What an AMAZING night! Before the show even started, we got to witness an "altercation" between two chicks. Weave was pulled, the "B" word thrown around, fingernails pulled off. What a way to start off the evening! But after the Undercard it was time for the main event...
Common went last of course but I'll talk about him first. It was my first time seeing Common live and let me say, he definitely did not disappoint. The biggest thing for me about Common and N.E.R.D. for that matter is that they are TRUE performers. These artist have NEW YORK CITY the very next night and they're in little ol' Raleigh giving their all. You gotta love that.
Com performed some old material but a loooot of new material that I can't wait to here the album version's of. A couple of new joints that really stood out to me where "The Eye" and "Gladiator" both produced by The Neptunes. Both of these tracks sound ammmmazing live and have me amped to get the new album "Universal Mind Control" on November 11th!
Now for N.E.R.D.. First the negative, Chad was not with the group on this night. There are rumors that he and Pharrell are not on good terms and that they could be spliting as far as business goes. And while I do believe there is some truth to that, I know for a fact that Chad doesn't attend all the dates as he's been said not to enjoy life on the road so much. But Shay was there along with StarTrak's Fam-Lay. But with that being said, their set was INCREDIBLE!
I saw N.E.R.D. for the first time on the Glow In The Dark Tour with Kanye and they were great. But that venue was an outdoor setting. This Indoor, intimate setting is the PERFECT way to get the most out of an N.E.R.D. concert. Pharrell really seemed to thrive off the energy from the Raleigh crowd which was A LOT more intense than I expected. Being that this was on a College Campus, you had a LOT of college students there, as well as Fraternities. The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity decided to step the entire night to every song. Pharrell even shouted them out at one point in the show saying "I see yall over there doing your own thing, not even worrying about what we're doing over here, But I like that!"
Pharrell also got a lot of crowd involvement when he asked the audience numerous times during their set, "What's the Best College on The Continent?" in which almost everyone in unison responded "N-C STATE." It was refreshing to see an artist make the city and crowd feel special the way he did.
He brought guys on stage for "Spazz" and girls on stage for "Everyone Nose" and "The Way She Moves." Overall, It was an amazing concert with great energy and a MUST see it and when either of these artists come to a city near you...
-DaveEmoney
Also, Big Shout Out to my Co-Photographer Chase Williams!
