Last Sunday night may have been the first time Black Eyed Peas recited an impromptu freestyle driven by shout-outs to “G-Dub.” However, the estimated 2,500 people who attended the band’s recent GW performance appeared as if they hoped it wasn’t the last.
“The show was amazing. I went crazy,” said junior Jackie Burgess, panting as she made her way off the main floor.
The hip-hop/funk act penciled GW in as the fourth to last date on a month-long college tour. The event came here due to a collaborative effort between the Program Board, which advertised, staffed and managed the event, and the Student Activities Center, which was responsible for bankrolling and booking.
Despite experiencing hangovers from a prior night spent partying at James Madison University, BEP made it to GW just in time for the performance. After making a delayed exit from his Smith Center dressing room, lead MC/producer will.i.am told The Hatchet that his night at JMU was “Just alright. We went to some dorm and they had Jell-O wresting.”
Outside, the crowd appeared unfazed by the band’s tardiness, as it grooved to the unique style of opening act the Wylde Bunch. The 14-member group, which has gone by the same nickname since days spent playing together in high school jazz and marching bands, garnered a large underground following in their home town of South Central Los Angeles before scoring big with a record deal at Columbia Records. Regardless of students’ admitted lack of familiarity with the Bunch, its genre-spanning blend of hip-hop, rock, R&B and big band feel was largely well received. Several female audience members also expressed sentiments for B, the band’s trumpet player, which rivaled that of male students’ fixation with BEP’s leading lady Fergie.
“I thought the Wylde Bunch was awesome. And the (trumpet player) who took his shirt off was incredibly attractive, ” freshman Julia King said.
Next up, the band of the hour claimed the stage, opening the floodgates with a hard-hitting beat and a shout-out to Alpha Phi sorority. Still drawing off the success of their most recent studio effort, the Peas’ formal set list consisted mainly of songs from their multi-platinum smash, Elephunk.
Fans who may have known the Peas solely based on radio hits appeared somewhat disoriented during an extended improv session that constituted nearly half the first set, as the group maintained its core identity by sticking with the fundamental jazz, hip-hop and funk principles on which it is based. While applause ebbed and rose in time with each of the MC’s solo raps and broke into a fury for Fergie’s soulful scat, the crowd then reached a near-standstill as each of BEP’s band members took a moment to tout their technical skills. However despite the lack of movement, several students said this was their favorite part of the show, and that you cannot judge quality based on response because GW crowds are “always dead.”
In contrast, when BEP reemerged after a seemingly premature exit, the crowd erupted almost as aggressively as Fergie’s on stage gyrations. Interspersed with sensational floor rocks and Bboy contortions, the band touched base once again with the masses to perform an pseudo-encore that lasted nearly as long as the first set, including hit tracks such as “Shut up,” “Latin Girls” and a grand finale performance of the surefire troublemaker “Let’s Get Retarded.”
Although members will.i.am and Fergie had previously indicated interest in pursuing solo projects, both announced last June that they would postpone these efforts to continue riding the group’s current wave of momentum. will.i.am told The Hatchet that BEP’s much-anticipated forthcoming album Monkey Business is scheduled to drop Feb. 22.
The group recently tied up a string of performances at various political events, including a spot at John Kerry’s election night rally at Boston’s Copley Square. After calling the performance “very emotional,” will.i.am explained that BEP’s political involvement all began at the 2004 Grammys. “I told everyone to get out and vote and (FCC chairman Michael Powell’s wife) said we should stay involved with that.”
At the GW show, BEP elicited perhaps the strongest crowd response midway through its 9/11 dedication song “Where’s the Love,” when will.i.am asked students if they had voted and then named each of the candidates. He corrected fans who booed President Bush, saying, “You gotta have a positive outlook on America and the direction where we’re going. We have to keep that positive, uplifting spirit coming.”
“This is the first year I voted,” he continued, saying that his choice was John Kerry. Expressing satisfaction with this year’s youth voter turnout, he said, “A lot of our spirits are low because we lost. But 2008 is a different mother (expletive) year, yo!”
