Wednesday at Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

A guy appreciated Donnell's play during his warming up. He said, "That's a musician; a bad man."

Tim (LJ), Tamara, Nikki, June and his wife Shadonna, and Sharika were there.


Halima, Stomp, Donnell, DP, Godfather, Lorenzo, Dwayne


Smoke, Packy, Mike, Jacques, Halima, Doc, Stomp, Donnell, DP, Godfather


Smoke, Packy, Jacques, Mike, Halima, Doc, Stomp

Familiar Faces
First Set
1) Halima-led Beyonce's Wishing on a Star - really a sound check, but Mike sang backup as well
Mike said, "I feel it's time for us to make up."
2) Miles Davis' Tutu
3) Halima-led Whitney Houston's You Give Good Love (debut) - it was nice and came off well, I will have further comments when I watch the video I shot of it
4) Mike-led Raheem DeVaughn's Ask Yourself
5) Halima-led Jill Scott's Golden - Halima used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Donnell and DP went on the dance floor while playing their horns

Doc, Halima, Stomp, Donnell & DP on the dance floor, Godfather, Lorenzo
All pictures taken by and Copyright Jordan Rich
Mike said, "Did you see how they marched? I was scared."
6) Halima-led Fantasia's Free Yourself - Halima walked around, used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, bounced and got onstage, excellent / Halima & Mike-led Floetry's Say Yes - Halima gave a speech incorporating lyrics from both songs, she called out to Shadonna, but said, "I didn't want to be too personal", she went out on the dance floor, she used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, both of their singing was excellent / Halima-led Lionel Richie's Hello (tease)
Lorenzo said, "Dwayne Lee."
Donnell joked, "Who's that?"

Yaquim and Mike Smith were there.

I went outside during the break. Because of my cold, this time I went with Doc, Dwayne, DP, Godfather, Mike, Lorenzo, Telando, and a couple of guys I don't know to the BP gas station store (I got a Gatorade). Doc said that it must be serious with DP coming with them. Mike said that he wished Red Bull came in bigger cans. I told him that when I moved to LA, and had my stuff in storage that Red Bull ran their LA operations from a storage shed on the same floor as where my stuff was. They had maps, a phone bank and plenty of Red Bull. I told him he should get one of those Red Bull cars. They also taled about milk and being lactose intolerant. I told them that my brother was once told to not drink so much milk. After we left, they all joked about the attendant not scanning all the items, just making up prices. I said, "How much for one rib?" - a line from I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

They joked about Donnell already calling, "Let's roll" - he hadn't, but last week the start of the second set was much earlier than usual.

An old man came by, carrying a bamboo stick. Doc joked that he was going to jump someone. He later joked that that would be Godfather in ten years.

They started talking about ages - Godfather insisted that Doc was the oldest one in the band. Actually Godfather is. Jacques, Smoke, and a woman crossed the street. Godfather went after them. Dwayne then said, "Godfather went to school with Chuck Brown." Telando and Doc went to school together. The talked about being saved by playing football as kids.

I told them that my friend Clarence "Blowfly" Reid was performing in DC that night. They asked me where, but I couldn't remember – I looked it up; it was the Velvet Lounge.

I talked about looking for a girlfriend. Doc said, "Which kind? The kind you know you have to pay up front? It's more honest..." I told him about a gorgeous woman who worked at the Red Cross when I worked there. Every temp who came in wanted to date her. She insisted ahead of time on going out to dinner at least four nights a week and if she paid a cent, you got nothing. Doc said, "You've had quite a lot of adventures, the Red Cross, you've been to the moon..." Telando said, "The moon?" I fake mooned Doc - the Randy Moss way. They laughed.

Doc talked about how late they would play until. He talked about how, back in the day, they would be done as the sun was coming out.

Dwayne confirmed their performance schedule for this week. I reminded them about Monday at Cranberries. Doc joked that he would wear a Cowboys helmet to the show. I joked that we should jump him after the show.

Stacey, Tiffany, and RE Angie were there.

Second Set
Donnell said, "After the Redskins win, you will have my money. It will be a massacre." He mentioned Derek Francis, Genard and Jauhar.
Packy played the tambourine
1) Instrumental prelude / not sure – it was brief / Mike-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down - nice percussion
2) Donnell-led "___ Is in the house"
3) Halima-led Faith Evans' Mesmerized - Donnell did announcements, Halima used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, moved around, and bounced, the rest of the frontline danced
4) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
5) Donnell-led "Do it for the ladies/fellas, Oh my God!" - Halima and Mike posed at the appropriate times
6) Donnell-led Ludacris' Number One Spot - Halima danced onstage, the frontline danced during the "bounce bounce" line, nice percussion
8) Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - Donnell said to a woman, "Don't do that girl" - the frontline danced, nice percussion / Notorious BIG's Warning - Donnell went onstage, nice percussion / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) - Donnell did a shout out to Charles Smith (ex-Hoyas and ex-Celtics player), Tim said, "Here we go!" / "Wait a minute" echoes
9) Donnell-led "Tired yet, ready to quit?"
10) Halima-led Mariah Carey's It's Like That - Halima moved around, she sang very energeticly, nice percussion
11) 6 Minutes percussion solo
12) Donnell-led Rare Essence's One on One - nice percussion, the crowd shouted "GoGo Smok-ay"
13) Mike-led Michael Jackson's I Can't Help It - nice percussion
14) Mike-led Lap Dance - Halima danced, Donnell chanted "Swing your body girl", Mike chanted, "Swing"

Shawn, Shaun, and Los were there.

Donnell said, "I'm forty-one, a grown man. I am scared about what Monique just said." Then he said something about "oh, going on twenty-five…" Then he said, "Tuesday is take your man to dinner night. Ruth's Chris, Mo's... RE Angie send him on his way. Don't hug Nikki too long. We need bets, that's going to take us out Tuesday. Halima, have you ever been to Ocean Air?"
Halima said she's been there.
Donnell continued, "We are not accepting Outback or McDonald's. We got the movie, you got the meal. Jermaine was partying in Dupont Circle lately. You were coming out of Stetson's".
Jermaine laughed at me writing this down.