Chiddy Bang Concert Review
By DJ Echoes (guest reviewer)
First, I would like to thank Kris.G for offering me the chance to post on Bridging The Verse. I only wish it didn’t have to be under such unfortunate terms. (It’s kind of like meeting a hot girl at a funeral). Anyways, without further ado:
Racking up plays on last.fm.
Voting for their video at mtvU.
Promoting the concert on my radio show.
Sharing with my friends the joys of Chiddy Bang.
These are all activities I performed to help spread the word. Post-”concert”, I wish I could traverse time and space to take them all back (but at least I didn’t drive 4+ hours to see them. Sorry, Kris…).
I recall seeing The Sounds in 2006 and realizing that there are certain obligations of which a performer should be aware for his/her/their audience. At the time, I considered wearing something slightly nicer than a wife-beater tank top to suffice that rule. Now, I’ll settle for showing up before the event ends.
I should have know that proper event planning was not a top priority when the official Facebook event had Chiddy Bang playing simultaneously at the local hip-hop/statutory rape club and the douchebag/statutory rape frat house. Ultimately, it was confirmed that we would be infiltrating fratland.
Upon arrival, we purchased our tickets. I bought two and had a sinking feeling that I just got swindled, hoodwinked, robbed. I thought ‘Perhaps my prejudices towards Greek Life culture are a bit harsh’ and again ignored my intuition. We walked into a pen oozing with shame and regret, evidenced by the loud, unfortunate-looking frat concubines. (Side note: there was an alarming percentage of gingers at this event. Should have been my last signal to turn back from whence we came.)
The stage was about 8-square feet in surface area, and before we knew it, the humble platform was graced by the opening performers, Ground Up. Or Ground Out. Or Ground Meat. Can’t remember. Don’t care.
They sucked. Granted, one of the performers had slightly more energy and interesting delivery, but the lyrics were laughably bad. We stood in amazement as we were confronted by couplets that would have Shakespeare slitting his wrists and stabbing his ears in the grave. Thankfully, the sound system was so poorly engineered and utilized that most of the lyrics were indecipherable. They were on stage for 45 minutes. A long time. Or so I thought…
Because after their performance, we were gifted with a 2+ hour wait for the headliners to perform. During this time we watched as intoxicated females, wearing too little clothing to conceal rather undesirable bodily features, fell over males adorned with – you guessed it – Affliction t-shirts, cocked baseball hats, cans Natural Light, and parental disappointment. I truly doubt I ever resembled that in my freshmen heyday because I was at least mentally aware of how unintelligent the members of these scenes were.
After a little less than 2 hours, the lesser half of Chiddy Bang, Xaphoon, arrives. No one really cares. He’s white and he doesn’t rap. Granted, he’s a decent producer, but most producer’s don’t attach their faces to their clients for more exposure. Get off the stage and back to your Macbook, bro. His only saving grace was playing some Ol’ Dirty Bastard while we tapped our watches and toes, getting antsy for the Chiddiest one’s arrival.
As 9pm becomes 9:05, then 9:15, people start to wonder what will happen. Xaphoon occasionally provides traffic updates as to Chiddy’s location, but they curiously got farther and farther from the frat house. So it goes. A little short of 9:30, Sir Bang arrives. He declares that regardless of the noise ordinance, the concert will last as long as he decrees. Ha. HA! MUHAHAHAHAHA! …sure, Chid.
The first two songs are curiously softer than the opening act’s. Perhaps this is because we notified a frother (frat brother) that one of the loudspeakers are glowing hot orange and likely about to ignite. The young male (likely a Mensa-candidate) pointed at himself as we motioned him over, then turned around and walked away from us. Sir, we are doing this for your good. I would have no qualms about watching your house of white adolescent debauchery burn to Abercrombie-scented ashes. Go suck a d.
Oh wait, did I forget to mention that we were gifted with Xaphoon’s excellent percussion abilities? Perhaps they were fantastic, but the resident Live Audio Engineer/Audio Designer must have had some extra-nasty syphilis that day, because the rest of the brothers placed two vocal microphones haphazardly around the drums, likely looking like whatever ground of Neanderthals on the first attempts at the wheel. Thus, we never heard a single snare hit.
Anyways, after 2 songs, Chiddy declares that it is freestyle time, and requests rapping topics. Being a cynical, white crowd, patrons offered “Sodomy”, “Nuclear Proliferation”, “Groupies”, “Philly”, and “Stem Cells” as possible options. He went with the latter 3. I only heard one reference to stem cells, and that was him saying “stem cells”. Very clever, sir. Hats off to you.
(We’re almost there)
So, he dives into his next song. About 3/4′s of the way through, he suddenly turns his back on the audience and walks back into the area behind the stage. After a minute, he announced that the cops have arrived and the show must end. Apparently “rappin’ for ya’ll ALL NIGHT” actually means until 3 policewomen arrive on the scene. You’re very hood, dawg. Very hood.
As I shake my head in not-quite-disbelief (recall all of the negative foreshadowing earlier), Xaphoon announces that to make the night worthwhile, they will perform an acapella song before leaving. Oh, thank God, Buddha, Allah, and Richard Dawkins. Because the lyrics are why I listened to Chiddy Bang in the first place. Xaphoon takes a singular snare drum on stage while Chidderino raps sans microphone. I couldn’t hear a single word above the fraternity harlots shrieking with their 2-pack-a-day, lunchlady voices to “SHUT THE FUCK UP”. How much more persuasive can you get?
One of the best concerts I’ve ever seen was a rap concert, featuring Raekwon the Chef of the Wu-Tang Clan. So maybe I had some high hopes for this event. But they were crushed, aborted like the fetus of any unfortunate pairing at the fraternity that night, which surely happened after Chiddy Bang departed State College. So to the members of Sigma Chi and the collective of Chiddy Bang, I have two last words: fuck off.
(Chiddy Bang could possibly find redemption in offering a free concert at Penn State. Fratholes, not so much).
***Editor’s note: This was the song that no one could hear a cappella***
Chiddy Bang – All Things Go [YSI]
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Yep, it wasn’t even “Opposite of Adults” ….
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I still love Chiddy Bang, they bring an indie element to the hip-hop game and I believe they will get big once they release their first mixtape. The problem with this concert sounds more like a terrible set-up in a bad performance environment than a bad performance by Chiddy Bang.
They will bounce back from this and get radio play when their album comes out.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
@Zach, yeah, I still like them too. They’re always on my playlists now. It was just so many things on top of each other that made the evening so disappointing. I’m giving them a second chance as I do absolutely plan on seeing them live again at some point.
One positive about the show was that we found out the album release date is Aug 24.
I’ve seen them 4 times live, including at penn state. I still thought the show at psu was good, it just sucks it was cut short. To be fair, who the hell needs a show to end at 9? These frat douche bags should have realized that it was unrealistic and to keep the show outdoors. It sucks that they were late, but shit happens sometimes, and the frat should have had a back up plan. From what I saw, Chiddy Bang had all intentions on playing as long as they could. They are definitely worth seeing again. Kris, this article makes you sound like a bigger douche bag than the frat boys by the way. You need to chill, it’s not like you paid a lot for the show. It was just an unfortunate situation. And when you say a producer is the “lesser half,” it makes you sound really ignorant. Learn what music is and then start writing about it.
@Bill, First I want to thank you for responding to this. I openly encourage responses to anything I write. Because of your angry response, I assume you read this entire review which means you would have seen it was not written by me but rather a friend. I wholeheartedly believe is allowing people to express their opinions without me stifling their thoughts. That’s why this was posted unedited and, along the same lines, your comment was approved. You resorted to name calling directed at the wrong person and yet I’m ok with it. Yes, DJ Echoes review was harsh. I had left the show with a bad taste in my mouth but nearly the way he did. I would say the frat was at most fault that night for the quality. Chiddy’s only error was in being late. They tried to save themselves by offering the a cappella after the show was shut down but truly to no avail.
My feelings about the show are probably better expressed in my comment above saying that I do plan on seeing them again and I still often listen to their music. I will be buying the LP when it drops in August. I’m in full support of this up and coming group. It’s just a shame that the show had so many negative factors that evening.
I guess my biggest issue was that I drove just as far as Chiddy (if not further) to see the show and it was a disappointment, regardless of who is at fault.
I hope this response (which is mine and not Echoes) doesn’t make me seem like a “bigger douche bag than the frat boys” and that it is “chill” enough for you.
Just to respond to Bill’s points:
“From what I saw, Chiddy Bang had all intentions on playing as long as they could.”
- I’m not saying Chiddy Bang didn’t have intentions of putting on a good show, but it was common knowledge that the noise ordinance kicked in at 9pm. To think they would somehow be exempt from that rule is downright foolish and validates my frustration.
“Kris, this article makes you sound like a bigger douche bag ”
-Please, read the full article begin criticizing. I attended the full concert before criticizing.
“You need to chill, it’s not like you paid a lot for the show.”
-Kris drove almost 200 miles to see it, and I paid for two tickets. Thus, my disappointment was doubled. Maybe you have an income where you don’t mind giving musical artists money for next-to-nothing in return, but we don’t.
“And when you say a producer is the “lesser half,” it makes you sound really ignorant. Learn what music is and then start writing about it.”
-Hmm… I’m a music technology minor at Penn State, and have done class projects consisting of remixing songs. Remixing is the easiest form of musical creation I have come across (other alternatives including piano, guitar, percussion). While what they do is innovative (mixing indie rock with rap), it isn’t technically impressive in any way. Thus, I feel I can make a judgement that the producer in a rap duo is less important on the act’s success in general because and producer who is handed a song can remix it. That’s what makes them a producer.
This is always helpful
1. Apologies to kris. Skipped over the first line.
2. Seriously, who the hell has a 9pm noise ordinance? please refresh me on how that would be common knowledge.
3. I am pretty sure, unless the frat was lying, that the money that YOU paid went to research, stop being selfish – you did a good thing for once.
4. If what Xaphoon is doing is so simple, and the “easiest form of musical creation,” why aren’t you producing music for a hip hop duo selling over 100,000 records? Please attach something you’ve remixed so everyone can see how easy it is. I’d really like to see it climb to the top of Hype Machine.
I really love your site! Thanks for sharing and keep it up. I will be back again!
I appreciate the article, It’s always interesting to hear about the live shows of artists you are digging. Unfortunately it seems they were a bit of a let down. Echoes & Kris, I understand your frustration completely. As fans you guys made the long trip and clearly it wasn’t worth it. To touch on a point of contention, Xaphoon is a beast with the sampling and I do enjoy his remixes. I think Chiddy Bang only works because their creative teamwork is in sync. Echoes, I know what you’re saying in regards to remixing but I don’t know if it’s fair to say Xaphoon is less important to the group. Without him they would lose the ‘indie’ flair Zach touched on. Like I mentioned I enjoyed reading the article. You were obviously frustrated after the event but the post read as if the whole crappy show was overshadowed by the frat boys and others attending the event. If that is the case, Bill was right in thinking you should chill. I’m sure most of it was just anger at Chiddy Bang’s overall behavior that night though. I really like the site though guys and I’ll definitely be back.
@Greg, I can’t say much more than “thank you” to you. I appreciate your well thought out and reasonable response. I can’t speak for Echoes, but when it comes to me, I really do want to see Chiddy again and I really appreciate Xaphoon all the way from his mixtape to Chiddy Bang.
I’m truly more disappointed with the unfortunate series of events that night that Chiddy’s performance itself. (Bah, just get there on time.)
mehhhhhhhhhh…. all groups struggle live at first.. dont you realize that nothing you described seemed to be a reflection of the group? Give them a stadium stage with a massive clear sound system and hours to do perform and they’d climb right to the top.. Hopefully that will become a reality soonish.. either way this band is growing faster and faster. I saw them on MTV the other day, and they are gonna hit the radio hard.. I saw within a few months they’ll be big. Oh and does anyone notice Chiddy Bang resembles Kid Cudi? I would love to see them collaborate. Anyways, regardless of one faulty concert this band deserves to be huge..
@ Echoes: i agree with everything you said about it except when you say a producer is the lesser half of a group, and “he was white and couldn’t rap so no one cared”. if your a music major, then you probably know that without producers modern hip-hop probably wouldn’t exist and that its them who influence the “sounds” and “trends” in that genre. where would eminem or snoop be without dre? about 90% of rappers considered legendary had some great producers dude. And Chiddy Bang itself is a great example, since it was Xaphoon Jones’s reputation as an awesome dj that originally put Chiddy Bang on the spotlight.
and @ S.Onian: im a huge fan of both these guys and especially cudi, but i dont see any similarities between the two.
@ DJ Echo
THIS IS THE WORST ARTICLE OF ALL TIME. HAVE A NICE LIFE DJ ECHOES WRITING CONCERT REVIEWS BASED ON NOTHING. GROUND UP ALL DAY, GET WIT IT OR GET LOST. FUCK OFF
Umm, I was there. So it was based on first-hand research, if you will. Also, I just wanted to let you know your Caps Lock key is on. You might want to turn that off if you expect anyone to respect a thought of yours. I sure don’t.
@ DJ Echo
caps lock is off now so read this.
“the humble platform was graced by the opening performers, Ground Up. Or Ground Out. Or Ground Meat. Can’t remember. Don’t care.
They sucked. Granted, one of the performers had slightly more energy and interesting delivery, but the lyrics were laughably bad. We stood in amazement as we were confronted by couplets that would have Shakespeare slitting his wrists and stabbing his ears in the grave. Thankfully, the sound system was so poorly engineered and utilized that most of the lyrics were indecipherable.”
Obviously, you were not listening to the music, and have never listened to Ground Up before. Your first hand research is wack because they shut down that penn state show before the cops did, they killed it, and the crowd loved it, and theres footage to prove it. So before you write articles, think about whats really going on, and actually take the time to listen to the music, and you would appreciate what Ground Up is doing for hip-hop. You can’t listen to their mixtapes and say theyre wack. You may not like them, but respect what their doing for music, because they keep it real, unlike most people who are on the radio these days.