L!ssen Album Release Party at Kili's Kafe & Lounge
Kili's Kafe & Lounge, 2009 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

I decided to go to this event so that I could check out FF when performing in the same show as Soundproof Band and L!ssen Band. Unfortunately, I decided to take to buy a ticket, so I had to pay the whopping $45 at the door. It started raining while I waited in line. When I got in, I walked upstairs and there were already a number of people there. DJ Flava (aka GoGo Rudy) was the DJ, using a laptop to do so. They were selling copies of L!ssen's album: "L!SSEN L!VE VOLUME 1" at a table by the entrance to the dance floor. It is very odd, the album is almost completely covers, I read the tracklist online: (I am not positive all of the covers are correct.)
Disc I
1) Intro
2) John Legend's Ordinary People
3) Maze's Can't Get Over You
4) Teddy Pendergrass' Close The Door
5) Prince's Purple Rain
6) Lil Jon's Lovers and Friends
7) Erykah Badu's Cleva
8) Cheryl Lynn's Encore
9) Destiny's Child's Soldier
10) Erykah Badu's Danger
11) The GAP Band's Outstanding
12) Kwick Drum Clinic
13) Peany's Percussion Lesson
14) Earth Wind & Fire's Let Me Love You
Disc II
1) Fabolous' Breathe
2) The Whole City's Behind Us
3) Whole City....Reprise
4) B2K's Bump Bump Bump
5) Its LISSEN man
6) Deville's Twerk It
7) Toto's Georgy Porgy
8) Jay-Z's Dirt Off Your Shoulder

Jacques and the guest singer James were the first two guys from FF to arrive. I went and talked to Godfather and Doc when they arrived.

I looked on the stage, and I guessed correctly that Soundproof would be performing first, since clearly none of the equipment was FF's. I was glad to hear that when Soundproof Band came on, they didn't have the sound problems they had the first time I saw them. The female singer has a very nice voice. The band's sound was good, but didn't really crank. Their first song they performed was Destiny's Child's Soldier - I immediately thought about how bad it is to hear multiple GoGo groups cover the same songs in the same show. They also performed Snoop's Drop It Like It's Hot - but that clearly was nowhere near as good as FF's version. They sounded nice, but didn't really move me or the crowd. Also, their lead talker had a visually distracting and annoying habit of moving his right hand up and down as if he were playing air guitar or... This venue is huge, probably the largest venue I've seen GoGo other than Mayo Island.

Familiar Faces
FF used the same drums and congas as Soundproof. Unfortunately, as they were setting up, Donnell accidentally knocked over his soprano Saxophone - he immediately put it away in his case and did not play it that night. FF really cranked in their set - and definitely got the audience response. Among the songs they performed were: Toto's Georgy Porgy, Marvin Gaye's I Want You, Donnell's three song Medley - Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love / Rare Essence's Spotlight / Rare Essence's Get on the Wagon? / Vinnie D's $55 Motel. They immediately afterward performed Rare Essence's Marinda. They also performed Rare Essence's What N*gga What? They closed with, like Friday, Sly & the Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). I was actually a little surprised that they didn't perform one of their own originals from Evolution as competition for L!ssen's new album. There was a young girl (whom I later discovered was named Britney) with dyed red hair and a pink jumper who danced hyperactively by Donnell; he moved away from her. Donnell supported L!ssen with his statements on the mic, saying that he knew how difficult it was to put an album together and put it in stores. He also told the crowd to make sure they bought store copies, not bootlegs.

While they didn't perform any of their originals live, GoGo Rudy did during the break, starting off with Lap Dance and also a slow song from Evolution as well. (I don't remember the title, but I recognized it as a song that I sat in on Mike's studio session for).

L!ssen Band
L!ssen led off with Ray Charles' Night Time Is the Right Time, then Prince's Purple Rain, a third song led by Yannie I didn't recognize, and Destiny's Child's Soldier. All four of these songs, while the conga player played, were Soul not GoGo, and quite frankly I found them really boring, but the crowd liked them. Fortunately, from the next song on they performed GoGo and did crank a bit, but not as much as FF. That next song was their original on their album Whole City's Behind Us. They followed up with Rufus' Ain't Nobody, then Party With L!ssen?, then I either a song or a jam, then Erykah Badu's Danger, then another song/jam, then Toto's Georgy Porgy, and Lil Jon/DJ Flexx's Aw Skeet Skeet (which is also a chant of George Clinton's I don't know which of them originated it). Kelvin Robinson, Y2K's assistant manager, came by and said hello to me and Dwayne. Dwayne left before the set was over. They finished several minutes after 3 AM. I did think it was kind of silly that the front line players passed around a WWE championship belt. Michael Thompson was wearing an eye patch, I wonder if that was because his car crash this summer?

Definitely both FF and L!ssen really got a crowd response. People danced hard to FF, but that is a reflection of their harder style. I honestly don't know who the crowd liked more.