Don’t shoot! I know… What’s a blog about Charlotte when it’s never updated? I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But I do have an update. Last weekend I celebrated my birthday and… I got married!!!
Okay, not really.
However, I did see one of my husbands... *Drum roll please* SLICK RICK! Now, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to see this man. I was lucky enough to see Doug E. Fresh a year ago, but every time Slick has tried to make his way into my life, something's happened.
Freshman year—Homecoming… no car, no money. July 4, 2008—Concert... I got stood up (he was gay), and I lost my cell phone and wallet so I had to miss the concert. Junior year—Fresh Fest concert… Slick Rick was a no show. Our love has been quite tumultuous. But with my life intact this go around, everything looked promising.
So let’s start with the downside, just because. There was a five hour wait, which Von can attest to. We arrived at Amos’ Southend at 8 PM. Right on time. It started off great… The DJ was on point, we were all vibing to old school joints and mixes that we hadn’t heard in a while. It was awesome until around hour 3, when both phones went dead and our $30 admission fee and burning legs became more apparent. It didn’t help that the DJ started replaying tracks or that the host kept jumping up and down screaming, “It’s a party.” No dude, that it is not. We want Uncle Ricky.
Around 11 PM we were told that two opening acts would perform first. Although I must admit that this made my eyes roll, I was actually pleased (with the second one). It was a guy named Dow Jones—pictured above (he's the one to the left). I really liked his music… so kudos to that. The host also bought drinks for all of the ladies in the front row—thank God. I think he saw me glaring at him and wanted to make amends. Last but not least, they brought out Darrin Henson (Soul Food -TV version-… sexy). He kept holding his phone to his ear saying that Doug E. Fresh was a block away.
Fast forward… It’s 1 AM and FINALLY Doug E. takes the stage! Now, had this happened earlier, I would have been asking, "Where is Slick?"… But at this point, I was just happy for live entertainment (no offense opening acts). He killed it! He went from “I-ight” to the call and response song, of which I still do not know the title. He covered other artists’ songs as well… Let me just say, he had the crowd going crazy!
Then he stopped and started on a long speech about his generation and how they were taught to truly appreciate. As you can imagine, the crowd was slightly older. Under my groupie-ish smile, I was a bit offended because I knew he wasn’t talking about my generation. But I was too in awe to care. Anyway, he went on to say that he was so late because his mother was sick and he had to make sure that she was okay. Commendable. Then he let us know that he appreciated someone else… Someone who he’d been running with for years… Someone who was one of the greatest storytellers to ever touch the mic. Sooooooo slick! Slicky Ricky! That's when he walked into my life.
I died.
Story over... No, just playing.
That was the way to bring in my birthday. Jumping up and down while reciting every word to my favorites… “Mona Lisa”, “The Show”, “La Di Da Di”, “Children’s Story”! I was so happy! So was Von who seriously almost knocked me over more than once.
The concert was fairly short, but it was a moment that I’ll never ever forget. Cheers to 22! And to my husband(s)! (I added Doug E. Fresh into the equation after a very enticing pelvic thrust. ::Wipes forehead:: Baby boy can perform!)
My roadie-homie... Von!
Go Doug E.! He beatboxed without stopping for air and it went on forever! If I had to guess... maybe a minute? Truly amazing!
Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, can't you see?
The host... In retrospect, he had a hard night trying to stall us super fans.
Von tracked him down... Best birthday present ever!
Somehow your words just hypnotize me,
Be slick, be fresh, && don't give away my smooches!
Charlotte's Girl