This weekend was GREAT!

This was truly a weekend of FIRST's because it was:

#1: My First time arriving within close proximity of the harbor and finding a FREE parking spot (metered, but it was after 6PM) without having to circle the block 10 times (you know you can get a ticket in Bmore for doing this - its called "cruising")

#2: My first time hanging out with my peoples! She and I attended the SUGAR WATER FESTIVAL at the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia. She is doing her thing in Boston and stopped through Bmore on her way home from her Bermudian vacation (must be nice!).

#3: My First time ever walking into the Cheesecake Factory ABSOLUTELY famished and got a table (in the bar area none the less) within 5 mins of arriving. I put my name on the list and was walking past the place to tell my gf and saw the table through the window at the back bar and had to run back in before someone snatched it up. The wait for a table in the dining room was 1.5 - 2 hours for a 2-top! SHEESH!

#4: My first time at the Merriweather Post Pavilion (Its in the woods 4 real!)

#5: My first time spending $10 on something to drink that would not last me a good month.

#6: My first experience with lawn seats. I found it to be quite enjoyable. We had a blanket, but the move it to get one of those folding chairs that come in the bags that you can strap across your back. People had candles out there...incense....tents (LOL!)....babies...some people sat at the picnic tables....and ate you $5 hotdog, $10 corona and $4 bags of popcorn (I thought the movies' concession game was gangsta).

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The line up was crazy!!! I am the biggest Eryka Badu fan and the first (and last) time I saw Jill Scott in concert.....she killed it. Queen Latifah was a mystery bag for me, but I am an admirer of hers....so I was excited to see how she would bring it. I bought the Dana Owens album and loved it, but I was hoping that she did more of a hip hop set. When the festival came through last year....Floetry was on the card. Im not sure what happened to them, but, Kelis and hometown favorite, Mo Nique, filled in marvelously.

I wonder if this show is going to turn into some kind of "LILITH FAIR CONCERT SERIES"? If so....BRAVO my sistahs! THEY OWN THE TOUR & that is big $$$. The aforementioned was one of the biggest grossing concert series (of its kind) EVER!


AS for the show.....

The excitement was in the air, but I left the show wanting more.....

Kelis...was boring. Sorry. but Sistah Girl LOOKED really good! She rocked a bright yellow dress that really complimented her svelte new figure. She performed, "you took my heartbeat from me" (not sure of the actual name, but i loved that song...like "listen to it 8 times in a row ereday for a week" loved it), milkshake had all the homosexual men in the spot gettin "slick wit it" and of course she bought everyone to their feet with Bossy, but the show was definitely "opening act" material. ......& I am a Kelis FAN! I still f*cks with her, but I am not sure that her set made anyone want to go out and buy one of her $20 tank tops or her new CD that is ready to drop later this month (if I am not mistaken). FYI: Keleidoscope was a HOT album. Her voice is so deep..which is sexy recorded, but live....it really loses something and doesn't do anything to keep your attention. Plus ....she is a lil thing...LOL! Or maybe that was because I was so DANG far away from the stage.

Mo Nique (was she always spelling her name as 2 separate words.....LOL!) was next to take the stage rocking this dress that really showed off her bodacious BODY! This is amazing ...considering she is a new mom. Congrats Mo Nique on the new set of twins. She is looking really good yall (she came back on stage after Jill Scott workin these jean shorts that would have made the big girls of the world proud!).....and she must have a new hair dresser b/c the do's she used to rock on her TV show were some classic ish! Although she can get silly with the subject matter.....she is funny as hell when she is talking about real life stuff. IMO it seemed like the more vulgar she got the more the crowd responded to her. LOL! Mo so Baltimore-ish!....LOUD....PAINFULLY TRUTHFUL.....ODDLY INVITING.....RUDE.....BLUNT....MIXED IN WITH GENUINE COMPASSION AND DOWN HOME CONCERN....LOL! She was crackin on the audience members right after thanking them for coming out and supporting - But that is part of her charm. Apparently....there is a new interview in the Essence magazine where Mo Nique is interviewing Jill Scott (who I'm pretty sure wasn't wearning a wedding ring...hmmmm???)....its supposed to be off the hook. Mo Nique admits to being involved in an open marriage with a life long friend. WOW! I'm buying the mag just to find out about that....& What ever happened to Gerald Levert? This women got TALES.

It seemed like all the other performers were really ego trippin!

The first time I saw Jill Scott...she was a NEW artist to me. She came to Pier 6 (a few years back) and a co-worker (who was already a fan) and I went to the show. I instantly fell in love with her mixture of poetry, live instrumentation and that robust voice that can go from soprano (oper-a-tic like FA LA La LA LAaaaaaaahhhHHHHHHHHHHH) to tenor with ease. Several ppl around us commented that she had lost a few pds although I never paid that much attention to her weight to be able to tell. The woman that stood before me on Sunday night was not as hungry. She didn't show off at all. She pretty much stayed in one spot...wore one (albeit beautifully golden) expression and did like 2 songs off of the 1st album (her biggest commercial success) and the rest of her set was either from her "Golden" Album or brand NEW material. I couldn't believe it. She looked really great tho LOL! - plain, but cute. She took it way back with the Bamboo's with the name in them. I want some of them....but I just can't figure if I would wear them enought to justify the espense.

The Queen took the stage next.....WOW! what a difference a breast reduction makes. It makes her look significantly thinner now that she has boobies that are more proportionate with her frame. She kept her look really simple....I like it! White pants with a sassy red sequence tuxedo strip down the pant leg and red top. She almost looked plain except for the abundance of ICE that graced her neck....DANG! Cover Girl and that movie money must be nice. I noticed that she stopped wearing the key to her deceased brother motorcycle around her neck. I can imagine how hard that was.....I remember her talking about how much he meant to her. She mostly performed songs from the jazz album and NEW material. She was another one that just blew me with their inability to give me what I paid for.....LOL! Yes it was all about me. No body wants to be introduced to NEW music at a concert unless you're bringing Jay Z out as a surprised guest to perform the hook. The only rap song I remember her performing at the very END of her set was U.N.I.T.Y.....No Ladies First, Just Another Day, Come into My House, WTF???


My GIRL E Badu is such a head liner! This fact is a double edge sword. She is so good that I would imagine that very few performers could go after her, but because of this.... I'm prolly never going to get to watch her whole set LOL! I hate to wait until the end of a show/ball game/etc. because it usually takes you an hour to get out of the lot. I love E....so she could do NO wrong. She came out looking wild....BIG wild hair, funky knee high boots....silky green kimono...I love her style. She is an emcee too so....she likes to comes off the dome with stuff. Classic Material for real - Think "Tyrone" (FREESTYLE) or "ya Yo". I only watched about 15 mins of her set (it was 10:00PM when we left), but I left the spot promising to dust off "Mama's Gun" this weekend.

Please do not misunderstand me.....the performances far from dissapointed me but when I go to a concert of established artists I expect them to know that I am paying for the familiarity. I pay to be able to join in.

I bought a cool T-shirt to remember the festival...hopefully it will come around again next year and Ill get another shirt. I pray these women keep it going.....this was a beautiful experience. I loved the positive energy.....mixing of auras.....diversity of the audience and the FINE example of women doing the damn thing!

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