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Hip-hop Hubbub

The Soulicious show at the fairgrounds fizzles--and no one cares By Todd S. Inoue Words I dread hearing at a show: "Get off stage! They're shooting back!" I hear them at the Soulicious shows Saturday (June 7) at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. No gunshots follow, but 400 people start to scatter, anyway. I look into the bright lights at the entrance and see silhouettes darting outside. The Souls of Mischief are just three songs into their performance, but vocalist Opio is getting an earful from a friend who wants them off stage. Now. What was the problem? A few loose nuts bum-rushed the door, and everyone freaked out. Show over. And nobody gives a damn. The sad thing is that everyone is used to faulty hip-hop shows. Seeing a concert at the fairgrounds? Expect a beef. Crappy sound system? We just twitch our heads at the constant feedback from the microphones. Ten-dollar tickets for 10 minutes of the headliner? No problem. Ten guys on stage with only four of them holding microphones? Wow. Everything seemed in place Saturday. No alcohol was served. Security guards frisked everyone. The acts weren't pushing gangsta fantasies. Hookah Units and Rasta did their thing. D'Jam Hassan and Posatively Red spun. But the majority of the audience was there to see the Souls of Mischief, who were just getting open when the beef broke out. Sad. And San Jose wants to move annual Cinco de Mayo festivities to the fairgrounds? We can't even handle a stupid hip-hop show. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]