Method Man and Redman House of Blues November 16, 2008
Better than: Smoking out at home and watching How High--not that I've done that or anything...
The return of Method Man and Redman to Dallas came at a bittersweet cost for some concertgoers. In particular, my entourage, who sent me back and forth between the House of Blues restaurant and the concert hall to see if anyone had taken the stage yet, as everyone was glued to the Cowboys game.
Things were scheduled to get off the ground around 8 p.m. but things started more than a half-hour late, which is uncharacteristic from other HOB experiences. But hey, maybe the guys just needed to roll a fat one first.
Still, it was disappointing to both the devotees and the performers themselves to see how sparse it was in the building.
Nonetheless, Meth and Red thanked us for coming out for them and promised to give us 110 percent.
For the most part, they did. (If I wanted to be an ass about it, I'd say they gave 100 percent because them doing the real version of How High and not that jackassed remix would've been the extra 10 percent...)
And, from the moment they took the stage, dissed us for not being loud enough, left the stage and then re-entered the stage, these dudes performed with a level of energy that's near-incomprehensible for today's rap stars.
They weren't weighed down with platinum and diamond chains. They weren't rocking $500 jeans. Red and Meth just brought us back to the grimey era, when cats were pretty much dressed like stick-up kids. They smoked blunts on the stage, threw water all over the place and surfed the crowd.
Still, there were some differences: Method Man looks about the same as he always has, but Red has aged considerably. But that didn't stop him from bounding across the stage and monkey-walking when the moment called for it. By far, this was the most active and crowd participation-driven show I've attended in a long time. There was a lot of "say ow" and "say ho"--but the funniest was Redman's rallying the audience to flip him the bird and yell, "Fuck you, Redman!" He cracked up and Method requested the same but told us all, "Fuck you too," before Red swung into "I'll Be Dat."
Street Life and Ready Rock from Gilla House joined them on the stage for a brief set, proving that they were worth a listen, and Street Life did a very convincing Ghostface impression on "Proteck Ya Neck."
And the headline duo performed "Time 4 Sum Aksion," "M.E.T.H.O.D. Man," "All I Need," "The Goodness," and a three-song tribute to Ol' Dirty Bastard, and at that point everyone went nuts. Still, much like "Soopaman Luva 5, pt. 2" on the Malpractice album, the set was abruptly over.
It was hot show, I got beer spilled in my hair (probably by one of my friends), and I definitely ended up with a contact high, but I left feeling like I still wanted more. --Quia Querisma
Critic's Notebook Personal Bias: I own (and have memorized) every Redman album in his catalog. I can't say that about any other artist, period.
Random Note: I got hit in the titty with a bottle of water Meth tossed from the stage.
By The Way: Before they performed (only two verses of) "Y.O.U." the guys announced that they were doing it without any backups and that it was a really hard track to do, so peep it. I was a little apathetic because Black Thought reliably performs "Men at Work" from start to finish without a disclaimer...
