Video: People Under The Stairs @ Casbah

Last week, Nate wrote a great blog post about the People Under The Stairs show at the Casbah. While he was up front shooting photos, I shot some video from the back of the club. Click the right and left arrows in the playlist to see all 7 videos.

Deep Rooted, People Under The Stairs @ Casbah- 11.30.10

The hip hop scene in San Diego is not what it once was. When I first moved here, an on-the-cusp-of-mainstream act (Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples, Common and The Roots come to mind) would swing through town on a regular basis. As time went on, this dwindled to every half year, then to once a year or less. Underground groups could be found here and there, but you had to dig for it. Last night's show at the Casbah was evidence that SD is (over)due for a resurrection, and it was damn good to witness some live hip hop once again.

Apparently, for me and many others in the community, absence makes the heart grow fonder as a good sized line had formed on a brisk evening well before the doors opened at 8:30. DJ Artistic set up early and had the 1s and 2s warmed up by the time MCs Johaz and Mr. Brady took the stage (accompanied by an 'I'm only here to dance- my show is tomorrow' Aloe Blacc) to complete a pared-down version of local mainstays Deep Rooted. Over the course of their set they did the best they could to hype up the steadily growing crowd with a mix of their past three albums, all of which have been well recognized at the San Diego Music Awards over the past five+ years.

By the time People Under The Stairs took the stage the floor had filled to capacity with a rabid crowd itching to get their hands in the air and heads a' bobbing. Common practice states that hip hop musicians show up 45 minutes late and play for a half hour. P.U.T.S. took that stereotype and put it on its ear with a show that started promptly and clocked in at just under two hours. Such is their reputation, crowd interaction was frequent and entertaining in the forms of audience requests, sidebars about 'fake-ass, lace wearin' rappers', and periodic timeouts to sample some of what the collected audience was passing around (which was in ample supply). The theme for the night was 'house party' and they made everyone present feel like they had been invited to exactly that. Thes One played the part of the gregarious, enthusiastic host- dancing in the crowd to get things going, trading verses with audience members, inviting people onstage, and generally looking like he was having as good a time as everyone else in attendance. The musical portion of the evening consisted of a steady dose of Double K dropping the beat (with some occasional mixing and scratching) followed by Thes One weaving his way through blistering verses and location-friendly freestyle, trading off with Double K and his silky smooth flow. By the end of the set, everyone who was still standing was begging for more. Happy to comply, but visually fatigued from a very active stage presence, Thes One (literally) dragged himself back on to the stage for 'just one more' (which, of course, was followed by one final barrage to finish off the night). Grateful for the experience and the turnout, both members stuck around to sign autographs and receive thanks as the tired but satisfied crowd trickled out into the cold night air.

Having spent a good portion of my college years with Reflection Eternal, Ugly Duckling, NaS, Slum Village and the like on constant rotation, inside me lies a love and appreciation for the spandex-tight lyricism and intricate mixes of a solid hip hop show. As your tastes in music progress and mature you lose touch with what, at one point or another, was the end-all-be-all of the music universe. It's good to have a reminder of why you once thought that way. I know that a good part of my day has been spent dusting off tracks on my iPod that I forgot were there, buried under the thick layer of indie rock that has been accumulating over the past several years, and I would like to personally thank People Under The Stairs for helping me rediscover them.

Deep Rooted:

People Under The Stairs:

For more from the evening click here and the rest of my concert photography here.

_______________________

All Images copyright © Nate Vandermeulen, All Rights Reserved.
Please ask for permission before downloading or linking to them.

Street Scene 2007 Recap & Photos Day 2

By the time my ride arrived to pick me up on Sunday, I'd already missed some of the bands I'd hope to catch. I was also pretty bummed that I chose to wear shoes that ended up giving me blisters on both of my feet within the first hour of being at Street Scene. My friends and I headed to the 5 stage to catch People Under The Stairs for a while.




We were kinda unsure what kind of access we'd have for Sunday, but my friend Pete had arrived and told me he got me passes with Z-Trip so I headed back toward the entrance and caught a glimpse of Brett Dennen.


I went out of the venue only to find the tickets were en route. I ran into Steve from Dynamite Walls and Chris from Augustana, so we hung out at the will call until our passes arrived. At that point Natalie sent me a text that we had photo passes for The Album Leaf. After waiting about a half hour, the passes arrived and we entered through the artist entrance.

After hanging in the artist area for a while, Natalie and I mosied to the Album Leaf stage.






The sound on their stage was perfectly crisp though I didn't want to clutter up the photo pit for too long so I watched from a ways back for the majority of their set. I wanted to catch Paolo Nutini, so I headed back to the main stage to catch a few of his songs as well. "These Streets" sounded so amazing on that huge stage.


I had separated from Kristian so I met he and the rest of our friends in the electronica tent for Simian Mobile Disco. They were great, but it was a dj set so I didn't hang for long. At this point the moleskin the first aid guys gave me for my blisters had gotten dusty from the tent and I had forgotten my earplugs, so I took a couple pics but then was on my way.




Sexy and single...Kristian, Dave and Chris

In the tent I ran into the most famous bald head in San Diego, Mr. Tim Pyles.

I was running all over the place for most of the day. From the electronica tent, I went to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah for a few songs but this was my roughest point of the day...lack of earplugs, not enough sleep, blisters on my feet and I didn't hang at the stage for long.

I also had to catch Z-Trip for part of his set. It was familiar and felt like the same set he did at SoCo, but I knew he had a long set (an hour and a half) so I left to catch Spoon.


Britt and crew sounded awesome. I guess I've now seen them equally on small and large stages and I like both equally. I appreciate that the band is flexible and can pull off both quite well.

I then ran to see a couple songs by the Sweet and Tender Hooligans and I seriously think there are so many diehard fans of Morrissey and The Smiths, that I wouldn't doubt if the couple hundred people were at Street Scene only to see the Sweet and Tender Hooligans who really do the covers spot on.


Since Pete got me my passes, however, I had to make sure I arrived back at the electronic stage to catch his portion of the Z-Trip set. He blew it up yet again. The guy is amazing. I've mentioned before he's drumming for Z-Trip at the moment, but has also has played with Cake and Mike Doughty in the past. He blows me away everytime I see him.

After that, back to the artist tent for some tequila shots, a couple beers and a burrito before heading to catch Louis XIV on the main stage. Anya Marina came out to sing during "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" and Ray Suen has been playing violin with the band. He's definitely upping his demand by bands because he's absolutely amazing.

I spent the remainder of the night in the artist area. It was really fun back there, complete with a foosball table and an air hockey table, couches, and tv's to watch the acts.

Natalie and I had our geek out superfan moment backstage when we got the balls to approach Britt Daniels and get him to pose for some pics with us. He was really nice and didn't seem to mind us gushing like little schoolgirls.

Here's some more random backstage photos:

MC Flow & Crew

The one person I really wanted to meet was Joe Escalante of the Sweet & Tender Hooligans, The Vandals, and The Last of the Famous International Morning Show on Indie 103.1, but apparently he left as soon as their set ended because he has to get up early for his morning show. Bummer. I did talk to Jose for a while and he was really, really nice.

Jose, Sweet & Tender Hooligans

As things go, people were leaving and extra passes showed up, so we got The Roman Spring back in the artist area with us. Here's a pic of Joe.

Sean "Har Mar Superstar", Sean Na Na

All in all it was another amazing day at Street Scene. I am glad I took a chance and kept the faith about the event, and I know that no matter what form it takes next year, if it continues, I will be there. I hear the numbers didn't meet the expectations of LiveNation, but I enjoyed the space, the layout worked well, and the music was great. I guess the lawn stage suffered a bit from the Editors sound checking early which was lame, but as far as I could tell, the event went off without a hitch minus the usual complaints about charging for parking (when there is no alternative) and overpriced beer, but whatever. Those are pretty standard complaints about most shows.

I'm taking a night off from rock n roll and I'll try to get my things to do list up soon. Huge thanks to Dynamite Walls, Jason Burkhart, Conrado, Jake, The Album Leaf, Pete McNeal, Z-Trip, Kristian, Dave and especially to Chris for being my designated driver, and everyone else who was instrumental in making this an amazing weekend.