Zanzibar on the Waterfront, 700 Water Street SW Washington, DC 20024
I arrived at about 10 PM. I had to wait in line for a bit. Renee was again promoting this. I thought it hadn't started yet because I saw Chi Ali standing outside, but I was wrong. I missed Suttle's performance: when I went inside, EU was already performing on the downstairs stage.
Netty, Renee D., Thomas Sayers Ellis, Sharmba Mitchell, and Nikia were there.
EU
The line up was: Sugar Bear (vocals & bass), Donny Ray (vocals), Junie (vocals & cowbell), Devlin (vocals), Stephanie (vocals), Tony (guitar), keyboards, drummer, Derek (congas).
First set (in progress)
?) Stephanie-led Rihanna's Umbrella
X+1) Sugar Bear-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
X+2) Sugar Bear said, "Hold up wait a minute" / Percussion solo
X+3) Sugar Bear-led Freak A Deak All Night Long
X+4) Sugar Bear-led Funkadelic's Undisco Kidd "Girls are Bad" / Cops Theme "Bad Girls / "Pop the Coochie" / Devlin-led "Beat your Feet" / Ludacris' Number One Spot (tease)
Delano was there.
X+5) Devlin-led "I already know I love you"
X+6) Sugar Bear-led OutKast's The Way You Move (tease) / "Work the middle" - Derek played toms / "Is Southeast the real deal? What's the number spot in the city?"
X+7) Sugar Bear-led Notorious BIG's Crush On You / Um Bop Bop
X+8) Stephanie rapped
X+9) Sugar Bear-led "When do we get to the good part?"
X+10) Stephanie-led Beyonce's Irreplaceable
X+11) Sugar Bear-led "Hey ay ay"
X+12) Sugar Bear-led Rare Essence's One on One / "Southeast, South, Southeast" chant / "Where y'all from?" / Ooh La La / "Got got gotcha"
The whole set cranked. They finished at 10:47
Nikki was there.
Familiar Faces - upstairs stage
Mike was not present. They were all dressed up.
1) Halima-led Mary J. Blige's My Life - Smoke was late and Sharmba Mitchell sat in on congas
Los was there.
Halima said, "I've got to work it, sing for my supper."
2) Halima-led Tamia's Can't Get Enough
3) Halima-led Cheri Dennis' I Love You - it cranked
Yannie and Rasheed were there.
4) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
5) Donnell-led "Do it for the ladies, Oh my God!"
6) Donnell-led Tattoo - it ranked / Percussion solo - the frontline danced in synch -->
Ro'chelle (toosweet) and Danielle (Pink) were there.
7) Alternating Sean-led T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc's Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin') - Doc added riffs to the usual music, the frontline danced in synch during the hits / Percussion solo
8) Donnell & Sean-led Do You Think About Me? - it had a light crank, Donnell said, "Scooby Dooby" and Scooby sat in / Donnell did rhymes on people's names
Tiffany was there. I said to Packy, "Happy birthday, Tom Cruise!" He laughed.
EU
Second set
1) Junie-led "I promise I will never, yearning, Heartbreak Hotel" - it cranked
2) Alternating Sugar Bear-led Kanye West's Gold Digger / Percussion solo / Sugar Bear did chants about Donnell and Familiar Faces and other chants / "Shake the booty, break down"
3) Sugar Bear-led "Hey ladies, can we do it for the fellas? Oh my God!"
4) Sugar Bear-led "If you're sexy and you know it, raise your hands!"
5) Sugar Bear-led "When do we get to the good part?"
6) Donny Ray & Devlin-led "You ain't"
7) Devlin-led Fabolous' Make Me Better
8) Donny Ray-led Young Jeezy's Soul Survivor (Remix) - Derek played toms
9) Sugar Bear-led "Tired yet? Ready to quit?" / "Tell Me what you feel like doing y'all?" / "Gimme that beat"
10) Stephanie-led ?
11) Devlin-led T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc's Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')
12) Sugar Bear-led 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease)
13) Sugar Bear-led Rare Essence's Lock It / Donnell sat in and led "Put your hands up" / Sugar Bear-led "I'm going to grow up" - the frontline danced in synch
Gary was there.
14) Sugar Bear-led "Shake it like a white girl"
15) Sugar bear-led "Just shake, just rattle and roll" / "I like booty" / "Are you ready to shake?"
16) Sugar Bear-led R. Kelly's Snake
Flo was there.
17) Donny Ray-led ? - the lights went dark
Tamiko was there.
18) Devlin-led The Shop Boyz' Party Like a Rock Star
19) ?
Again, they cranked the whole set.
2nd2None, Chevy, Stacy (Pretty Smile), and Gwen were there.
Familiar Faces
Second set
1) JB's Doing It to Death (instrumental tease)
2) Sean-led Musiq's Buddy - it had a light crank / 6 Minutes percussion solo - it cranked
Shante (Stacy's cousin) and Peg Leg were there.
3) Donnell-led "Party party, everybody" - it cranked / Sean-led The Shop Boyz' Party Like a Rock Star - Doc & Dwayne added different guitar riffs / Percussion solo
4) Sean-led Justin Timberlake's Sexy Back - it cranked (I still hate it) / Donnell-led Gangsta
Stacy introduced me to her friend Dynasty
5) Halima-led Mis-Teeq's Style - it cranked
6) Halima-led Beyonce's Ring the Alarm - it cranked / Donnell-led DJ Unk's Walk It Out (tease)
7) Halima-led Rihanna's Umbrella - it cranked, Strike a Pose danced onstage
8) Alternating Donnell-led "___ is yes!" / "You make me want to see, just how freaky you can be" / "Keep it low" / Percussion solo -->
Candi and NeeNee were there.
9) Donnell-led Public Enemy's Welcome to the Terrordome - it cranked / Smoke conga solo - Donnell said, "Wave to 'em, Smoke"
10) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda - it cranked
11) Donnell-led Rare Essence song I didn't recognize (but it was familiar) - it cranked
12) Donnell-led Rare Essence's All Da Time - it cranked
13) Donnell-led "25, 25, 25" / Rare Essence's Work the Walls - Smoke played timbales, it cranked / Donnell & Halima-led It Is What It Is
14) Halima-led ? / Jammin' Jeff outtro
Everyone was told to go downstairs, the upstairs was closed. It took a while to get down there due to the crowd.
Little Benny in the VIP room
Picture taken by and Copyright - Thomas Sayers Ellis from the project: The Go-Go Book: People in the Pocket in Washington, D.C.
Chuck's set was in progress. I stayed for a minute, but it was too crowded and I left. I saw Dwayne talking with Ro'chelle and Danielle, talked with them briefly and then headed to my car.
