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Q-Tip is a Dancing Machine at All Points West
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Photo by Bianca Seidman-Shvarts
Upon first glance at Tip at All Points West, it is clear he has on a modified version of a Michael Jackson outfit, with black pants, a black jacket, and a white v-neck t-shirt. But Kamaal’s version is baggier, and with some black, green, and red Nikes rather than penny loafers. DJ Scratch warmed up the crowd, instructing the audience to raise their right hand for Michael Jackson, and their left hand for Dilla, informing them that “It’s not one love, it’s one glove”! With all this considered, it is no suprise his next show will be a Michael Jackson tribute show.
So, how would this work? Would he cover MJ songs directly? Q-Tip did not perform with Mark Ronson or DJ Spinna on this appearance. Rather than doing straight covers of MJ songs, he laced impersonations and dances in between each cut. The highlight of the night was when his band started playing “Dancing Machine”, and Q did the signature robot move that Michael did for this dance routine. Although it was not “clean”, it was the most entertaining of the MJ attempts. Some were downright embarrassing for the audience, like when he kept going for high notes and not QUITE hitting them. At one point, he lurched into “Human Nature”, but did not sing any of the lyrics; he resorted to uttering some babble where the lyrics would go. When he would do the kicking moves and “pointing standing still” like Michael did….it just started getting uncomfortable to watch after a while.
Q-Tip is like your 9-year old child or relative putting on a performance for you: Although it is not too good, it is full of enthusiasm, so you can’t help but love it. Besides, he performed “Sucka N***a” and dedicated it to Adam Yauch, saying that the Beastie Boy was actually in the studio with him when he recorded it. The times he went back to the old “safe” standard songs was when I enjoyed him most. Some of these included “1nce Again“, "Find My Way”, “Scenario”, “Vivrant Thing”, “Award Tour”, and to round it out? “Bonita Applebaum”, in which Q-Tip mentioned the beautiful Statue of Liberty.
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