Recap: Sa-Ra and Beverly Bond

Okay, okay ... it's true no everyone knows how to have a good time on a 'school night,' Hennessy tried to make it easy on the Cleveland area crew by hosting Hennessy Artistry. It was scheduled to be a pretty fly event complete w/dj Beverly Bond 'warming' up the crowd - though truth be told the crowd was more than warmed up by those complimentary Hennessy cocktails. The event took place @ 9 p.m. on Tuesday, August 1 in the House of Blue's Cambridge room. The venue can be quite cozy, but most times I have attended events there, the climate - and I do mean the temperature - has been somewhat uncomfortable (they should work on improving the a/c issue).

But when I arrived, I had to wait in line in the lobby for a spell. This was a complimentary event that you needed to RSVP for in advance. There was only one [lovely] young lady checking off the names, so that's how it goes (and there were lots of people turned away too). Nevermind the wait, I could hear the music on the inside and it was bumpin. So I was wonderin, "Who is warming up the turntables for Bond?" Well, how about this, she was spinnin and she continued to do the damn thing until about 11 p.m. But very few people were dancin; folks were mainly mingling and standing in line for the complimentary beverages.

My point is Bond is an incredible dj and I can not believe that Cleveland did not give her more respect by groovin to the beats - heck, I've seen them shake their asses to less desirable music, oh-kay? She played some current music like Kelis' "I'm Bossy", so that can't be the excuse and of course, she mixed in some classics too. Whatever, your girl - that would be me - got her groove on w/dj Quest - who noted how many Cleveland djs were in the house - a rarity, but not too many djs have gigs on Tuesday night in Cleveland, now do they?

Bond was the just trying to get things hyped for the headliner - Sa-Ra. Yeah, I don't know what you could have done to prepare the inebriated crowd for this ecclectic band. But Clevelanders were not ready for them on Tuesday, nor will they be ready for Sa-Ra when their full length cd drops in about six months. The groups performance was really nice. Which I know is a really lame description, but there is more ... Here is what I ascertained from the performance - there are three front me, a dj, a guitarist, and three back-up dancers. That, my friends, is a very mild description. Let me continue, I did not get the names of the frontmen, but I can desribe their appearance that night. First of all, they were all overdressed. They had on layers and layers and layers and layers of clothing - and this on a 90 degree day in Cleveland AND inside a hot ass venue - made me hot just looking at them and I had on a sleeveless dress, do you feel me? One guy had on a blazer complete w/shirt and tie along with some crimson corduroy pants w/Louis Vuitton shoes (nice ensemble, but not for this time of the year); another guy was more appropriately dressed in jeans and a wife beater. His attire was most distinct in that he had on a fat/phat gold chain along w/a name plate on his knuckles - now, when is the last time that you saw someone rock one of those? Finally, the last guy- who was working it to hype the crowd - he had on so much gear that he finally took a few layers off and ended up in a tunic and some camouflage pants. I was endeared to their attire and their stage presence. Love that.

So, I've gone on and on and on about Sa-Ra's appearance, but what about their sound ...? Their sound was off the chain and not quite classifiable. It was a little bit hip hop, a little bit funk, a little bit a lot of other things. One thing their music is is sexy, sexually appealing and sometimes sexually explicit - and that ladies and gentlemen is not a bad thing. I really enjoyed their performance and I look forward to their cd, whenever it drops. Sa-Ra, yall, keep givin it to 'em.

Generally speaking, there is a bigger issue here and that is - Clevelanders can't/don't appreciate good music if they haven't heard it on the radio! There, I said it ...

Now ... I'm off to rest up for what my friend D-Atwell affectionately says of The Roots show, will certainly be 'exhausting.' Looking forward to it.

Stand up, yall and stay true, kfox