This weekend, Dallas celebrated one of it's most beloved local traditions with the Lower Greenville St. Patrick's Day Parade. The booze was flowing, the traffic was blocked off, and the turn up was very real. To further add to the excitement, our annual parade concert stage was headlined by none other than Atlanta's own Ludacris. We had Paige Skinner and Vanessa Quilantan on the scene, and here is what they saw.
The Drunkening Everyone was drunk. One couple was so drunk the woman tried to climb on her man's shoulders to see Luda over the crowd. Drinks in hands, the man crouched down and the woman began to straddle him with his head in between her legs. Wobbly and trying to gain their balance, they both fell in a puddle of water. With their soaking backs and legs, they got up, dusted each other off, and tried again. Paige Skinner
The Dancing Of course people are going to dance at a Ludacris concert, but dance-offs are such a big part of the St. Patrick's Day Parade tradition. If you walked down Greenville Ave to take in the sights before you made your way to the concert stage, you know exactly what I'm talking about. There's music of all kinds coming from every different direction, and the friendly impromptu dance battles pop up all over the street. Vanessa Quilantan
The contact high The aroma of weed was enough to get high without take a puff. And thanks to one man, puffs weren't even necessary. He was offering what looked like chocolate chip cookies from a Ziploc bag. After a nearby guy passed because of his professional job, it became apparent they weren't Mama's home-baked cookies. PS
The friendly crowd When you're squished shoulder to shoulder with your fellow concert patrons in the rain, inhibitions and guards are let down quickly. Leading up to Ludacris' set, those of us up front were all laughing, chatting each other up, and getting to know each other. Sure, people are more inclined to talk to strangers after a few drinks, but there was a real sense of camaraderie there. Right after the headlining set kicked off, a few shoves were exchanged between a couple of dudes near the front center of the crowd. Though it looked like a fight would break out, surrounding patrons quickly talked the two men down. VQ
"Yeah" When Ludacris began to perform "Yeah," Usher's huge 2004 hit single, the white people in attendance went out-of-their-minds nuts. They were jumping up and down with their hands in the air and singing along to the 2004 hit. And that's because "Yeah" is pretty much the whitest rap song ever. PS
The Parking Deck You've got to hand it to Dallas, we sure are resourceful. When the sold-out concert hit capacity, fans got the bright idea to pile into a multi-story parking garage to watch the show for free. It looked like they had a proper cookout going up there too. Food, booze and Ludacris -- who could ask for anything more? VQ
The Downpour At some point during the beginning of Luda's set, the weather gods wanted everyone to wash down their green beer with a little rain. The light sprinkle quickly turned into a downpour, which apparently washed away everyone's dignity. Something about soaked clothes made everyone shameless and sexy. "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" shirt or not, people were making out and bumping and grinding. PS
"Move Bitch" When he started taking requests from the crowd (to hell with all of you loud enough to be heard, who chose not to yell out "Phat Rabbit") someone demanded Luda's 2001 single "Move Bitch." Before he would grant this request, he told the crowd that the only way he would play the hype-as-hell aggressively themed record, was if they promised not to hurt each other out there. In the past, large crowds have gotten a little too turnt for the fan favorite, and ended up trampling each other. Luckily, the well-spirited Dallas audience refrained from going overboard. VQ
A Lack of Bieber Luda failed to play the one song that surely everyone was there to hear: "Baby" by Justin Bieber. Let's all take a moment to imagine concertgoers drinking Lime-a-ritas and smoking whatever while Luda sang his verse of the hit. "When I was 13, I had my first love." Opportunity missed. PS
The sunglasses Ludacris performed his entire set in a pair of very fancy designer stunner shades, even though it was gloomy and raining. Ridiculous? Never. Ludacris? Always. VQ
