Wale+ Tabi Bonney+ X.O. and More- Rock the Vote @ 9:30 Club

Recap by Renee Woods

 

 

As we headed to the 9:30 Club for the Wale show Wednesday night, my chief concern was parking. It ended up not even being an issue; it only took me two minutes to find a spot but like ten minutes to actually park. Hey I’m a MD driver; my parallel parking ain’t the best. Walking to the club, UrbanSocialight and I met a cool white guy headed to the show too, so we ended up chatting it up with him. Headed toward the will call line, we spotted another CNB member Mark. Unlike the Bmore show last week, we actually had to stand in line since we didn’t have the hook up (shoutout to Jamar, thanks homie!).

We picked up our tickets but since we’re always “fashionably late” we missed Wordsmith and Phil Ade, who I heard were both hot, so please myspace them. Side Note: It’s worth mentioning that 9:30 Club events start and end on time.

 

Once inside, XO had just started his performance, so we headed for the front. He paid great attention to the crowd, making sure he showed love to all sides. He was hyped by Benji and AB the Producer, who did a good job of keeping the crowd live. My only disappointment was that he didn’t do my personal favorites “Ridin’” or “Who I Be”, from the Diamond District’s “In the Ruff”. If you don’t have it, download today! It’s good shit!

Next up was Tabi Bonney. Tabi was his usual playful self, skipping across stage, even tossing beach balls into the audience. DC’s own “Beat your Feet Kings” performed alongside him for most of his set, with the exception of “Escalator” where he brought out the multi-talented Vanity who can make one ass cheek clap! He ended his set with a band and hit a tough version of “The Pocket” that really got the crowd hype.

By the time Tabi’s set ended everyone was pumped for Wale’s show to begin. Five minutes turned into 15 minutes, which turned into 30 minutes. There wasn’t even a DJ to play a Beyonce song or anything to keep the crowd awake! After what seemed like an eternity UCB started setting up. By then, there were random outbursts of chants from the crowd, “Wale, Wale, Wale, Wale!”

Finally someone comes out on stage! And you guess it, it’s not Wale. It was a lady from Rock the Vote, who was greeted by boos from the crowd. No one listened to her speech which in hindsight was rude, because it was a Rock the Vote concert but my feet were hurting and I didn’t care. Sad and frustrated, the lady got off stage and was followed by another person that wasn’t Wale. Then Tre of UCB came on and I began to get excited because I love UCB. I have seen them live many times and they crank like shit! Tre hypes the crowd and at long last Wale comes on the stage and everyone is excited. Wale performed songs such as “Artistic Integrity”, “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.”, “Dig Dug”, and “Nike Boots” but some of the best moments of the night were when UCB hit “Sexy Lady”, “V.S.O.P.” (I love this song!), Backyard Band’s “Pretty Girls”, and EU’s “The Butt”. Tre can sing anything, male or female! I also got excited when Young Chris came out to perform “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” (I am a huge Roc-a-Fella fan and I blame it on my brother because he used to live and breath that shit). Wale and UCB sold out a show in DC and gave the crowd their money’s worth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!