10) Ben Folds – Bitches Ain’t Shit
Annoying ironic connotations aside – not to mention free form use of the n-word – what irks me about this is the insistence of keeping the Eazy-E dissing in there over a decade after the man died of AIDS and even Dr. Dre himself had come to peace with the rift. That just seems like being clever to entertain white folks in the south on a man’s grave. Despite that, it’s still catchy.
9) El-P – The Overly Dramatic Truth
It’s a shame the sound is all messed up and all that is audible are the vocals, backing track and horns, or else this would probably be a lot higher on this list. I could instead use the performance from Conan but NBC been straight violating.
8 ) Supertramp – Goodbye Stranger
If this awesome song weren’t enough, it makes the list for two things a) the bearded singing guy’s expression through the whole song and b) the bearded saxophonist not having anything to do because the song has no horns so he just becomes some kind of prog rock drum major in the middle of the stage. That’s the one cool thing about overcrowded bands with like 17 piece horn sections, when the song has no horns they kinda have to just stand there for 7-12 minutes. If I were in that position I would probably c-walk or blood stomp for the duration of the song, depending on what neighborhood we were performing that night.
7) Ghostface Killah – Holla
Turn on the blue lights, man. One of the problems with hip hop concerts in small venues is that the performers have no idea how sound set ups work and the fact that they have 200 hypemen on stage with them all shouting punch-ins at the same time renders the stage monitors useless. So often times the show is just 201 men shouting over a DJ who has the bass levels too high, with the flow interrupted because the rapper whose verse it is has the mic that just died and has to find one that works, then when the song’s over someone threatens the soundman’s life unless he turns up the monitors, man. And this performance is no different. However, all is worth it at the end of it all when Ghostface is able to rise up over the cacophony of hypemen to deliver an impassioned second verse. Like an angry crippled man don’t push he, indeed.
6) Wu Tang Clan – ODB’s Crazed Rant/Protect Ya Neck
For much of the late 90’s and early parts of this decade the Wu Tang Clan were deity and all but infallible in NYC. So it’s strange to see this video of ODB being ODB before they were known and the crowd just not having it. Also strange, U-God getting a lot of love because people don’t know that he’s U-God, or who U-God is yet for that matter.
*PETER KING STYLE ADDED BONUS*
C.R.E.A.M. live on Arsenio Hall. A lot going on right there.
5)Radiohead – Idioteque
Assholes didn’t do this song when I saw them and that’s all I really wanted from them.
*CHRIS BERMAN STYLE ADDED BONUS*
Creep live at the MTV Spring Break pool house. Yes, that’s Creep live at the MTV Spring Break pool house.
4) The Roots & Jill Scott – You Got Me
Sometime after Phrenology dropped I started getting into Roots live bootleg mp3s. They were like the Phish of hip hop. Technically I don’t need 12 different versions of 100% Dundee, but I still collected complete concerts for their patented show stopper, You Got Me. There were many different versions of You Got Me, a crunk one, a Brazilian jazz one, a straight hip hop one. This one, from the MTV2 $2 Bill series is probably the best one. Unfortunately the video cuts off the 2 minutes of jazz space odyssey canoodling that takes place at the beginning. Bonus points for Blackthought deftly rapping the Eve parts and it not sounding weird that the ball player from New York think he pretty, er she pretty.
3) Arsenio Hall Sendoff
Incredible restraint by everyone involved not to shout over everyone, and to get the working mic around swiftly. Oh hey, Chip-Fu. Also, with all those middle school legends, how did they decide to end with Mad Lion? Take it easy, indeed.
2) TV on the Radio – Ambulance
I’m just being honest here, I simply fucking love this.
Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street
Loved #10.
And so begins the coming of Occam Razor. I think for true Bermanesque pastiche, you need a cutaway to a totally unrelated news event, like a Sidney Crosby press conference item. That, and some Bad Company, though Supertramp works too.
Wow, Lazy-eyed Thom with a bleached-blonde pony tail. The 90s were a weird fucking time.
You, once again, have nailed it. My list probably would exchange a few in there,(maybe add a Bowie and a Byrne-both have too many good videos) but your taste is superb, your knowledge of sound issues at hip-hop shows is oddly accurate, and you’re funny.
and cute.
#1 and 2 make me weak.in a good way.
One thing’s for certain: Bitches ain’t shit in Nashville.
I remember first seeing Radiohead perform “Idioteque” on SNL, and thinking that the song was interesting enough, with a decent groove, but being mesmerized by whatever the fuck Jonny Greenwood was doing. It was like he was operating a phone switchboard, moving wires around in some giant blocky bit of machinery. It was fascinating to watch.
occam! you’re back! this is fantastic! i’m soooo glad you had the tv on the radio in your list, that was rad.
benjamin, STOP BEING A GD HATER!
and ODB? that’s very very very cool….
Peanut, you know I have to make fun of Thom Yorke every time he’s mentioned in a post. It’s in my contract.
….sigh……
I’m surprised you didn’t include the Jonas Brother’s live version of Superstition, being the enormous fan you are of them.