The line at 330 Ritch last night stretched around the corner, as music listeners around the Bay Area waited their turn to see the first tour stop of the New Culture tour featuring headliners J*DaVey, Blu and Def Sound.
All from Southern California, the New Culture Tour is a joint 16 date tour between J*DaVey and Blu setting the stage for new releases from both in the form of J*DaVeY’s highly anticipated New Designer Drug, and Blu’s NoYork! The tour also featured opening act Def Sound, a producer and rapper who came to the stage in a unique get up—high top fade, cheetah print shoes, space aged sunglasses and a suit. His set paid homage to a little bit of everything even adding in Bay Area’s own phenomena Lil B’. Def Sounds’ set was really energetic, and he had a great stage presence with a great level of confidence as he sat on the stage Indian style for the beginning of a song.
When emcee Blu came to the stage, many were under the impression he’d solely be performing a large quantity of songs from projects on his discography—Below The Heavens, Powders and Oils, (So)ul Amazing, and HerFavoriteColo(u)r, however, his set gave a snippet of a little of each while adding in songs from his highly anticipated forthcoming project, NoYork!.
During Blu’s performance, it seemed as if the audience was either restless or unfamiliar with his music—however, those who were would scream for songs they knew or rapped along with him, notably when he performed “Up All Night,” from his mixtape Powders & Oils.
When duo J*DaVeY finally entered the stage, assisted by Def Sound, the crowd went wild. J*DaVeY made up of vocalist, Miss Jack Davey, and producer Brook D’Leau entered the scene in 2008 with their debut album Beauty In Distortion/Land of The Lost, and since then the duo has gained legions of fans for their inevitable and interesting approach to music.
Dressed in star spangled daisy dukes, Miss Jack Davey entered the stage and began singing into the microphone setting the stage for what’s to come and fully setting up what makes a great stage show. Covering songs from their whole discography, even including new music from their upcoming release New Designer Drug, the duo laid out a few key things that make for a great stage show.
First, for any great stage show should come a great stage presence something that Miss Jack Davey has mastered to perfection. Whether it’s her rolling on the ground, dancing or crawling, her presence on the stage keeps the audience fully captivated, as well as Brook D’Leau’s presence whether he’s on the computer, or playing the drums you always are watching one of the two.
Secondly, what makes for a great show is going full out. Like the cliché says, “Go Hard or Go Home,” this the duo has mastered as well. Nothing about their set appeared to be an after thought whether it was from Brook D’Leau doing the music, or Miss Jack Davey singing every song full out. Thirdly, you MUST involve your crowd. When the duo performed “Hey Mister” and “End Of The World (Mama’s Back)” they let members of the audience come up on the stage and Miss Jack Davey fully interacted with those on the stage, while still giving her attention to those in the audience.
The last thing that made for a great set from J*DaVeY is the fact that they made sure they performed songs that everyone wants to hear. Typically, these days, artists perform songs at their shows that basically is from a new project forgetting the fact that yes, we are fans, but we want to hear why we are a fan with music that we like. J*DaVeY kept this in mind, performing songs from all of their projects, as well as giving a preview of what would be coming with their upcoming album.
Overall, if this tour comes to your city, make sure you check it out, check out tour dates here. Also, check out some great videos from the show here, and pictures courtesy 3860 Photography and OnTaskFamily.com.
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