Video release party at the Fur
Fur Night Club, 33 Patterson St NE, Washington, DC 20002

I arrived at around 10:15. A guy waved me into my parking space and tried to hit me up for alcohol, money and cigarettes.

There weren't that many people in line yet. It was cold - I had decided to leave my jacket in my car because it's easier to dance without a jacket. They also had a sixteen year olds party at another entrance. The people in line with me discussed who was playing, the fact they weren't letting us in and made fun of Chuck. They also laughed at a guy who wore a T-shirt over a collared shirt. The first musician I saw walk in (I stood about thirty feet away from the entrance) was Doc - I didn't even see much of him; I mainly saw the bass strapped to his back and could tell it was not Sugar Bear. Yvette, 6'9 and Ray were there. DJ Flava (aka GoGo Rudy) drove up in a WKYS SUV. Sugar Bear walked by us (he wore one of Ras Lidj's GoGo shirts); a woman named Stacy asked him where he was going. Googie said hello as he walked by. I figured correctly they wouldn't let us in until 11 PM. As I moved up in line, I saw Duane Face. He asked, "Is Floyd here?" I said I didn't see him yet. He said he meant the band and I told him the line up and that FF was showing their video and Mr. Cheeks was performing with them as he did on Friday and Saturday. The security guy told the woman behind me, "You barely made it." She asked why, he said, "You don't look a day older than twenty-one". She thanked him.

A number of the staffers said hello to me. The cover taker from Safari, Nicole, worked the covers.

They immediately let us into the main room downstairs. I stayed on the stairs for a bit to watch the video for Lap Dance for the first time. It was being shown on two big screens. GoGo Rudy tapped me on the shoulders as he walked past me. Despite what Donnell had said to me earlier, I could see myself in the video head bobbing. The credits at the end allowed me to correct the spellings of the names for Shelle Haynesworth (producer) and Jesse Vaughan (director). I figure Baba's first name is Salim, since Salim Tutu was listed as executive producer. Jon Miles was listed as editor; I don't know who that is. They were only showing it at that time to test the video and audio.

Tyrell, June & Shadonna, Mama Chelle, Tata, Ron "Moe" Moten, and Day Day (conga player) were there.

Doc, Vincent, Omar, and Paul worked on setting up the audio. Duane Face was confused. He thought because of this FF might be opening instead of EU, whom he was playing for, but they were just checking things out. Doc was the only band member of FF there at the time! Omar said he thought it was going to be really loud, I agreed with him.

Antonio "The Cuban Cigar Smoker" was the MC. He said Mr. G was taking pictures. He said "25 and older like the Howard Theatre and Cherry's".

Jacques and Michon walked in.
Nikiya was there.

One of the screens had the image projected backward. The floor is not completely flat - there are bumps, which are uncomfortable to stand on.

EU
Sugar Bear said, "Lots of old faces out tonight. That's good. Y'all know Sugar Bear don't age, I look good."
Sugar Bear said, "Familiar Faces, Chuck Brown, and EU."
Nikki was there.
Sugar Bear said, "I'm still a Redskins fan. We're still in first place."
The line up was: Sugar Bear (vocals and bass), Donny Ray (vocals), Stephanie (vocals), Duane Face (keyboard), JuJu (drums), a guitar player and a conga player (not Derek, possible Mighty Moe?)
Sugar Bear said, "Southwest, Northwest and Southeast"
Sanisse was there, she said hello.
Their set started at 11:45
The crank started right away
1) Sugar Bear-led Sly & the Family Stone's Family Affair - He began with: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me", Sugar Bear chanted: "Pump it up girl, just like you girl", Sugar Bear called out street names
2) Sugar Bear-led Nelly's Flap Your Wings
3) Donny Ray-led "All you got to do, Got to be good" - Donny Ray played air guitar, moved his right arm a lot and danced
4) Sugar Bear-led "Bop, bop, bop, bop" - Sugar Bear chanted, "Melissa" repeatedly, Sugar Bear chanted, "Hold up, wait a minute"
5) Sugar Bear-led Freak A Deak All Night Long
6) Sugar Bear-led Funkadelic's Undisco Kidd (tease) / Bad Girls (Cops theme) (tease) - Sugar Bear chanted, "Ye-ah ah, na na na na", the frontline danced, Stephanie smiled
7) Sugar Bear-led "Pop the coochie, pop, pop, you know why"
8) Sugar Bear-led Ludacris Number One Spot (tease) - Sugar Bear chanted, "We're so hot, we got the number one spot, eya yah yah yah", Stephanie and Donny Ray danced, Stephanie smiled
9) Sugar Bear-led "Hey ladies, can you do it for the fellas?" - the crowd shouted, "Oh my God!? Sugar Bear chanted, "Can you do it for the hustlers, Can you do it for Sugar Bear" / Sugar Bear-led "If you're sexy and you know it, raise your hand, JuJu give me that beat" - Donnell danced next to the conga player
10) Sugar Bear-led Kanye West's Gold Digger (re-written lyrics) - "I've got a woman, All this time, She's good to me, She gives me money when I'm in need" - Stephanie put a dollar bill on Sugar Bear's collar, Stephanie and Donny Ray danced, Stephanie smiled, Donny Ray sang the regular lines, he did a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures with his right arm, Stephanie & Donny Ray danced, Doc, Lorenzo, and Dwayne watched from the back of the stage
11) Stephanie-led Amerie's 1 Thing - Stephanie started out with, "It's my birthday", she used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures and moved around, Donny Ray said, "Goddamn baby, want to be my family..."
Shaun was there.
12) Sugar Bear-led "Are the Redskins the real deal? Redskin fans hands up! Better than the Giants and the 49ers (that's not tough, it was probably a dig at JuJu, who wore a 49ers sweatshirt when the set was over), Who's going to the Super Bowl?"
13) Same guitar riffs -> Donny Ray-led "Y'all n*ggers don't f*ck with me", Sugar Bear chanted, "Get your freak on", Sugar Bear chanted, "Gotcha" repeatedly, Sugar Bear used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Sugar Bear chanted, "Shake your..." Stephanie used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures
Dey was there
Sugar Bear said, "Get ready for Familiar Faces"
Their set ended at 12:15. It was nice but short.
I expected that JuJu would also play for Chuck per a conversation he had with me at Bud's months ago about playing with Chuck.
Antonio "The Cuban Cigar Smoker" said, "This makes thirty years EU's been together. Don't be a hater, give them some love. Mr. Cheeks is in the house."

Familiar Faces

Doc and Mike


Dwayne and Jacques


I am on the left, Tijauna is behind my back



Tamara, Me, Lashonda, Tijuana on the far right, Slim Goodie and 6'9 in the middle back


Los, Donnell, and DP


Dancer, Smoke, Donnell, and DP


Donnell and Mr. Cheeks All pictures taken by and Copyright - Michon Battle

Antonio "The Cuban Cigar Smoker" stood onstage, he said, "Come and get your picture, you and your boo and your crew".
RE Angie was there.
Nephew played congas during the break,
Sixx was there.
Donnell wore his black riding cap initially. Halima wore a black hat that hid her eyes, a black wrap and a black dress. She took the wrap off for her performance and changed hats to a black fedora. Almost all of the guys in the band wore black slacks, white Seek Abundance shirts and black fedoras. Stomp wore a white sleeveless shirt and knitted white cap. Jacques wore a dark collared shirt unbuttoned with another dark shirt underneath.
Tijuana and Shameika were there.
DP and Halima passed me in the audience; Halima followed DP conga line style.
Los, Stacey, Tamara, and Tim (LJ) were there.
As soon as Halima started speaking (offstage) by saying, "Yeah!" The crowd shouted.
Antonio "The Cuban Cigar Smoker" said, "Don't forget Familiar Faces has a brand new video with Mr. Cheeks."
They showed the video on two screens.
The frontline (Donnell, Halima, DP, and Mike) was offstage.
I stood front and center for the performance
1) Instrumental prelude - long / Halima-led Fantasia's Free Yourself - Halima sang offstage, she said, "Hey ladies", the women screamed "Halima!" her singing was excellent and the sound was great, Mike went onstage when it was time for him to sing backup, Halima said, "Say what you have to say, it may not be what you feel inside, but you say it anyway. How you feeling?" She sang, "Yes!", women sang along loudly, Dwayne pointed to Halima in the crowd, she was behind Donnell, but in front of DP, being led by security - they walked up the steps and onstage, Halima barefoot, put her foot on a monitor, then went back to the floor, she moved around, I noticed she wore a jeweled choker, Halima pulled Mike to the left, he had a black cane, Halima used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Halima sat on the edge of the stage with her feet on the speakers, then she stood on the speaker
2) Alternating Halima-led Floetry's Say Yes - women sang along loudly, Halima moved around, she went back onstage, Halima went back on the edge of the stage, she held her mic to a male in the audience, Halima said, "Sing it Ladies", she held her mic to Tamara, the crowd sang along loudly, Halima held her mic to the crowd, she went back onstage, she moved around, Tijuana screamed, "Halima!" / Mike-led Lionel Richie's Hello (tease)
3) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You - Donnell, Mike & DP stepped (fraternity style) with black canes, Halima stood on the left side behind Doc, women screamed, the frontline went to their normal spots onstage, Donnell clapped, Donnell said, "Come on with it, Michael Muse", the crowd sang along, Donnell said, "Sweet Tamara", the crowd was so cramped that I had trouble moving my arms to write, Mike held his cane in his right hand, he used it for a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Halima danced, smiled and clapped, she stirred up the crowd with her arms, Donnell thanked "Everyone, Seek Abundance, where you at, Nikiya?"
4) Halima-led Alicia Keys' Unbreakable - the crowd sang along, Donnell said, "We got my baby, Halima", Halima moved around, Donnell said, "Come on with it Halima", Halima used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Michon handed a card to Mike, who handed it to Donnell, Donnell said, "Right there, Smoke!", Mike danced
5) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh" - the crowd sang along loudly, Donnell went on the middle speaker, DP stood on the edge of the stage, Donnell held his mic to Stacey
6) Donnell-led "Do it for the ladies/fellas, Oh my God!" - Halima and Mike (unbuttoning his shirt to show his hairy chest - ugh, not something I want to see) posed at the appropriate times, the crowd screamed, Halima crouched over a monitor, Donnell went on the left speaker, DP on the right speaker, Donnell held his mic to female fans, Donnell called out names, Halima moved around, Donnell called out names, he moved to the middle speaker, Donnell & DP danced
Los, Packy, Nephew and Tony were onstage.
7) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda (tease) - Donnell said, "Y'all Know we don't play that", Donnell & DP went onstage, Halima sat on the edge of the stage with her feet on the speaker, Mike went to the edge of the stage
Angie (she wished me a belated happy birthday) & Tracy were there.
8) Mike-led Raheem DeVaughn's Ask Yourself - there were two female dancers encircled by translucent red curtains, they wore black bottoms and tops with "Nice Tits" printed on them. They also wore black caps and black boots. Mike said, "You know what the difference between a boy and a man is? A boy does what he wants to, a man does what he has to", Mike went on the middle speaker, Mike used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Mike sang directly to a female fan, she smiled a big smile, a guy behind me yelled, "Go get her, Mike", the stage lights went out and the spotlight went out briefly, Mike held his mic to Stacey and Tata, Mike unbuttoned his shirt again to show his chest
Monique was there.
9) Mike-led Prince's Take Me With You - Halima and Mike went back onstage, Donnell called out names, Donnell went to the edge of the stage, Donnell bounced and used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Mike used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Halima gave Packy a tambourine and both smiled, Donnell said, "Y'all sing ladies, sing y'all", he held his mic to the crowd, and women sang including Halima on the mic, Donnell said, "One more time ladies, sing it", Halima and DP danced
10) Donnell-led Hold the Note - Donnell said, "Hold the note y'all", Tamara got down (dancing), the crowd sang along, Donnell got on the middle speaker, Donnell called out names
11) Donnell-led Sade's No Ordinary Love - "Give the baby, Familiar, tell you baby, What I tell you", Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures
12) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - Donnell went back onstage, Donnell danced, Donnell bounced and used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Donnell went on the right speaker, Donnell said, "That's what I'm talking about Wheeler Road", Halima smiled / "Wait a minute" echoes (three separate occasions) - Donnell held his fist up, Halima imitated him / Donnell went onstage, the frontline did the bowing dance, Stomp played dial tone sounds / Notorious BIG's Warning - Donnell went on the speaker, Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures and bounced / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) - Donnell called out, "Wheeler Road" / Donnell went on the middle speaker, he called out Dwayne Lee and Smoke, Donnell said, "That's what I'm talking about" - he pointed to Vincent, Vincent took pictures with a camera and smiled, Donnell called Los to the right speaker to dance, Donnell moved to the left speaker, Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Donnell moved around, Halima clapped as she spun around, Donnell called out names, followed by a "Yeah!" by DP after each one, Tim yelled, "Go D"
13) Alternating Halima-led Mariah Carey's It's Like That - Halima got on the middle speaker, Halima sang, "Oh, oh", DP switched places with Los, a woman said to me, "You're writing all that down", Halima smiled, Halima held her mic to Tijuana and Stacey, Halima, Donnell & DP bounced, Donnell said, "Sing it to me, baby", all went back onstage, Halima moved around, Halima sang energetically, Donnell said something, Donnell sang, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah", Donnell said, "Come on Halima", Halima sang, "What, what" repeatedly / Donnell-led "Tired yet, ready to quit"
14) Stomp played an instrumental with his drum machine
Donnell said, "Where you at, Mr. Cheeks? I know you're in the house somewhere"
15) Donnell-led Lap Dance (video remix) - Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures
Slim Goodie was there.
16) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda - Donnell went to the edge of the stage, he did announcements, he went to the right speaker, Mr. Cheeks, wearing a black Madness Sports shirt, a Yankees cap with many tiny multi-colored Yankees symbols, and a gold chain, went onstage with Jauhar, Mr. Cheeks yelled, "Yeah!" Mr. Cheeks used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Donnell went on the right speaker
17) Mr. Cheeks-led The Lost Boyz' Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz and Benz - Mr. Cheeks went to the edge of the stage, Donnell held his mic to the crowd, the crowd screamed, Mr. Cheeks used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Halima clapped, there may have been another rap, but I'm not familiar enough with Mr. Cheeks' repertoire, Mr. Cheeks grabbed his crotch, Mr. Cheeks' manager was onstage, he wore a black cap backwards and a white shirt, Donnell held his mic to the crowd again
18) Mr. Cheeks, Donnell & Mike-led Lap Dance (video remix) - Halima danced, Donnell went on the edge of the stage and back, Mr. Cheeks & Donnell bounced, Donnell and Mr. Cheeks used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, DP bounced, Donnell went on the middle speaker, Donnell's vocals were hard charging, Donnell went back onstage, Halima danced and clapped, Donnell said, "Look here y'all, we're getting ready to get on out of here", Donnell said, "Come on Mike", Mr. Cheeks gave his mic to Halima, Mr. Cheeks hugged Donnell and shook his hand, he appeared to leave the stage, Donnell said, "That's my man Mr. Cheeks", Mr. Cheeks came on and hugged Donnell again
Donnell said, "Getting ready for Chuck Brown. We'll be here again Thursday, free with a flyer. While we're waiting for Chuck, show the video one more time".
They improved upon their last big performance here, this is the best they've worked the crowd. They pulled out more stops and added more show to this performance. I knew some of their plans from rehearsal and they were successful with them, which was certainly no guarantee. I was surprised just how well Halima's singing & speaking came through when she performed offstage. I didn't check to see when they started, but their set was much longer than either EU's or Chuck's.

JoJo and James were there. Some people left after Familiar Faces' performance, but not many.

As they were setting up, the DJ played Nelly's Flap Your Wings and a girl literally got down and got her eagle on, she fell on the floor.

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers
The line up was: Chuck Brown (vocals and guitar), the rest of the frontline was: a young trombonist/keyboard player, a young trumpet player, and Bryan Mills, wearing a brown t-shirt with a picture of a sax and the words "Sax appeal" printed on it. Left to right: keyboard, sax, trumpet, trombone, guest mic, Chuck
In addition, there was a second keyboard player with a double keyboard, a bass player, JuJu on drums, and a young conga player.
Guest vocalists: Little Benny and Kay Kay.
This was the first all-Black band I've seen Chuck with this year.
While they were setting up, there was a guy wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt that stood at the frontline and stuck his tongue out. He left the stage before they played.
Chuck wore a grey suit with a dark shirt and a patterned tie, a black broad-rimmed hat and sunglasses.
Antonio "The Cuban Cigar Smoker" said, "If you're ready for Chuck you know what you need to say"
The crowd pretty weakly shouted, "Wind me up, Chuck!" Their set started around 2:45.
1) Chuck-led Instrumental "Dooby do dedo", "Southeast, Northeast, Southwest"
Donnell danced at the back wall
The crank started with
2) Chuck-led Willie Dixon?s (I?m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man - the horns bounced, Little Benny used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures at the back wall, JuJu would hold a drum stick in his mouth at times
3) Chuck-led "Uh oh oh, I can, I will, keep the __,"
4) Chuck-led Duke Ellington's It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That GoGo Swing) - Chuck said, "Say What" the crowd, the crowd responded
5) Chuck-led Lionel Hampton's Midnight Sun
6) Chuck-led Moody's Mood for Love - the crowd sang along, the horns would move to the right, then left to the mic to play: it was synchronized, "Did do doo"
7) Chuck-led Louis Jordan's Woody Woodpecker - nice horn solos, "Gotta, Gotcha, I feel"
The room lights came on
8) Chuck-led Slick Rick's La Di Da Di - Brian played on the front keyboard
Little Benny sat in
9) Little Benny-led "Tired yet, ready to quit" - the crowd responded
10) Little Benny-led "Hey ay, Ho oh" - Chuck took off his jacket, Little Benny went to the edge of the stage, then the middle speaker, Little Benny said, "What y'all say?", Little Benny said, "Hey JuJu, Gimme that beat!"
11) Little Benny-led Kanye West's Gold Digger - Little Benny went on the left speaker, Little Benny used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, He pulled a female fan on the speaker, she went onstage and danced, Little Benny held his mic to the crowd, Little Benny said, "What y'all Say?"
Kay Kay came onstage, her hair was dyed red, she had a jeweled choker with a silver chain hanging down almost to her knees, she had a green jacket and black "diva" sunglasses
12) Kay Kay rapped / Kay Kay-led Lil Kim's Lighters Up, the trombonist played the keyboard, Kay Kay and Little Benny used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Kay Kay did shout outs to Familiar Faces and Sixx
Little Benny said, "Please leave carefully?.
Tijuana scratched my back, when I looked to see who it was; I almost fell over because I lost my balance
13) Chuck-led ?
They finished at 3:15. This was the tightest Chuck performance I've been to this year, but it was short.
Little Benny said, "Give it up for Chuck Brown y'all" Chuck said, "God bless you all, I love you baby. Much love to Sugar Bear & EU and Familiar Faces"
Chuck did a shout out to Footz (not the late RE's Footz)
He talked to a girl, asked her name - Nia. He said, "Nia, I'm so glad to see ya"
He then said, "Hold on Footz"

My ears were ringing after this performance which is pretty rare for me...