I was without my DJ’s Lo Pro and Cutler, so I had to recruit a live band of “model-type” honey’s to hold me down for the Madrid show. They didn’t work out too well, as they were over concerned about how they looked as opposed to just playing the tunes. Good grief!!! I tried to tell em’ that hair does not make the woman, but I suppose that putting on some clothes would have helped their confidence.
So it was just me a Tone rocking the set and tearing it down..business as usual.
The club was so smoky that I was quite anti-social that night with the other acts, as I HAD to stand outside because it was just to suffocating inside. My eyes were burning, my voice was going hoarse and I hadn’t even hit the stage yet. (The banner above is a pic of me on stage that night in Madrid.)
Anyways, I chilled outside for a while and caught some great pics of Madrid past Midnight. Some dudes were across the street with a boom box…yes a “Boom Box” in a circle freestyling some rhymes. I took a pic but it didn’t come out well at all..sorry! It was mad cool to see cats on the corner rhyming on some 1988 stuff, just chilling and kicking it.
The streets were pretty empty after Midnight as you can see above. But the sky was clear and the breeze was perfect, the streets were peaceful. It felt good being a stranger in a new place with no drama. Very serene.
I had to get my “B-Boy Worldwide” picture. Cheers to Hip-Hop as I remember it in its best years.
No worries though…Billy Drease is on the scene now.
Well I didn’t “Leave my wallet” in El Segundo like Q-Tip…although I think if I did, someone in Spain would have mailed it back to the states, since nothing was in it except American money. They would’ve said..”Don’t leave your trashy, worthless money over here you idiot. BEAT IT!!”
So, no lost wallets stories…BUT i did leave some stickers!! Tone plastered the stickers quietly through out the small area near the club, dipping in and out of the shadows with stickers mysteriously appearing on college signs, poles, benches, doors etc. “Way to go Tone!!” It was all Tone. Yep. Tone. (just in case La Policia wants to transport us back to Spain..) LoL!
“It’s been a long time..I shouldn’t have left you…” – Rakim
I’ve been missing in action, I know…but they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Well, whether you missed me or not, you can see me perform LIVE tonight at Allen Hall on UB’s South Campus, 3435 Main Street. The building sits right beside the South Campus Train Station. WBFO’s Wednesday Night Concert series will feature Billy Drease Williams and the Dope45’s LIVE on stage, along with not 1 DJ, but 2 of the best DJ’s around. Come see DJ Cutler and DJ LoPro make you say….”God*%$ that DJ made my day!!!!” Also see, the debut of the Dope45’s, Queen Fana and Mizike as they take the stage tonight for the first time. I also have special guests, award-winning producer Trev Thorne, and new face in the music scene, Babii Doll gracing the stage as well.
It’s a FREE event and open to all ages.
If you can’t make it, but you are in the WNY area, tune your radio dial to 88.7 Fm at 8pm to hear it live. Also check out WBFO for more info
Come party with us! Get there early as doors open around 7 or 730 and the show starts immediately at 8pm. See you there. PEACE!!!
While riding into Madrid from Zaragosa, we were traveling with friends of the promoter, where only 1 out of the 4 of them spoke English, my man Menik. What up Menik!!!?? (real good guy!)
Well there was this one guy in particular that was really young, like 19 I believe, but he was really tall and big and looked much older and more experienced. His English was worse than my Spanish, and I at least know, say…40 plus words and/or phrases…which is BAAAAD! Anyways, he knew VERY little, but he had a great personality and was trying sooo hard to kick with us, as Tone and I were just kinda in the back chilling and kicking it between us..laughing, joking and just killing time on the ride.
So every so often this cat would turn around, BIG smile and say something like:
Dude: Ummm…Terr Swah??
Me/Tone: Huh.??
Dude: Big Pun?!!
Me/Tone: Big Pun??
Dude: Yeah…(nods and smiles) Big Pun!! Terr Swah??
Me/Tone: Terr Swah???
Dude: Terr Swah?? Big Pun?? Like?!
Me/Tone: OOOOH!!! Terror Squad!!!….
We all bust out laughing!!!!
Well, convos like this happened for entire ride in, minus the times I nodded off to sleep. Turns out, he was the DJ for one of the groups that was also performing in Madrid.
Speaking of Big Pun, he looked like he could have been in the Terr Swah! I forgot his name, but he was very cool…and its not his fault that I didn’t know more Spanish…We were the clowns..Not him.
I totally respected the fact that WE were in Spain, and we didn’t speak the native tongue, where as the typical American would’ve thought how silly that this guy didn’t speak English….”HE AINT SUPPOSED TO!!..He LIVES in SPAIN!!!
After the show in Zaragosa with the Masked Machete Man, we gassed up and headed BACK to Madrid, where we first crowned myself as the “Heavy-Wait Champ.”
The promoter of course accommodated everything, so I have no idea how much gas was in regards to the gas/oil problem in the states, but if you squint your eyes you may be able to read the numbers on the pump. Maybe!
Either way, it was a beautiful day to travel. Lots of road to cover, for as I mentioned before its about 4 hours in between Zaragosa and Madrid. This time we were in the care and hands of the promoter and not the anonymous speed limit obeying bus driver from the night before. We were riding in much more comfortable transpo this time and burning up the road, or “la calle,” pronounced Kah-Ye which means street, which I am not sure if there is a spanish word for road. We were surely not on a street, we were on a LONG road! There were a few stops here and there for gas, no food joints though, just open land, mountains and the sun. I couldn’t stop thinking about how terrible it would be to run out of gas along this journey, for the stops were cities apart. Thank goodness.
The video footage below is grainy and low and mad bright as it was sunny as heck. Check it out.
I took this picture because I thought the trash receptacle was dope, as opposed to the “BLAGH” grey colored ones in the states. GET SOME COLOR in your life, Americans!!! geeeesh!!….AND some design.
(venue)
After the 4 hour trip from Madrid, we arrived at the Bass Space in Zaragosa, a hip little part of town with narrow streets and grassy islands in the center and really cool mosaic inspired designed sidewalks. We made it there with just enough time to grab a bite before jumping on stage. It had a pretty chill-laxin’ space in the back of the club where I guess all the cool people hung out. One bad thing about this club was the smoke. WOW! I was sitting in the back with a shirt tied around mouth and nose like a bomber, looking a little less cooler than the others. After getting used to public places and clubs having the ban on smoking, it was really smothering spending hours in a smoke filled club.
(backstage)
Above is a picture I took right before hitting the stage. “GO INTO THE LIGHT Carol Anne”…
The real movie heads and the 80’s lovers should remember that line.
I snapped a pic of this guy, because he had the fans going!! I couldn’t tell you what he was saying but he was really doing his thing on stage. He had a “Rasslers” mask on and the entire time he had a mic in one hand and a machete in the other. He was waving it around with every word, and it looked like he was saying some real serious stuff.
(just in case you thought i was kidding. Machete-Man)
After my set I was sooooo ready to get some sleep, as the morning we landed in Madrid seemed like daaays ago. Good Night Zaragosa!! Buenas Nachos…ranch flavored!!!
Some pics I snapped while on the bus to Zaragosa as the sun was fading and the evening grew. It was a 4 hour trip from Madrid to Zaragosa. Lots of time for a dude like me to sleep.
The entire ride was just stretches and stretches of mountains. Every few miles you could see little pueblos, some in ruins, some still standing. Also, there were many beautiful homes atop of some of the mountains. Very peaceful scenery. Can’t tell you much more than that, because I was counting sheeps…in the fields and pastures of my mind!!!…zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Not much of a romantic, but I’m so darn poetic.
While we were waiting outside the Madrid bus station, there was a young lady sitting on the only available bench out front. She had her luggage tucked close to her person, big blonde hair, big sunglasses, big nails…It looked like she was doin’ it BIG!!! Who Knows!!
Well anyways, she split shortly after we exited the terminal, freeing the bench just in time, and also leaving behind her luggage sticker tag. She was going from Madrid (MAD) to DOH. We couldn’t figure out what DOH was, regarding country codes, but the sticker provided us a good inside joke the entire tour. Whenever money was brought up, which was frequent, one of us would always chime in with…”Making MAD DOE!!” (Thanks for the inside joke “lady of the bench”)
(The scene of the assualt)
You know the saying that we’ve all used at some point, to prove a point that everyone has a price, or as to say I don’t care what form its in, as long as its money, it will spend just the same!?! Well, All money AIN’T green! And it certainly all does not spend the same. There was a blue mobile vending unit right beside where we were sitting, and I needed to buy some cough drops, as my throat was feeling a little funny, and I was performing later in the evening. I approached the window, spotting the Halls, and did the…(I dont speak spanish…but “how much is that) with the foreign-inquiry head nod.
Vending Dude:”Noventa!” ($.90).
Me: Cool. Uno, por favor.
When I pulled out my American George Washingtons…you would swear that I put a filthy baby diaper on his counter. His shoulders went up to his ears, his face pruned up in disgust, and he backed into the chips rack at the rear of his small trailer. He shooed me with his hands like..”Get thee away from devil…I rebuke thee…” I couldn’t believe it. I would have had a better interaction if I just pulled out like two little lint balls and tried to barter with him for the Halls.
Wow! Our money sucks….AND…since neither of us exchanged our money yet (geniuses)…I didn’t get any Halls. So…”NO…ALL MONEY AINT GREEN!”
No Player Hatin….just a bunch of Players Waitin’…
It was gorgeous outside though.
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