Now, I know what Ice Cube meant when he coined the phrase, "Today was a good day!" For those of you that don't live in Detroit (or any other large city) this time of year is Tastefest time! The Tastefest is an annual event where local restaurants and vendors come to a central location and present food, drinks and products that are for sale over a four day period! This event is one of the highlights of the summer for a lot of people here in the Detroit. Folks come from far and wide to get their mouths on some of the great food and drink at the Tastefest. Outside of the abundance amounts of vittles, there were also an enormous amount of free concerts (4 stages) and live performances covering just about everything from rock, soul, jazz & salsa to skateboarding and animal shows! With a time schedule of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. over a 5-day period during the Tastefest, there is no way you could take in each and every event? So, you had to pick and choose what events you wanted to attend wisely!
The soul/hiphop line up for 2006 Comerica Tastefest was pretty good overall! There was a nice variety of local and outside talent for all to enjoy. Some of the local katz that represented well were dudes like DJ Houseshoes (Producer/DJ) who put on a nice mix show, Waajeed (Platinum Pied Pipers) that did a tribute music mix dedicated to J. Dilla and Jeremy "Ayro" Ellis (Singer/Producer) who also gave a great show! Ayro is a real talent! Amp Fiddler (singer) did his thing too! My man's hair is crazy! I missed the Dabrye (Producer) performance though dammit, but I know he represented as well. Other artists like Common, Havana (great live performer), J Moss, Spyra Gyro, Mavis Staples and Lola Morales put on solid performances as well! Honestly, I am not a big live concert advocate when performed at arenas & stadiums because most of the time the tickets are really overpriced, and the performances are just mediocre at best? Now, the free concerts at the Tastefest are something totally different. Why? Because with the right approach, you (the fan) can get a little closer to some of your favorite artists? Overall, the 2006 Comerica Tastefest (Detroit) was full of standout moments and tastee food, which made the 5-day extended weekend something to remember!
Now, on to real highlight of my Tastefest experience! There was one act in particular that I made sure that I went to watch perform, and that was the supergroup...J*Davey! I have been a real fan of their music since 2004, when I first heard the track, "No More." I didn't know anything about them back then, but I knew I needed to find out. J*Davey is a duo made up of Jack Davey (lead singer) and Brook D'Leau (producer). Their sound is hard to categorize? It's a mixture of soul, electronica, funk & hiphop with an overtone of new wave. They don't have an official album out yet, but they have already established a cult-like fanbase over the years! I have heard several of their songs over the years (which I like), but I was not sure what to expect seeing them live? Let's just say I got more than I expected! I got to the event early to make sure I got my front row seat right in front, so I could make definite eye contact with Ms. Jack Davey when she hit the stage (which I did)! Suddenly, Aloe Blacc (singer/songwriter) hit the stage first! Aloe Blacc is another up and coming artist to check for! I will have more to come on him later in one of my upcoming posts! Anyhoo...Aloe did a couple of his new joints to get the crowd hyped! Then he introduced J*Davey to the stage, then Ms. Jack Davey's lean frame hit the stage sporting a white cotton one piece short set, red belt and red stilettos (shown in the photo above)! Brook D'Leau stayed in the background playing his keyboards and droppin' the hot beats! Everything was cool until Jack told everyone to come up to the front and party (was she serious)? Why'd she say dat shyt?? Suddenly, all of these crunchy feet, resale clothing shop dressin', Angela Davis wig wearin, fake Erykah Badu immulatin' chics just rudely ran up front and stood in front of the people sitting in the front row!! I quickly went from watching Jack Davey's slinder frame singing sweet melodies, to seeing out of shape bitties shaking their asses in my face! I had one of those Ludacris moments, "Move bitch, get out the way!!!!" I was trying to reframe from getting ig'nant, so I just stood up and continued to enjoy the concert, which actually turned out to be greater later!After the J*Davey performance concluded, I aggressively made my way back to the tent where all of the artists were chillin, to get my limited edition bootleg CD signed and to get some my convo on with J*Davey! I must say Jack Davey & Brook D'Leau are some cool people! They both signed my CD, took photos and shared some info about there upcoming project that will hopefully be dropping in October 2006?? They explained that being an independent group, it is sometimes difficult to get your projects out as fast as you would like too? Ms. Davey reminded me that she was still broke, and she needed all of the money she could get! While I was back there chatting with J*Davey, Amp Fiddler rolled up getting ready for his performance! Another cool kat! I exchanged a pound with Waajeed, DJ Houseshoes and Aloe Blacc before I jetted! I was invited to the afterparty that evening, but a brotha had to work! Dammit, I hate when my job gets in the way of me gettin' my groove on at the afterparties!!!!! I expect J*Davey to blow up when they finally drop their debut album, but if they don't...so what! They're still a dope group...period!
As I told you many posts ago...YouTube is that Ish!!!
For your viewing pleasure, I have provided you J*Davey's first video for the cut, "Mr. Mister." Check it out and tell me what you think of it?
J*Davey - Mr Mister
There will be more photos and info about the Tastefest coming at you in later posts??
Checkout these sites for more music and info on J*Davey:
www.jdaveybaby.com
www.myspace.com/jdavey
1 comment:
ill be checking J DAVEY this wknd in NY
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