[RH Photos] Erykah Badu Headlines Taste of Chicago
Photos by AngieStar Photo
Day two at the Taste of Chicago brought in warm, sunny weather, and new wave of more people to enjoy the fest. Aside from all the food, Grammy Award-winner Erykah Badu set the tone for the evening as the night's headliner to a sold out show, and it was amazing.
Opening the night was Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, who brought the crowd to their feet in true New Orleans jazz fashion. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and his long time band, Orleans Avenue, brought a charismatic and relentless drive to continually bridge music's past and future to the stage, including new tracks from their third album, Say That To Say This, out September 10. Co-produced by Andrews and Raphael Saadiq, it truly sounded like nothing else out there, as Andrews, guitarist Pete Murano, bassist Mike Ballard and drummer Joey Peebles stride forward in their unique musical evolution. In a smooth transition, Erykah Badu came to stage with an instrumental rendition of "The Healer", easing into "Out My Mind, Just In Time". Badu continued on with so many of her most classic songs, along with live beat making, and an often witty commentary in between tracks. Ending the night with "Window Seat" at dusk brought the night to close gently and ever so entertainingly.
If you missed the show, and Badu's signature unique attire, check out some photos here:
[Video] Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar & More Perform at 2014 NBA All Star Game
Ever since Michael Jordan retired and the new breed of superstar was established in the NBA (a la Allen Iverson, Dwight Howard), the NBA All-Star game has been much more performance than true sporting event since Tracy McGrady threw himself an alley-oop off the backboard in-game, and this weekend's jam-packed 2014 edition was no less light on the entertainment. Held in New Orleans, the 63rd installment of the annual competition of the league's brightest stars saw performances from the likes of Pharrell, who showed up with both his infamous hat, and former Neptunes/N.E.R.D. partner Chad Hugo in tow, performing a slew of his hits on both the production and singing tips. He did the classic, decade-old song, "Frontin", brought out Nelly for "Hot in Herre", did the hook on Jay Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It to Me)", although Mr. Carter wasn't in attendance, and brought out Busta Rhymes and Diddy for a fresh version of "Pass the Courvoisier Part II". He aldo did "Blurred Lines" for which Robin Thicke was also a no-show and followed it with the cult classic, "Rock Star" with his Hugo, who played the keytar flawlessly. Pharrell finally finished, playing "Beautiful" with Snoop Dogg and, following the Western Conference introductions, did an interpretation of "Get Lucky", again, without Daft Punk, and during "Happy", he popped on the big hat. Kendrick looked as intense as ever, performing "m.A.A.d City" and "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" in an understated black hooded sweatshirt. Janelle Monae continued to prove why she is a favorite for performances like these, tapping none other than Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark Jr., Doctor John and Earth Wind & Fire for a memorable performance that included a rendition of her song, "Electric Lady", before joining Earth, Wind and Fire for "Shining Star". All in all, there was plenty to make up for the mediocre basketball. Watch it all below.
Pharrell:
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Kendrick Lamar
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Janelle Monae & Trombone Shorty
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