Projekt Revolution 2004 was one of those classic summer festival experiences. A meeting of the minds on a beautiful summer day, with a few notable curve balls thrown in to encourage us to expand our musical horizons and the dimenions of our CD collection. In this case, that curve ball was...
Snoop Dogg. What more can I say? He's the Godfather... or would that be the Dogfather? Either way, he brought the Dogg Pound posse out to Nissan Pavilion and showed us how to party in true West Coast style. Most notable were his old school hits like "Gin & Juice," and his most recent smash, "Beautiful," which he dedicated to the ladies.
One thing I absolutely love about hip-hop shows is the crowd control that the MCs exercise with such ease. In the classic hip-hop tradition, Snoop had us dancing our collective @$$ off, waving in unison, & screaming the call-and-response lyrics -- most of which had to do with drinking, smoking, partying, smoking some more, and every possible combination of the above.
That said, Snoop was playing to a tough crowd. Imagine if you will a crowd of nu metalheads trying to shake their groove thang. Hmmmm. I was getting down with my bad self, and so was about 1/3 of the audience, but Snoop was a tough sell to the rest of them. If it was possible to respect the D. O. Double-G more than I had when I walked into the show, seeing him play to a tough crowd really cemented my esteem for him. He is a true professional, and the duly ordained High Priest of Party. So if you have tix to Projekt Revolution, get there in time to see Snoop Dogg and represent! His performance and his mere presence deserve a roof-raising reception.
And now for something completely different... KORN!
First, I must admit publicly that I am not well versed in Korn, and thus I am probably not the best person to be summing up a Korn show. That said, I went in knowing that Korn has a rabid fan base who show up in hordes to see Jonathan Davis & crew.
Though I wasn't grooving to the music the way my neighboring concert-goers were, I definitely got the appeal. It was most enjoyable being part of the audience during the spectacle that was a Korn show. Jonathan Davis is a dynamic frontman and well deserving of his adoring fans.
Some highlights: Big props to Korn for pulling out two inspired covers: Metallica's "One" and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." And did you know that Jonathan Davis plays the bagpipes? That might explain the kilt. Who knew the bagpipes could rawk? You Korn fans did, I bet. Also loved it when Jonathan held up a flaming torch and called to the crowd to exercise the old school rite of holding up their lighters, during the closest thing to a ballad Korn would perform that night. Sounds kind of cheesy, but looked really cool.
Continued in my next journal entry...
