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BLUE’ SCHOLARS
The minute I walked onto the Street Scene grounds in downtown San Diego, I glanced up to find DJ Sabzi of Blue Scholars spinning reggae-inspired instrumentals to a modest crowd vibing in front of the Zarabanda Stage. After a few minutes, Sabzi introduced emcee Geo. The mood changed from chill to intense as the duo lauched into their set, performing songs from their politically charged, organically produced record Bayani. The Scholars drew a steady stream of head-nodders, silently mouthing the words along with the Seattle-based crew.
Halfway through the set, the stoic atmosphere morphed into an island party somewhere between hyphy and Jawaiian (in Sabzi’s own words, ‘like reggae, but cuter’) as the pair performed new material off their Oof EP. Slow nods gradually gave way to full-on giggin. As the Scholars finished up, most concertgoers drawn to Street Scene by M.I.A. were left wondering who the hell had just rocked their world for 45 minutes.
PUBLIC ENEMY
I elbowed my way over to the Fulana Stage to catch some of the legendary Public Enemy’s set, posting up at the rear of the mob. Most people around me could hardly contain their drunken hysteria over seeing MTV’s Flavor Flav in the flesh, but Chuck D stole the show with his assertive stage presence and raptivism as he followed up a commanding rendition of ‘Welcome to the Terrordome’ with a rousing speech that could have come straight from his book ‘Fight the Power.’ The crowd was eating it up. It all could have been mistaken for a budding freedom protest, if the lack of minorities wasn’t so evident.
OF MONTREAL
After absorbing Chuck D’s wisdom, I dipped out and tried to snag a good spot for Of Montreal. Turns out that Public Enemy had only just gotten started, but the significantly less wasted Of Montreal fans opted to wait on a tardy Kevin Barnes. Finally, a man wearing a puma mask (guess who?) slinked on stage and the band made its grand entrance behind him. Per usual, the Georgia crew pulled out Bowie-esque theatrics and called on actors dressed in everything from furry animal get-ups to jumpsuits and gas masks. Meanwhile, lead freak Barnes’ poppy, yet intricate melodies drifted on flawlessly, keeping the Of Montreal faithful content despite the blistering heat.
OZOMATLI
After wandering around aimlessly for about 20 minutes, catching glimpses of sets from the Faint and LA Riots, Ozomatli back at the Zarabanda Stage seemed like a good idea. An eclectic mix of big band and hip-hop, salsa and rock, Spanish and English, the octet didn’t disappoint at Street Scene. Each jam marched to a new and distinct rhythm, enough to get even the whitest of folk shaking their hips.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
As nothing better was going down after Ozomatli’s set, I headed over to witness Silversun Pickups rocking a colossal mass; unfortunately, they were in the middle of a heated power ballad, interrupting my otherwise nonstop dance party. When they went and plunged into another ballad, I made the educated decision to peace ou
t.
BASSNECTAR
In a stroke of luck, I descended upon the DJ-of-the-evening Bassnectar just as the long-haired genius was spinning his remix of Rick Ross’ ‘Hustlin’.’ No doubt, the man loves his bass. Not only could we feel the super-low tones throughout our bodies, we could watch the rest of the crowd ripple right along with them. It was epic for a while, but there’s only so much heavy low-end you can handle after a long day of hot sets, so I left midway through the 90-minute show.
Sharon Jones and the Dap-kings
Somehow, I had thus far overlooked the significant number of folks over 40 in attendance. They became much more apparent when they all congregated to watch Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings close out the Zarabanda ‘mdash; and damn do those old people know what’s up. Watching Jones for just a couple minutes, I immediately found out why she was headlining the Zarabanda ‘mdash; the girl’s got swag, and can sing soul better than almost anyone from this era. She even brought a middle-aged man from the audience onstage and serenaded him for an entire song, eliciting cheers of approval from the crowd.
The Dap-Kings weren’t too shabby either, backing Jones in typical big-band fashion. Gotta love it.
M.I.A.
If anyone forgot that the Beastie Boys were originally penciled in to headline that night, M.I.A. made sure to painfully jog our memory. After rapidly shouting the lyrics to several of her songs ‘mdash; a feat she attempted to pass off as rap ‘mdash; she decided to ‘pay homage’ to the absent Beastie Boys by ‘freestyling’ over their classic instrumentals. Truly horrifying.
Despite ruining timeless beats from hip-hop’s most beloved trio, M.I.A. did end the festival on a significantly happier note ‘mdash; the uber catchy ‘Paper Planes’ was just enough to get the audience pumped for the drive home.