Fool's Gold Tour: Kavinsky, Kid Sister, A-Trak, DJ Mehdi, Peanut Butter Wolf @ The Roxy, 10/19/07

It is only appropriate that we see the Fool’s Gold Tour during a trip to LA- the city of many fake things that somehow seem to have value. While I admit that I have a head full of LA stereotypes, it is the place I very well should call home. It’s full of rock ‘n roll and sunshine.

It’s my first trip to the Sunset Strip, and to the famous Roxy. While I have from time to time complained of feeling old at SF shows, nothing can compare to white hip-hop night at the all ages Roxy. The people watching began as we waited a long time at Will Call for this sold out show.

It’s my friend’s birthday, so we start off the night with 2 shots of Patron and 2 Coronas. That’ll be $40, thank you. I was so pissed that it took me several more shots to get over this. Perhaps the drinks cost so much because they are letting underage people drink there? The tiny stamp they put on your hand was never used by the bartender.

Peanut Butter Wolf starts the night off with his Mike Relm-esque DVD scratching early ‘90s hip hop showcase. Everyone is excited as soon as they see a second of the classic videos for songs- from TLC to 2 Live Crew, Technotronic to Bel Biv Devoe. How do these kids that weren’t even born you know all of these videos? I didn’t know some of them, and I watched a lot of MTV and BET back in the day. It was a really fun nostalgic set. There were some unexpected things thrown in there- like a very early Cure song and the currently overplayed Daft Punk.

Next was Kid Sister with her high energy set. The tiny Lil’ Kim meets M.I.A. up and comer pulls off some fantastic dance moves, girly lyrics, and early ‘90s style with some grown up and heavier than expected beats. She’s been gaining steam with the Kanye West guest appearance on her album, and a large MySpace following. Her obscenely long fake nails are her trademark, and she waved them proudly in the air. She really knows how to handle a crowd.

The later half of the show was definitely different as it was straight DJs and became more of a club atmosphere. A-Trak and DJ Mehdi set up next to eachother, and played a high energy hip hop and techno set that caused a dancing frenzy. A la Girl Talk, the stage filled up with crazy dancers, blocking the view of the DJs from us slightly more well behaved audience members. In a testament to the strange hybrid of things going on in the club, there were crowd surfers and Mohawks. This was causing me to have an existential identity crisis. The one mixed media component of this set was the cardboard likenesses that kept popping up of the DJs, like they were giving speeches for an election through their sets.

Kavinsky ended the evening, with a Justice and Daft Punk heavy set. Thankfully he played the awesome Killing in the Name of RATM track that I heard at Daft Punk. By this time, everyone was sweaty, drunk, and wound up- and Kavinsky delivered a perfectly balanced set. He ended the night by joining in on the crowd surfing.

To cap off the party atmosphere, the DJs and Kid Sister came and chatted and took pictures with the crowd. We had to be swept out of the club, as if proving that we may be older, but we can hang to the end with the rest of the youngin’s.

P.S. Very interesting fashion…