I knew that, with the election, the world was changing around me and I had no control. Like majority of my generation, I felt lost. Sure, I could have gone to the bars with all of my friends and drank my fears and tears away but that’s not my style so I grabbed my brother, went downtown, and lost myself in a concert. Being able to escape so easily during such a scary, uncertain, nerve-wracking night is something that I will never take for granted.
Just being at a concert really took the edge off for me but the fact that it was a fun concert full of great music and jokes that damn near had me on the ground in laughter, really made me forget about all of the drama out in the real world.
The show started with Mega Ran and, if you ask me, he stole the damn show. He was genuine on stage and you knew that he was truly thankful to be performing for us. He was honest, apologized for apparently being too demanding when he told the audience to put their hands in the air, he was funny as he talked about being a teacher back in the day, he was real… and that’s all any of us wanted.
Nothing about Mega Ran’s set was serious other than how it was seriously good. He was funny without being obscene. Even when he asked the crowd to get “turnt up”, he explained how he wanted the crowd to just do the “vertical turnt up” dance. He showed the crowd how to just move their arms and elbows and, throughout his song “Rapping About Rapping” he would just randomly shout, “Elbows!” and the crowd knew what to do. It may sound childish, but watching the crowd respond to “Elbows” was more than enough for me to stop checking my phone for election updates.
Having never heard of Mega Ran before, I was super impressed by him and truly hope to see him again in the near future when he is given a bit longer of a set. I think he has a lot to say and I want to hear every last word of it.
Up next was MC Lars, the main reason I wanted to go to the show last night. MC Lars has to be one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. He, much like Megan Ran, is the type of person that absolutely brightens up a room, regardless of how dark it is, just by walking in. His presence was more than enough to get people to stop talking about the current polls, take a deep breath, and just enjoy being where they were with who they were with.
What I love about MC Lars is his attitude. He doesn’t cuss.. at all. Coming from a girl with a mouth like a sailor, this is truly impressive and, in a world full of so much hate and obscenities, it’s truly a breath of fresh air. His songs are cute but not cheesy. The way he interacts with the crowd seems a bit scripted (maybe scripted isn’t the right word but it’s definitely a bit strange) but, it puts a smile on your face. Every time he finishes a sentence with “That’s tight, that’s tight!” you can’t help but giggle a little bit.
MC Lars played through his set with a little help from Mega Ran towards the end and, special guest, Neil of Koo Koo Kanga Roo. Watching the three men on stage dancing around, rapping about Edgar Allan Poe, and waving a Baltimore Ravens puppet around in the air (get it? Edgar Allan Poe… The Raven… Baltimore Ravens) was a sight to be scene. As I scanned the crowd, I realized there wasn’t a single person on their phone. Nobody was frowning, nobody seemed bummed out… we were all happy.
During MC Lars’ set, he had offered to update the sold out crowd on the election results but the crowd quickly shot that idea down. We didn’t care. We were at a concert. We wanted a concert, not politics. We wanted an escape. MC Lars respected the crowd but, within the ten minutes between his set and MC Chris taking the stage, you could feel the mood in the room shift. Numbers were starting to flow in and they were in favor for the one person that most of the crowd didn’t want. You could feel the tension in the room and the tension coming off the stage as MC Chris got set up but, as soon as MC Chris hit the space bar on his computer and the beat dropped, we were back to being happy with where we were and who we were with.
MC Chris distracted the crowd for an hour and a half with his geeky raps about Harry Potter and his comedy shtick. Did I get a little lost when he went on a ten minute rant about Star Wars? Sure! Did I get a crap? No. The alerts that kept lighting up my phone made me desperate for anything to distract me and I think MC Chris really stepped up and made himself be the distraction we were all begging for.
His attitude was priceless. He was nothing short of a dick to the people in the crowd but it wasn’t offensive. He had a way of interacting with the audience that was insulting but not over the line. It was almost as hilarious as his songs.
Have you seen that movie Zack & Miri Make a Porno? You know that rap that comes in about Boba Fett? That’s all MC Chris and that isn’t even his best song (although the crowd kept asking for it and he kept responding with “Well, obviously I’m going to play it you f*cking idiots!”). His attitude was so much different that that of MC Lars but the positive energy and fun that was in the atmosphere wasn’t different.
As the finally note rang out, people seemed to realize what exactly was happening in the outside world. Some people rushed to line up (in a single file line per MC Chris’ million requests) to get a selfie (where MC Chris would hold the phone for you… okay, he admitted to having a slight case of OCD) with the funnyman while others drifted towards the door. I popped into the bar next door to pee quick and realized that I had been in a bubble for the past couple of hours. The TV that I rushed passed while walking out of the bar was a reality check that I wasn’t ready for.