What up my ninja?
Shinobi that is.
Arrived nice and early for the Shinobi Ninja show last night at Europa in BK, just in time for sound check, NOT, they didn’t even do one, but I did see them set up their shit.
Armed with my boy David, aka D.A.M. the DJ, we faced some tall boys down the street, ( beers were $6, sorry Europa, couldn’t handle it, I’m not a businessman, I’m a Business, man, so let me handle it, dam). You can check out D.A.M. the DJ this Saturday night, (4TheLove Fest) at Don hills, assisting Fuzzy G’s set, as well as doing his own thing for a bit.
Pre show- We were kicking it with Terminate Dave and brother Maniac Mike, found out a little dl info.
Dave is currently enrolled at NYU grad school, doing music and business, mad props, that’s a good freakin school.
A sweet perk about band, a quite novel idea assisting in reaching new audiences reported by Helen Bach since the day it dropped, Shinobi created an iPhone and iTouch app. It’s a game, based of Ninja Turtles, ( great game on sega), with their band members, and you can unlock levels by showing up to concerts and such. The paid version is basically like selling a record, game includes full EP. Mad cool, very smart. Universal came to them pleading that they needed help with similar apps. Other bands, including Linkin Park, have started to use same idea.
Most of those in attendance by 7:15, a good 2 hrs before Shinobi game time, were chillin in “the gallery,” which was a beaded off area, towards the back of the venue, very secluded, very slayer. Got to hear some cool Ninja stories from the road.
My favorite included this one, told expertly by Baby G, who even removed her shoes and walked out the room to imitate same scene in story.
Anyway, on the road, leaving a DC area show, two Ninjas, ( will remain nameless) got into it over nothing, ( like most drunk bro disputes) and after some BS, were squared up outside the van in the middle of the street, this is when Baby G stormed off barefoot. Cops were called because people get loud when they get mad and crunk. This is the best part.
After a very short argument, the cops were won over by the fact this was in fact a kick ass band. And after reciving some sweet stickers and hearing a little more about the band, they were instant fans. After some more small talk, they let every one go, and even gave them an offical police escort back onto the highway, flashing lights and all. And its very very good that the cops were so nice, there might have been a small chance, that something in that van would have pissed off a cop or two, and caused an unnecessary ruckus.
Moral of the story, one of the cops friended band and some members on FB soon after, and to this very day, you can still find one DC cop car with a dope Shinobi Ninja sticker on its bumper.
Showtime!
Opening, we had a rap duo, consisting of ID Vicious, accompanied by producer and Shinobi bass player, Jonny on the Rocks. They killed it and got the crowd extra excited for upcoming performances. Did a few songs, nothing exceptional, but good flow and Jonny is quite the hypeman.
We had DJ MuZach, ( get it) assisting with the transition between artists, solid job bro.
After ID and Jonny, all these freshly shaved men and a pretty small girl got onstage. Hold on, they aren’t freshly shaved, they can’t shave. The next band, The Band Eclypse ( with a ‘Y’), was a collection of musicians ranging from 15-19, and it was Guitarist Eric Sherman’s B-day yesterday, so he was freshly 19.
The Band Eclypse formed, almost by accident in early 2009, after emcees Daniel Lonner ( L.E.D.) and Jeremy Jordan-Jones (Triple J) successfully auditioned and landed a spot on the famous Amateur Night at The Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The duo came to the conclusion that it would be much more ‘real’ to have a live band rather than not, so they started one, and haven’t looked back after doing great at the Apollo together. Later TBE played at BOMBFest in Conn. whose headliners included Lupe and 30 Seconds to Mars, they have also done several shows with Shinobi prior to last night.
Bottom line, this rock hip/hop group did a great job, regardless of their virgin age. They did an ill cover to Kid Cudi’s “Day n Night,” as well as an ever better remix to Chiddy Bang’s remix of MGMT’s original “KIDS.” They busted out TBE original ‘Point of Perspective’ which wasn’t bad. Got a white and black Cudi feel from both rappers and a Gwen Stefani feel from their female vocalist.
They def need some time to mature and develop their niches a bit, however, I was quite impressed. They all have great on-stage chemistry with each other; I have seen grown, more experienced musicians who just don’t have what these kids have.
They all seemed very comfy onstage, all having a ridiculous amount of fun; like the amount that anyone doing what they love should have.
They were really involved with crowd, coming into crowd to rap, trying their very very best
to get everyone as into their set as they were.
to get everyone as into their set as they were.
They busted into a mid-set flow sesh, which is always nice to see, it shows confidence and skill level. They also ended their set, with another cipher bring up ID Vicious, as well as DA, Shinobi’s rapper, onstage to help out.
Solid