kid cudi did not disappoint. the 20+ hour day, long line, freezing wind chill, and immaturity faded with every song as kid cudi defined exactly what the hype was about. the venue was plush. club nokia. perhaps one of the few venues where every seat in the house is a good one. we posted right behind the VIP seats on some older folk type shit upstairs on the balcony. standing the whole show was not an option tonight. so already, kid cudi was at odds to impress us. cudi came out around 11 and was off to a slow start as he blanked on his lines blaming it on the grey goose he had in hand. oh man, i thought, we were in for a long night.
photo: l.a.weekly.com colin young-wolff
it wasn’t a hard crowd to please (a sell-out, all-age pot fan base crowd), but our crew had higher standards. as he went more into his album, the energy fluctuated with his singing, rapping and talk/hyping. beat after beat, line after line, kid cudi delivered a performance filled with passion and intensity. perhaps his hardest challenge was keeping the energy up with verses that were meant to be melodically sung not overly amped. overall, the balance of his music style and translating it into a live performance was exceptional. there definitely was a surge of energy in kid cudi when special guest kanye appeared for his verse in “make her say” and “the good life.” it’s this energy that should resonate even in the absence of a seasoned vet like kanye. we were really, really lucky for that surprise as he didn’t appear for the show the following night.
the concert came to a climatic end with “pursuit of happiness.” overall, it was a great concert to end the year and that’s coming from someone who has seen common, wale, the roots, mos def, talib kweli, erykah badu, santigold and other experienced artists throughout 09. kid cudi definitely has a lot to bring to hip-hop. it’ll be an interesting trek for the spaced-out kid and his journey.
up up and away…
