The Strangest Of Arrangements
Events By LC Weber on September 13, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Photo: Henry DeMaio
The County rolled mid-set into a live version of Slum Village’s “Fall In Love.” The Michigan-born bassist and guitarist supplied harmonies for Dilla’s haunting hook, while Mayer Hawthorne let a beyond-capacity crowd at L.A.’s The Roxy know that none of his rise would be possible without Dilla and Baatin. Houseshoes was standing to my left and he looked at me, a huge smile on his face and deep pools welling in his eyes. 14KT and Buff1 were standing near us with ones in the air. And we all shook our heads in disbelief. The only words spoken for the hour were “wow” and “man.”
The moment was our through line.
Here was a Detroit DJ, who finally made it to a tier we had all talked about, getting respect on a national level, selling out main stages, making actual scratch on an independent label, getting phone calls from everyone in the Hollywood phonebook, making folks (young, old, black, white, woman, man) dance and smile and sing, still reppin’ the D, surrounded by family.
Dusty-ass Hip-Hop heads standing alongside tightpants’d hipsters. Clusters of heart-shaped balloons miming his 45 release and setting the mood for a party. And oh my, the women. The beautiful women packing the front, wrestling for a touch of the Mayer.
“Man! I’m up here working so hard I’m about to have an asthma attack in this bitch!” he said into the mic after a raucous rendition of “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’,” and I see this bird in the front scream excitedly to her friend “I have asthma too!”
Wow.
Man.
There’s not a lot I can say about the show to give it its due other than you have to see it to be a witness. It’s a ticket that will supply you with an hour of carefree, eyes-closed, smiling-till-my-face-hurts, ain’t-nobody-else-in-the-world-right-now, good fucking music. Especially in this moment when our beloved Hip-Hop is often a house divided, don’t miss the opportunity to see and hear music for everybody.
Check tour dates in your city here. And if you’re lucky enough to live in Tempe, Tuscan or San Diego, you can catch him co-headlining with Ghostface…and I will be jealous of you for forever.
Posted in Events, GENERAL, MUSIC, VIDEO — Tags: A Strange Arrangement, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, VIDEO
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14 Comments
LC were u in LA and didnt hit me up? I was gonna go to that but was tired from PBW’s 999 tour.
Yooooooooo BIGGA!!! I was at that Stones Throw party!!! Going to the Do Over today… Meet me there??? (These triple exclamation marks brought to you by Flea)
Ummmm its TURK LC.
The show was crazy. I’m not from the D, but could tell there was a ton of pride about what I was witnessing. Mayer and the County even had a tough time staying “in character”. Seemed like all they wanted to do was just smile. 14kt and buff1 really killed it too. Depending on my schedule, might try to hit up San Diego at the end of the tour.
special big up to the smoking section and lc for puttin me onto it all. keep the updates coming.
@ g - so glad you had a great time too!
Truk… WTF… Don’t be a buster… Come to the Do today homie!
Mayer Hawthorne is the caucasian Raphael Saadiq, meets Roy Orbison for rilla. Plink, plink, fizzy, dizope!
@LC - Im gonna stop through for a sec…. then head over to the greek for the old school jam!!!!!!
Each time Mayer is mentioned I think about mayer’s fave five…
Soul music + Gastronomie ftw
another obscure detroit post. can you go a post without talking about the city? why is this site sooo gd detroit-centric.
@sbirch… Because it’s home for me and that’s the music I know most about. So I’m giving you my perspective. I wrote a shit-ton about LA when I lived there, now I’m back in the D. Love it or leave it and don’t read it. But that’s my city.
Good looks on the this post! I already got the tickets for when Mayer Hawthorne comes through Atlanta.
sbirch - b/c we do what we like & feel, not that other shit like so many other sites.
Don’t like it? the “x” button is right up there to the upper right.
@ Beasley - enjoy! Look for Contra.
@ Gotty - thank you, family. My sentiments exactly.
I had to revisit this just to mention the show in Austin was bananas. And the assortment of people in the crown let you know he’s for the people.
Hell, even the openers Mojoe and Buff1 and 14KT were off the chain and I’d never even heard them before.