Kreayshawn Marquee Theatre Saturday, November 19, 2011
I love Tempe for the most part. This city has lots of great restaurants and bars, but there are certain elements that drive me crazy. Thanks to a free Kreayshawn show and the big ASU/U of A game, most of the things I hate about Tempe came out in full force within a one-mile radius of campus.
If you're in to beer pong and sexting, chances are you had a blast in Tempe last night. If you're older than 22, you were probably pissed off at the drunkards stumbling through your yard like the cantankerous bastard that you are. But hey, a free show is a free show.
I checked out Kreayshawn's 2010 mixtape, Kittys X Choppas a while ago and I thought it was horrible. Her raps sound a bit like a female version of Aqua Teen Hunger Force's MC Pee Pants, but you've got to admit that "Gucci Gucci" is pretty catchy. Plus, after her Rick Ross and n-word debacles, I was curious to see how the night would pan out.
Nobody called her a "dirty bitch," at least not to her face or with an air of hostility. Almost everybody was called a bitch at one time or another. Apparently there was a mix of bad bitches, broke bitches, and "real, real bitches," but the audience was ultimately a cross between an LMFAO video and the front page of Dirty Scottsdale with a pinch of swag. The crowd was about what I expected, but the turnout was not. In spite of being a free Saturday night show, at best, The Marquee was filled to about quarter capacity.
Kreayshawn took the stage with a couple of hypemen and hypewomen, a DJ, and the recently freed V-Nasty, who sang almost as much as Kreayshawn did. The ladies used their 30-minute set to dance and rap about Swisher blunts, rich whores that shop at thrift stores, Sporty Spice, weed, and Amy Winehouse.
The group encouraged the crowd to chant along to its repetitions of "white girl mob," and invited a few girls on stage for a "dance party." Female audience members screamed like crazy and literally crawled over one another to get on stage.
"Bumping Bumping" transitioned into "Gucci Gucci," as the crowd energetically screamed the lyrics and threw a bra and panties on stage. A good share of the audience walked out after "Gucci Gucci," as Kreayshawn sang a song about the days of the week and said "school is cool," which is an ironic statement for a college dropout.
In the parking lot, I heard someone say, "If she would have played that song first, everybody would have left," in regard to "Gucci Gucci." I couldn't agree more.
Kreayshawn's cousin, rapper T. Mills warmed up the crowd with a drummer, a hypeman that looked like he was trying to do jumping jacks, and a guy that casually sat on top of a speaker for the entirety of Mills' set. Mills opened with a song about fucking with his Vans on, and the rest of his songs and stage banter focused on weed, cheating, and having sex with white girls.
Sporting Raybans and messy hair, Milkman looked like a rejected member of Chromeo. He announced that he was going to play some hip-hop and mash-ups, and he did just that. He combined artists like Eminem and Fat Boy Slim with some lasers and a little too much bass. and some random Top 40, dubstep, and electro. Milkman's set was far from seamless-- he attempted to cover his music breaks by hyping the crowd. No bother, the mash up of "Milkshake" and "Praise You" earned plenty of fist pumps, and the combination of Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." with Weezer's "Buddy Holly" was actually pretty cool.
Rozzi Crane had very soulful vocals reminiscent of Adele. A full band and a couple of back up singers with a doo-wop style joined her. She said she loves soul music and was going to play an oldie for us, so she belted out a great cover of "Let's Get it on." Crane was well received, but then again, The Marquee reeked of weed and was full of dancing girls that were probably high on ecstasy.
Critic's Notebook:
Last Night: Kreayshawn at Marquee Theatre.
Personal Bias: Pure curiosity.
The Crowd: Bros and hos.
Overheard in the Crowd: "They're dicks here! I got my first MIC here. I hope they don't find my pipe." --The 20-year-old girl behind me trying to get a drink wristband.
Random Notebook Dump: This show is painfully long.
