This year's Las Vegas Super Show concert can be considered one of, if not the, best in years. Lowrider Magazine Tours have had many hot acts throughout the years. The list includes the Ying Yang Twins, Mike Jones, David Banner, Young Bloods, Mack 10, Warren G, Pit Bull, NB Ridaz, Psycho Realm, Lisa Lisa, Doug E. Fresh, Run DMC, War, and Zapp & Roger. This year, Lowrider Events really out did themselves with their Las Vegas lineup. Tour Director Mike Karsting and Tour Manager Jon Henriquez kept the phone lines burning in an effort to nail down major entertainment for the stage. After a couple of weeks of negotiations, it was a done deal as the last of the contracts was confirmed. The lineup would consist of Lil' Rob opening up the concert for the "insane in the membrane" B-Real of Cypress Hill, followed by Baby Bash, who would set the mood for Ice Cube.
First to get on stage was E-man from L.A's Power 106 FM, who would be Lil' Rob's DJ for the day. After dropping Rob's intro, Lil' Rob came on stage and started off the concert for the crowd. Rob opened up with a few of his latest songs from his new album, Twelve Eighteen Part 1, which included the songs "Summer Night," "Super Bad," "Playground" and "Bring Out The Freak In You." The crowd went wild as Rob went through his set. DJ E-man tore it up as he scratched and mixed Lil' Rob's songs into one long 20-minute continuous piece.
Next up was the gunslinger himself, B-Real of Cypress Hill, who also brought out Mellow Man Ace and Son Doobie, to start off with a few songs from B's Gunslinger album. During his set, B-Real also gave the crowd a few of his classics, including "Ain't Going Out Like That," "Insane In The Brain" and "Hand On The Glock." During his set, B-Real also gave a shout-out to his club, Lifestyle C.C., to declare his allegiance and let everyone know that he's really connected to the lowrider scene.
Baby Bash, AKA "The Smokin' Nephew," had the girls going wild as he sang a few songs from his latest album Super Saucy that included "Baby, I'm Back" and "No Way Jose." Bash then took it back to his roots as he sang his break-through song "Suga, Suga" before departing from the stage. When we caught up to Bash backstage, the humble super star was happy to see us. "Yeah, this was pimp, everything went well," he said. "I can't wait to read about it in the up-coming issue. Hey, I read your bio in the Girls of Lowriding special. That's tight. I got to read about all of you guys. That's cool. When's the next one coming out?" We were a little surprised that Bash actually reads the magazine. We told him that we'll be doing two new specials in 2006. We'll send him one around March when it comes back from the printer.
After Baby Bash had dashed off, there was only one guy left scheduled to perform. All you heard was "Ice Cube, Ice Cube, Ice Cube." The crowd was clearly ready for the "Godfather of Gangster Rap" to come on stage. For security reasons, the stage and the backstage area were cleared to make room for Ice Cube to enter directly from his private charter tour bus. With the music cued up, Ice Cube hit the stage and the crowd went wild as he started his set. The crowd went even wilder when WC joined Cube. The duo dropped some West Side Connection classics that included "Bow Down," "Check Yo Self," "We Be Clubbin' " and "You Know How We Do It." Cube also performed some of his high-energy classic hits. Cube also let the crowd know that he was taking this opportunity to film a new video. Cube had been filming background material all weekend, making things happen, and he wrapped up his performance by filming and singing his new single "Chrome and Paint."
We could've been there for a couple more hours as this was a hot lineup of acts that the guys had put together, but the car show demanded our attention. The "grapevine" on the street was that this was the best concert to hit the Lowrider Tour circuit ever. We think that, for once, the rumors were true. Of course, now that they've set the bar so high, the Lowrider Events team will be pressed to come up with something big again in '06. We'll have to see how the guys do when the 2006 Lowrider Tour kicks off in Miami, Florida, in February.
Ice Cube kept his cool persona throughout his hot stage act.
Lil' Rob got a big response from the crowd during his set.
Baby Bash had the girlies in the audience in the palm of his hand.
B-Real fired off a few from his Gunslinger album before devastating the crowd with his classic hits.
E-man from L.A's Power 106 FM sets the stage.