Show: Fresh Fest 2010
Date: September 18, 2010
Venue: Nokia Theater
City: Los Angeles, CA
Fresh Fest 2010
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Alex Groberman
Putting on a show that would have been completely out of place anywhere outside of Los Angeles, KDAY’s one-of-a-kind Fresh Fest 2010 event at the Nokia Theater was a tribute to west coast hip hop and all its glory.
Rodney O and Joe Cooley kicked things off, appropriately so, considering they were truly the first to represent the left coast the way it deserved to be represented. As Rodney made sure to point out to everyone in attendance, he was the first person out there man enough to shout out, “Fuck New York.” The performance was the absolutely ideal way to start off a night dedicated to all things anti-east coast just by showing how superior west coast rap was.
Next up on the agenda was the first Chicano OG, Kid Frost. Introduced by special guest, “Machete” star Danny Trejo, Frost rocked the crowd with all of his classic tunes aside from, oddly enough, “La Raza.” Towards the end of his set, the famed rapper brought out his son and the two performed a few powerful songs together in what could only be described as an on-stage passing of the torch between family members. The set closed with Frost showing that even OG’s can catch up with the times, as he hyped up his Twitter page and told all in attendance to follow.
DJ Quik, with a full band accompanying him, rocked the crowd next, blasting some of his greatest hits like “Tonite,” “Down Down Down” and “Jus’ Like Compton” to a crowd that was eating up every syllable he uttered. The oddly calming performance became the perfect jump-off point for the latter part of the evening, and no doubt the part of the show that everyone had been looking forward to.
The Dogg Pound emerged from backstage next, rocking out the crowd with all of their classic tunes. Interestingly enough, they had far more people on stage with them than anyone would have before or after them (possibly in the history of the venue) including Lady of Rage, RBX, Bo-Rock and The Twinz. The highlight of the set, without a doubt, was Warren G spitting the infamous lyrics to “Regulate” while absolutely everyone in attendance rapped along.
When the clock struck eleven and it was time to roll out the headliner, a shiny faced “Sugar” Shane Mosley decked out in a blue suit came out to introduce Ice Cube. Along with his DJ, Crazy Toones and his big brother WC, Cube entertained the crowd with all of his classics, including “Steady Mobbin’,” “Bop Gun,” “We Be Clubbin’,” “You Know How We Do It,” and of course, “It Was a Good Day.” The west coast legend was also kind enough to drop a few songs from his newly released “I Am the West” album including “She Couldn’t Make it on Her Own,” featuring his son, and “I Rep That West.” Reminding everyone that he was the king of the left coast, Cube ended his performance with a warning for people not to act up when they left, and then headed off stage. No other ending to a concert that epitomized what the west was all about would have been appropriate.
It was a good day!