De La Soul go indie

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I realize I'm shamelessly plugging my blog yet again, but this news hasn't turned up anywhere else: Complicatedfun.com

Also: De La Soul at First Avenue last night was maybe the best hip-hop show I've ever seen.

― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 5 May 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

that's actually shocking considering how bad everyone I know who saw them in NYC on the 1st said they were

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 5 May 2003 22:33 (twenty-two years ago)

There was an item about this back in march, in the Miami Herald (as noted in my now shamelessly plugged blog):

http://www/hiphopmusic.com/archives/000034.html

You still have a scoop though, since the label was listed there as "Bear Mountain Entertainment", and the July date is new also.

― Jay Smooth, Tuesday, 6 May 2003 01:10 (twenty-two years ago)

heh I've heard very very differing reports of how good they are live; I'm holding off getting a ticket for the time being.

(this is where you tell me what they're like like)

― Ess Kay (esskay), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 01:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I've seen them maybe three or four times. The first time (or first two times) weren't that memorable, and I honestly can't remember why. Too casual, almost.

The last couple times have just been hot: perfectly sequenced, paced, really energetic, clear-sounding (I could hear almost ever word on the unfamiliar songs), funny, and of course great music and songs. Mase played straight DJ sets before and after; before the show he played a set of Tribe Called Quest that got things warmed up a lot. De La knows how to joke with the crowd at First Avenue and get them worked up. They might have something special for the club: They always come back, and said something to the effect that they love playing there. So maybe that was a factor. But I just think it's in their attitude and their self-confidence and their characters as people. Afterward they came out and talked to everybody. I don't remember the last rappers, even local ones, who did that. Hence the "interview."

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 6 May 2003 03:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Jay, thanks for that Miami Herald article, which looks like it came out around the same time I called Sequence. Clearly there's more to this story than anyone's getting. I wonder why their NYC shows would go badly, for instance, and if there's some other reason they've all moved away, and why they left Sequence.

Just to provide perspective on my reaction to the show, as Matos will tell you, I'm not one to praise hip hop shows unduly. I watch bad hip hop fairly often, if only for the spark of fun or enthusiasm or greatness you occasionally get from the performer or the crowd. I've been going to shows since 1987, and will go to 200 more before I give up. So I'm willing to believe the group had an off night, and then an on night...

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 6 May 2003 03:41 (twenty-two years ago)

That show sounded weird though, Matos, it was like a Diesel promo event w/free tickets and the bands only got like 20 minutes each.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:12 (twenty-two years ago)

from what Andy B said to me and Douglas wrote on his blog, the Diesel show was horrible--30 seconds of songs, ten minutes of wave-your-hands/god-we-hate-our-jobs. But I remember seeing De La in '96 at First Avenue (my first non-all ages show ever) and liking them, so maybe it is the club.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw them in 89 and it was great although it may have just been great in 'I'm fourteen and seeing this group who just made my favorite album' sorta way (I'm pretty sure it was actually great though). I've seen them a couple of times since (circa 96 once, again a couple - 3? - years ago), both shows were awful, in a listless and lazy way - wolk's blog entry matched my experience exactly. I haven't really liked anything post-buhloon mindstate ie. post-prince paul (I haven't loved anything post-de la soul is dead), stakes is high did nothing for me (was beats, rhymes, and life that year also? bad year for native tongues). still the aoi's have their moments and 'more than u know' from prince among thieves was fantastic so who knows.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm with Dan Perry and Pete on thinking that De La has never made a bad album. Stakes is my least fave, but even that has some cool songs on it. should be interesting to see how their own label thing works out.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I may have been too hard on it - de la were huge to me, so anything less than 3 feet high/dls is dead greatness came off like a personal rebuke. I probably negatively overreacted to post-apocalypse p.e. also, I'm probably doing it now with malkmus.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:50 (twenty-two years ago)

oh no you're not!

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:53 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, I didn't think so, but the seeming omnipresence of pig lib on the best albums of 03 thread (from ceddy and sashafrerejones nonetheless) make me wonder

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:55 (twenty-two years ago)

it's called growing up on bad guitar rock, James

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:56 (twenty-two years ago)

(I am going to catch so much hell for that)

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:57 (twenty-two years ago)

haha - darn1elle's a big pig lib fan too! what the hell is going on?

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:58 (twenty-two years ago)

dicking around on guitar is back!

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:58 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck, dude, maybe we're actually wrong!

naaaah.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

No, you're not wrong. At all.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 05:48 (twenty-two years ago)

dicking around on guitar is back!

is this any more or less likely than the 'return of rock' itself?

― Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 07:26 (twenty-two years ago)

but rock really is back (read a billboard - home of ye fact checkin cuz)

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 09:18 (twenty-two years ago)

saw em back in 1989 on the 3ft high tour and they were wonderful, never seen them since and there's prob a huge amount of nostalgia there...

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 14:50 (twenty-two years ago)

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