Friday at Safari
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

It was raining. I sat down - there was a movie playing on the TV with Kevin Bacon - I looked it up, it is called White Water Summer. The people next to me talked about it, especially the thin rope bridge in a few scenes. As Packy set up the lights, they shined brightly into the lounge. There was only a tiny crowd at the beginning because of FF's absence the week before and the rain.

Onstage, Doc made fun of Halima's dancing - I said to Doc, "Don't go on Soultrain." He said, "That was her dancing". I asked how his dancing was. He said, "how much money do you have, I'm bored." I told him about DJ Mike Nice the leader of the Butta Team in Durham, a Hip Hop radio show - he stands still against the wall like in a trance when he gets into a song, and has to pull over when driving when he gets into a song on the radio.

I told Dwayne what Jauhar said about him on Tuesday, he laughed.

I talked with Halima. She said she was working on music from the Gibb Brothers, she asked if I was old enough to know who they are. I said, "The Bee Gees, I am older than you!" I asked her if she rapped, she said yes, she's the whole package. She said both her parents were musically-inclined. I told Halima I would give her a copy of the book on GoGo. She asked if I wrote it. I said no, but I plan on writing my own. She said she wants to be in the chapter when GoGo goes international. I told her it is already international - they have a following in Japan, but that it's not national yet. Jeff (CrankinDrumma) was there with Donnell Jr. - Halima asked Donnell Jr. if he was old enough to drink, he said, "I'm almost 22!" I said, "Didn't you graduate?" He said, "No, that was my little brother (Derek)." She recognized a guy from the Safeway by her work and went to talk to him; he later came over to talk to me. His name is Mike Styles.

Michon was there with Candy, Yaquim and Britney were there.

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Grover Washington Jr.'s Mr. Magic
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Didn't Cha Know
Mike Styles introduced himself to me; he wanted to talk to me about another singer. He said that he had done the filming at Fur and he hadn't recognized her until then as the same singer - he said she's a great singer.
Mike (Muse) said to the crowd "We love you, even if you don't love us". Halima agreed with him.
3) James-led Jill Scott's Not Like Crazy - Mike was on backup vocals
4) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's As
5) Halima-led Faith Evans' Mesmerized
DeeDee was there, I said "Hey sis." Donnell said, "For two people to go on the boat ride is $100 that's one meatball".
Kato was there.

During the break, DP said, "I am sweating because we were under the chicken lights."

Second Set
1) They started to perform the music to Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't To You - a long pause then / Mike-led Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't To You - nice Smoke solo
2) Percussion solo
3) Halima-led Faith Evan's Again
4) Mike-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down
5) Mike-led John Legend's Used to Love U
6) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot - nice percussion solo
7) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease)
8) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda
9) Donnell-led "Why is ___ smiling, cause ___ ain't got no drawers!"
10) ? "Yeah slow"
BJ arrived during the set and watched them perform over by me.

I sat by Angie, Mara and Tracy for a bit, then went over and talked to Doc. Donnell and Doc talked about Mike's drumming, Donnell said he's as close to Footz as there is, Doc said Blue Eye is better in the pocket. We talked about Jammin' Jeff. He said, that's my man - he said he had talked to Jeff and found out the parting was mutual, he had a lot going on and he wasn't real happy playing in FF anymore. I told him about how when I walked out on April 12th that was his exit interview, and what Donnell said about Jeff at rehearsal this Tuesday before Doc got there. Doc also talked about my line in the blog about Boolah - "Dwayne Lee is my friend and I like his playing, but I miss Boolah". He said Boolah is a world class talent, GoGo was holding him back. He understood that he was fired and why. At one point Tracy/Mara/Angie said something and I pretended to listen in - cupped my ear - they laughed. I told them about stealth microphones that tapers use.

Third Set
1) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
2) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's Superstition
3) Mike-led Prince's Take Me With You - the crowd sang too
4) Donnell-led Hold the Note - Go-Go Mickey sat in, first on cowbell, then timbales, then congas
5) Donnell-led "Lincoln Heights" chant
6) Donnell-led 20 Minute Workout
7) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Body Snatchers (tease)
8) Donnell-led Rare Essence's What N*gga What?
9) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Uh Oh (Heads up)
10) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
Stacey, Britney and a number of other women danced on stage with the band
11) Donnell-led Miss Keta Will You Dance for Me / "Od ba ba ba" - end of Go-Go Mickey's sitting in
12) Percussion solo with Donnell rapping
13) Donnell-led "What ah oh? Lincoln Heights"
14) Donnell-led Minnie Riperton's Memory Lane
15) Donnell-led Slick Rick's La Di Da Di "Don't hurt nobody" - the crowd sang along
16) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
Godfather and I went out in the parking lot, Michon introduced Candy to us. They teased Godfather about how they would have hung out with him in Myrtle Beach.