12 .A'<"C.ad.e I 18 OCTOBER, 1996 I THE TULANE HULLABALOO 'Headz' and moshers pack the House of Blues

Alex White Staff Writer

If you weren't at the House of Blues last week to catch De La Soul, Fishbone and the Goodie MoB, you missed one of the best concerts of this year. It started at around 9 p.m. when the Goodie MoB took to the stage. They put on a fine show a couple of months ago with the Fugees and Bahamadia. But this time around, it was obvious that the Goodie MoB has grown and matured far beyond its year in a short time. The members pushed showmanship and teamwork to a new dimension, play- ing off each others' rhymes with perfect timing and precision while retaining their laid-back, easy-going style. Their sh?ws are dope to begin with, but the additions of a live band and back-up inger made their music explode on stage. The live Fishbone drove the away at House of Blues. band gave Goodie MoB's music a depth more reminiscent of the old Parliament/Funkadelic than of a new- or Fishbone, but the band wasn't halfway of Posdnous and Trugoy, it is painfully it is one of the tightest CDs I've heard this school hip-hop group. through the third song when I realized it obvious to me that there are few true year. Not ince Bahamadia's Kol/age They performed most of· the songs had won over the entire crowd; soon M.C. 's in hip-hop right now. have such dope rhymes and phat beats hit from their debut album, Soul Food, and everybody in the place was doing the Nowadays, the radio waves are filled the scene. also played their latest recording, Bankhead Bounce (a dance which origi- with wack M.C.s with no real flavor But while the album is tight, I suggest "Blood." This song is on the new nated in southeast Atlanta). because they are only in it for the you go to see De La live instead if you America ls Dying Slowly compilation By the time the Goodie MoB exited almighty dollar. Whenever a new group can. They'll be playing in Florida this from Elektra Records. the stage, the 1100 or so people in the or rapper comes out, the music sounds week and will continue to tour throughout While the Goodie MoB is not the most sold-out crowd where hot, sweaty and like that ju t before it. And every ong is November, returning to New Orleans original hip-hop group on the set right begging for more. about some gun-toting gangsta with a later this year. However you do it, though, now, the group is without a doubt the best And luckily, it wasn't long before De forty in one hand and his ho's ass in the live or by CD, definitely try to get into the at what it does. The band's mixture of La Soul burst out onto the stage and gave other. De La Soul experience. southern-fried funk and smoothed-out it to them. Performing a selection of the But much like A Tribe Called Quest, The last performance of the night was hip-hop built on a base of old-school best tracks from Three Feet High and KRS-One, the Guru, Eric Sermon, Busta by the Lo Angeles funk-metal band rhymes is part of a recent movement in Rising, De La Soul is Dead, Buhloone Rhymes and other , De La Soul are the Fishbone. This was al o the point at rap music started by fellow Atlantans like Mindstate and the band's latest album, true hard Headz in this busines . which most of the black people in the OutKast, Society of Soul and Organized Stakes is High, De La put on the best Halfway through the set, De La did a audience made for the door. Fifteen min- Noize. show of the night. mix show. DJ. Maseo came out with a utes later you could count the brothers The Goodie MoB is the most versatile In the past few years Headz accused big crate of records and just started mix- and sisters on one hand. band of this movement, due to many dif- De La of falling off, but the group's per- ing and scratching from off the cuff like This rush for the door dismayed me ferent influences that the band members formance last weekend proved the band is the old school D.J.'s used to do. No because all these hip-hop Headz I'd bond- had while growing up in Atlanta. For back on track. doubt, De La Soul's show was buttah ed with throughout the show suddenly example, while group member Cee-Lo While it is true that much of Stakes is from beginning to end. seemed a little small-minded. l decided to was in military school, he Ii tened to High pales in compari on to the band's It wasn't until its performance at this give the brothers in Fishbone a chance. groups like Devo, The Sex Pistols and earlier work, when De La performs these year's Gavin Music Seminar in February What I was greeted with was an abra- Quiet Riot. He al o had an appreciation songs live there i a playfulness and soul that Tom Silverman, the head of Tommy sive brand of ska, funk, punk and metal for gospel music. Fellow band member T- to them which is somewhat lacking on the Boy Records, who had been contemplat- music that was so loud that I thought my Mo 's influences remain strictly with old- CD. ing dropping the band, decided to contin- head wa. going to explode. And then school rap. Like most of the Headz in the audi- ue backing De La Soul. I was at that there was the mosh pit: 20 or 30 scream- While Goodlie MoB' rhymes and ence, I grew up with De La Soul, so it was show, and it was easy to see why ing people slamming into each other with lyrics are directed toward the unification cool to hear all those tracks again. The Silverman kept the group at Tommy Boy. no remorse. That was when I made my of black people, the Goodie MoB' music crowd went mad when De La did De La drove the crowd crazy-mad when it way to the do0r. ultimately raises the consciou ne s of all "Potholes," "Jenifa (taught me)," "Me, hit the stage. It was also at this show that While I didn't exactly enjoy the fans, I people: black, white or whatever. Myself and I," "Say No .Go" and "Ring, the group first performed the tracks from found Fi. hbone to be an interesting band. At last Friday' performance, there Ring, Ring." Stakes is High. The appearance and sound was complete- were people of every race, creed and Sometimes we don't notice the gradual Stakes is High is a great departure ly different from anything I'd ever heard, color packed into the audience. Goodie shift that hip-hop music has taken lately, from the trademark sound of De La Soul. except in nightmares. But I'm happy I MoB came out to a smattering of but it takes a group like De La Soul to It is much darker and contains fewer sam- gave the brothers of Fishbone a chance. I applause, probably because most of the make us realize that it's taken a turn for ples and catchy hooks, which i · why it wish more Headz had done the same. crowd was there to either ee De La Soul the worse. After hearing the rhyme flow will ultimately receive little airplay. Still