos.  Regardless, he had the crowd (both the ladies and dudes) moving and singing.  Success.

USHER | Okay.  Now onto the main attraction.  Seriously.  U-S-H-E-R-R-A-Y-M-O-N-D.  I saw him perform at his UR Experience tour, and while that was good, I thought last night’s performance was better in terms of song choices.  I feel like he danced way more during UR Experience, but last night, he pulled out ALL the old songs.  How can one artist have SO many hits?  I’m so serious.  Even the slow songs, people were jamming.  Although, two people near us fell asleep – SMH.  They aren’t about that concert life.  Back to Usher.

From songs off of his Confessions album (listening to that now) to Looking 4 Myself to 8701 and more, he slayed it.  Usher was really the first R&B artist that I started listening to, and I credit him for my love of R&B today.  And while I’ve danced my whole life, again shout out to Usher who every time I see him perform or watch a music video of his, it makes me love and appreciate the art of dance even more.  I mean, my very first hip-hop dance was to Usher’s ‘Yeah’ in the 8th grade.  And last night he closed with that song, and I obvi remembered the dance moves to the chorus, so I got to perform that while Usher was singing it live.  GOALS AF.  Bucket list item – check.

Wait, and how could I forget to mention all of the special guests Usher brought out?!  In order of appearance:  Snoop Dogg, Wale, Young Thug, and Ice Cube.  EP-IC.  I actually teared up a bit when Ice Cube came out because it made me think of the movie Straight Outta Compton and NWA and the hip-hop culture in general, and I just love it so much.

Okay, instead of me continuing to ramble, peep my Snap story last night.  Apologies that it’s so far away.  For tonight’s Lil Wayne x 2 Chainz concert, I’ll be significantly lower and am actually thinking about doing a Facebook Live stream for parts of it.  Keep an eye out!  And if I don’t do that (depending on cell service and battery), def follow me on El Snap (@ergense) to see Tity Boi and Tunechi.

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Summer Jam Live Updates

UPDATE 10:49PM PST:  Webster Hall just tweeted, “There is no late show at Webster Hall tonight. Please get home safely.”  Nooooooo!  Aka the spot where Ye was supposed to have a concert.  Will he have a block party instead?  Hmm…

UPDATE 10:23PM PST:  And we’re done, yinz!  Unfortunately, Future was turned away from the radio station (I can’t wait to read more about this tomorrow), so DJ Khaled closed out the show.  His night pretty much full circle – what and who he opened with at Beyonce’s Formation Tour earlier in the night in Philly, he brought them out again to close out Summer Jam.  #movie.  And Kanye pop-up show update – that sold out in MINUTES.  A 2AM show.

UPDATE 10:18PM PST:  Ty Dolla $ign!  Thank you, Khaled!  And we also have a tweet from Future that says “Radio station told me to leave…major pump fake.”  Come again?

UPDATE 10:07PM PST:  Khaled brought out Yo Gotti and now O.T. Genasis.  It’s a movie right now!!  And Bustaaaaa Rhymes!!!

UPDATE 10:02PM PST:  Khaled brings out Rick Ross to do some throw backs plus one of my favorites ‘Pop That.’  And a Kanye concert update – SOLD OUT.  Hate him all you want, but he makes move and knows what his fans want.

UPDATE 9:38PM PST:  We back!  A$AP Rocky has taken the stage and said he doesn’t care about ‘no lights or no fights,’ so it’s poppin!

UPDATE 9:17PM PST:  Now people are saying there was no shooting.  Regardless, a brawl over I’m sure NOTHING is uncalled for.  Is Summer Jam over or nah?  I thought Future was supposed to perform!

Okay – scary update.  A brawl started on the main floor and Twitter is updating with a potential shooting.  I don’t even like mentioning this type of stuff on my blog.  Ugh.  Hopefully that second part isn’t true!!  Some people are the worst.   The live stream tapped out…

Impromptu concert alert!  Supposedly Kanye will be performing The Life of Pablo at 2AM EST in Manhattan.. can someone fly me in though?!  But seriously.  Keep checking californyinz for updates!

What I’ve seen so far thanks to live streaming.  Praise technology.  I’m currently sitting in my room, sipping on wine, painting my nails, and watching the show.  Props to Kylie and Christian for being there – FOMO!

Main | That performance was awful.  And I’m not one to completely be turned off from a set, especially a rap one.  But for this I actually muted it.  Next.

GOOD Music | Desiigner was on one, Ye messed up most of his own words (he admitted it and lol’ed). Respeck.  And Desiigner brought out all the dance moves.  I mean, how cool is it for him, this up-and-coming rapper, to be performing with I’m sure who are all of his idols?!  2 Chainz, Kanye, Pusha T, Big Sean… I can’t!


Bryson Tiller  | I could watch and listen to him perform all the time.  He opened his set with “502 Come Up,” which is one of my favorites.  You just get the most chill vibe from him but all 60,000 people in attendance were vibing out so hard to him.   And that dude who I didn’t recognize at first – that would be Fabolous.  Epic.  Then Tiller took a moment to talk about how amazed he is he’s performing at Summer Jam in front of 60,000 people, and that the advice he was given was that it would take one song to get him to this point.  That one song being “Don’t.”  The motivation is too real!

Okay, Fat Joe and Remy Ma just took the stage.  More updates as this ish continues on…

 

 

#BADBOYFamilyReunionTour…

…is LIT right now.  I don’t have personal access to any video content, but definitely follow me on Twitter (@ergense) to see all the RTs and just Tweets in general about this epic night.

The lineup of artists who have performed thus far are Jay Z, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Ty Dolla $ign, French Montana, Rick Ross, a Notorious tribute, and way more!

This is incredible, and I salute Puff for his commitment and hard work throughout all these years.  His music takes me back to when I was younger and first started listening to hip-hop and R&B!

Amazing.

Okay, enough with me rambling.  Tune in to my Snaps and Tweets as I’ll be reporting live from the couch.

Happy Friday, yinz!

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RiRi Review x ANTI World Tour x LA 5.3.16

Hey yinzzz,

I must say that as I’m writing this and yes I had a great time at her show on Tuesday, I’m a little upset because Drake appeared at her Wednesday show.  Both shows in LA.  Both shows at The Forum.  Why Universe why.  It’s okay – moving on.

All feelings aside, Rihanna put on an AMAZING show.  I have never been to one of her tours and have never really seen her perform more than one or two songs other than at awards shows, so this was a dang treat.  From lights to backup dancers (hello, they were amazing) to stage setup to RiRi’s dancing and overall stage presence, she did not disappoint.

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But before we lead into her set, we absolutely cannot forget about Mr. Travis Scott.  I have actually never seen him perform EVER, so I was probably more excited at the start to see him.

His set list included:

  • A-Team
  • Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1 (TLOP)
  • 90210
  • Pray 4 Love (which he dedicated to Tupac’s mom who passed away on 5/3)
  • Bake Sale
  • Wonderful Life
  • Whole Lotta Lovin’
  • Antidote*

*As if this song isn’t popular and lit enough, he took things to the next level.  Literally.  Travis exited the stage and freaking scaled The Forum stairs to THE NOSEBLEEDS (where I was sitting) but alas to the opposite side.  #thxUniverse  He then handed the microphone to a fan who proceeded to rap the remainder of the song.  You’ll see in my Snap compilation below that Travis was quite impressed.  So dope.  Trav lives for the fans for real.  Example:  fans in the front row were rolling up trying to smoke, security threatened to kick them out, but Travis stood up for them and told security to not kick them out because this is the ANTI Tour.  More specifically, “This is the ANTI World Tour, so we might be anti security.” HA.  But all in all, great performance by him.  I really hope he goes on a solo tour.  I’ll be buying tickets for sure.

Back to RiRi.

I think she has become the Queen of Cool.  Honest even.  Everything she did.  From her entrance to the stage to walking back and forth to the microphone… EVERYTHING WAS COOL.  She is also one for the fans, and that’s another reason why I like her so much.  And she can sing!  Many think she can’t, but the girl can hold a note.  Listen to ‘Love on the Brain’ off of ANTI, and your mind will be blown.

RiRi ANTI

Her setlist included:

  • Stay
  • Love the Way You Lie
  • Woo
  • Sex With Me
  • Birthday
  • Pour It Up
  • Numb
  • Bitch Better Have My Money
  • Consideration
  • Live Your Life
  • Run This Town
  • All of the Lights
  • Desperado
  • Man Down
  • Rude Boy
  • Work
  • Take Care
  • We Found Love
  • Where Have You Been
  • Needed Me
  • Same Ol’ Mistakes
  • Diamonds
  • She then took the time to thank every helping hand involved with the show – much appreciated.
  • FourFiveSeconds
  • Love on the Brain
  • Kiss It Better

I had high expectations for a Rihanna concert, and she delivered.  No, she didn’t deliver, she SERVED.  It’s safe to say I will be attending more RiRi tours in the future.

For those of you who just scrolled to the bottom because this post is long AF, watch my Snap Story below!

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‘Thought It Was a Drought’ at the Future Concert

Happy Wednesday!  Hope yinz are having a great week.

Mine has been pretty chill except for last Friday, which was all the way turned up.  As I mentioned in Thursday’s post, I was heading to Future’s Purple Reign Tour at the Hollywood Palladium.  Let me detail the day’s events for you all.

Parker and Sydney met at Agatay around 1ish.  We enjoyed some beverages, called the Uber, and an hour and fifteen minutes later, we arrived at Future’s pop-up shop on Fairfax.  Before we went inside the store, we decided to get some food at this Italian spot right next door called Jon and Vinny’s.  Wish I could tell you how the food was but we didn’t end up eating there.  We never even placed our order.  Once we sat down, I hopped onto Snapchat to see if Future had posted anything.  Well, he did, and I’m glad I checked.  His Snap read ‘Fairfax 410.’  Well guess where we were… Fairfax 412. (412 yinz yasss).

Eating at this point was not an option.  Getting in line for his store was.  We were in the front of the line with a couple of big security dudes in suits who advised us that once we got in the store, we were not to take any pictures or videos.  Fair enough.  We entered the store, and the three of us all purchased some Freebandz swag.  Next thing I know, Sydney tells me to look up and freaking Future is there, all 6+ feet of him.  He was wearing a pair of light denim jeans and a white hoodie.  He was super chill – on his phone with two of his kids running around him.  Talk about a meet and greet but sans meeting.  Or really greeting.  But you get it.

We then took an Uber to the Palladium where Parker got in line, which was already wrapped around the building at 5:45pm.  Syd and I got some food, grabbed an order to-go for Parker and patiently waited until the doors opened.  We were really close to the front – about four rows back.  The crowd wasn’t too bad.  LA’s own DJ Dre Sinatra had everyone hype with club bangers.  There were two opening acts before Ty Dolla $ign.  Not gonna lie, I don’t know their names.  Moving on.  Ty came out and crushed it.  I really really love seeing him perform.  He’s also super talented.  The man can rap and sing.  He loves the fans too.  He actually stage dove into the crowd and lost a shoe!  He proceeded to take off his other shoe and threw it towards us.  He brought out Juicy J and Joe Moses.  Too dope.  Watch some of his set below!

Towards the end of his set, he made the mistake of telling the crowd to move as close to the stage as possible.  Seriously, you could not move.  I don’t do well in tight spaces where people are all up in my business to begin with, but this was just ridiculous.  We were shifting as one unit, the chick’s hair in front of me was in my face/mouth area, my right arm was smooshed up against this one mass of a man.  So Sydney and I stayed in our spots for as long as we could during Future’s set, but then we couldn’t take it any longer.  We moved to the back, got some water (I really ‘Thought It Was a Drought’) and were able to still see and dance.  We left Parker up in the front and re-connected with him at the end.

Okay now about Future’s performance!  It. Was. Lit.  He opened with ‘Thought It Was a Drought’ and did most of his mainstream songs mixed with some early Future.  Girls and guys of all ages and races were rapping along with him.  I’m even talking about a 12-year-old boy who was there with his dad.  Dad, you were the real MVP.  From the lights to the overall sound, the show captivated the audience and Future really made you feel part of his set.  You can just tell he vibes hard with his fans and appreciates them.  Future took a little break and out came DJ Esco who kept everyone going with some crowd favorites.  Future came back on and ended his set with one of my personal favorites, ‘March Madness.’  He performed for about an hour and a half in total.

The entire Purple Reign Tour was worth every penny.  Not sure how he did it, but as soon as the LA show was over, Future hopped onto his tour bus to head back to Santa Ana for ANOTHER show.  He performed there the night before and in Tempe, AZ even earlier that Thursday evening.  Four shows in two days.  That’s impressive.  And I imagine his energy level was hype each show.  That just proves his passion for music, touring, and the fans.

Next concert… Rihanna and Travi$ Scott, but that’s not until May.  That’s all for today!

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FORMATION WORLD TOUR

I 100% called Beyoncé announcing a world tour post-performance.  This is why I can’t maintain a savings account because #concerts.

Pre-sale starts this Tuesday the 9 and all other tickets go on sale the 16.  Her tour kicks off in Miami on April 27, and I’ll update this post once all dates are posted. I more than likely  will be going.

Here they are!

FORMATION WORLD TOUR DATES

April 27 – Miami, FL – Marlins Park
April 29 – Tampa – Raymond James Stadium
May 1 – Atlanta, GA – Georgia Dome
May 3 – Raleigh, NC – Carter-Finley Stadium
May 5 – Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium
May 7 – Houston, TX – NRG Stadium
May 9 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Stadium
May 12 – San Diego, CA – Qualcomm Stadium
May 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Rose Bowl
May 16 – Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium
May 18 – Seattle, WA – CenturyLink Field
May 20 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
May 23 – Minneapolis, MN – TCF Bank Stadium
May 25 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre
May 27 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
May 29 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field
May 31 – Pittsburgh, PA – Heinz Field
June 3 – Boston, MA – Gillette Stadium
June 5 – Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field
June 7 – New York, NY – Citi Field
June 10 – Baltimore, MD – M&T Bank Stadium
June 12 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium

Dates from Rap-Up.

That halftime show though was lit, and I’m so glad Bruno was added.

Bless up, everyone.  Her concert will BEY epic.

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Concert Review: Bryson Tiller x Trapsoul Tour

Woah.  Bryson Tiller is talented.  I already knew that from listening to his music, but seeing him live solidified that.  He was intimate and conversational with the audience, which I definitely appreciated.  I had also never been to The Wiltern in Koreatown before, so that was a cool experience!  I liked the venue a lot.

The lighting was a bit strange the whole time though.  Cool, but strange.  I think it was probably done on purpose, but you could really only see Young Tiller’s silhouette for the majority.  That was only something minor!  But throughout all of the concerts I’ve been to, his concert was I think one of the first where the audience’s voices overpowered the artist’s.  EVERYONE knew ALL the words to his songs.  It was epic.  He’s only 22.  AND so many big artists were there – Rihanna, Travi$ Scott, French Montana, Diddy, and more.  How cool would it be if you were an up-and-coming artist like Tiller and all of those mainstream artists are at your concert.  Pretty dope.

Thanks to Wally, I learned I can save my entire Snapchat Story.  That’s HUGE.  Not sure why I didn’t know that, so thank you again, Sar!  Now I can upload onto YouTube and publish a whole video instead of me saving each one individually.  #timesaver

So check out my Snap below.  Happy Friday!

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Lineup:  Power 106 Announces Cali Christmas Stars!

Christmas came early!  The lineup for Power 106’s 2015 #CaliChristmas was announced this morning at 7:20am on #TheCruzShow.

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While the lineup may seem smaller compared to previous years, I feel these are some high-profile artists.  Quality vs. quantity, ya dig!  And who knows the special guests they will bring out!  I mean, Pharrell can bring out Snoop to ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot,’ Wiz may bring out Rae Sremmurd for ‘Burn Slow,’ and I’m hoping so much that Dej Loaf brings out fellow Detroit native Big Sean to perform ‘Back Up.’  Those are just my predictions. 🙂

Great job again, Power!  I have always looked forward to Cali Christmas since my first time attending in 2011 – also the very first time I saw Drake perform.  All the feels.

Presale tickets go on sale this Thursday at 10AM.  Get the password by downloading the free Where Hip Hop Lives app here.

Happy Monday!

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