Regardless, In all the glory of my pretentiousness, the majority of the time I will choose to put on a song that is at least 10 years old, however I do consciously stay abreast of modern hip hop artists, however in my opinion, most are not up to par with their predecessors, save a select few which we will expand on later.

When I found out Bone Thugs N Harmony were coming to Houston I immediately called up one of my great friends, Thomas, who has made cameos in previous reviews under the moniker, “Crazy Thomas” and will from now be referred to as such. Thomas, like me, is a huge Bone Thugs fan and in addition to growing up with the group, is the only other person (besides myself) that can rap pretty much all of the words to their first few releases. Trust me it’s a hit at parties. We recently recorded an impromptu (slightly impaired) acoustic version of Bone Thug’s 1996 hit “Crossroads” with Thomas slurring out the lyrics and myself on guitar. I’ve linked to the You Tube version of the video below.

Thomas and I showed up to the show, which was the first one for me to work in a long time, and Warehouse Live!, a venue that I have loved since its inception actually had my name on the list and my tickets ready without having to bother. The first of the two opening acts was finishing up their set when we arrived. A female rap artist from here in Houston named Kenika, and while I’m all about supporting my city and the artists that represent here, she was terrible from what I heard. There have been a VERY select few affective and successful female MC’s and having an entourage on stage with you will not mask the fact that you could not command the stage alone.

The second group, The Pack, did not impress either. They seemed to be suffering from an image crisis, which is the music industry, means a marketing crisis. While their style may appeal to a very thin market segment, the overly poppy (Freak Nasty-esque) beats and their shallow lyrical content make them a pass for me.

After realizing the time before the main act would be better spent watching a second-rate NBA game from the adjacent room and realizing my cell phone had gone missing, two young ladies approached Thomas and I and…hit on us? Although we both have better halves, which were better than the two that approached us, its good to know that even in are growing age, we still got it. After one offered to buy me a drink, the duo realized we were disinterested and walked off.

Now for the main event, which a huge brawl right before the group took stage could not even stop. Bone Thugs’ DJ came out first and introduced 2 artists that performed a few songs each to get the crowd up then the guys came out and even with an absent Bizzie Bone (which isn’t surprise given his attendance record) the trio was on their game. Digging deep into a lengthy set that included a great mix of songs spanning the group’s equally lengthy career. The group limited the songs played from their most recent release Strength and Loyalty to 2-3 songs, one of which being their hit single “I Tried” featuring Akon. The guys appealed to the mixed and loyal crowd playing several singles from East 1999, Creepin on Tha Come Up and The Art of War, all early 90’s classic releases, without forgetting to include “Crossroads” as well as “The Days of Our Livez” from the Set it Off soundtrack.

The night featured a lot of classic jams, a lot of weed smoke, and a fair amount of paying respects to fallen rap icons which was completed only as Krazy Bone poured a full can of Corona (Corona comes in a can+?) on the stage. Barring the initial brawl prior to the set the atmosphere was relaxed no matter what color you were. I even got my cell phone back!

-Todd Spoth (www.toddspoth.com) info@toddspoth.com