Concert Review: Daps and Lbs. to Asher Roth

You ever go into a show thinking "ya know what this concert has some potential to be good"...then you start thinking of the potential things that could make the concert noteworthy. Let's list the possible ingredients for a tasty show:

1. They gotta play your favorite cuts...at least a couple, to add to likability and make you feel like you got what you were paying for.

2. The venue has to be fitting for the concert...i.e. acoustic artists, sometimes better in a more intimate setting...and Hip Hop concerts, generally overrated for big venues.

3. The biggest and most underrated aspect of the concert is the crowd. Are they actually fans of the artist? Is it going to be overly crowded? Will it be hard to get around to get drinks or go to the bathroom?

3.5 The energy of the performer(s) is a big aspect too ...and I listed it as 3.5 because a lot of the time the performer feeds off the energy of the crowd and whether or not they are into the show. Don't you hate it when you know the artist just isn't into though? I've been to a few concerts where it has seemed like the artist mailed it in and there really is nothing worse than that.

4.Timing. When I say timing I mean a couple things. First, does the main act come on at a predictable time? (we've all showed up too late and missed part of the show or have been left waiting til 1 AM waiting for the main act to make an appearance).
Is the act waaay too short? (leaving you wanting more and feeling like you didn't get your money's worth). Is this at the beginning or end of the tour? (we've all seen the first act of a tour and said man that show is going to be a lot better towards the end of the tour).

5.Intangibles. This can be anything from the warm up act that you haven't even heard of that ends up stealing the show to a hometown show for an artist or you had such great seats that you felt so big time it didn't matter if you expected Jay-Z and got Soulja Boy cause you were right there practically on the stage.

I needed to preface my review of Asher Paul Roth's concert at Crocodile Rock on October 9th with those ingredients because I was lucky enough to be in attendance at easily one of the top 10 best concerts I have ever seen. You may ask, well that doesn't say much who all have you seen? To list a few, Lenny Kravitz, Black Crows, Citizen Cope, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Lil Wayne, Puddle of Mudd, Trapt, O.A.R., Marc Broussard, Counting Crows, Wyclef, De La Soul, Black Eyed Peas, Lupe Fiasco, The Roots, Freeway, Young Jeezy, 311, Howie Day, Gavin Degraw, Fall Out Boy, Will Hoge to name a few...

Why was it so good you may ask? Mostly because it was a hometown crowd (Ash is from Bucks County, literally less than 45 mins south of the venue), a small, relatively intimate, non-crowded venue filled with fans that were very familiar to his music.

The closest comparison I can give you as far as venue and crowd is concerned is the final battle from 8 mile. And that is not because it's convenient to compare him to Eminem, that's definitely not what I'm trying to do, it merely provides the canvas I'm trying to paint here with everyone following Asher's every command throwin' their hands in the air from left to right as he killed all our favorite cuts from the start with his best tracks like Lark on my Go Kart to Roth Boys , to Be By Myself, to my personal favorite Sour Patch Kids even to his verse from his newest single with Keri Hilson titled She Don't Wanna Man.

Track after track he stole the audience's attention, refusing to give it back til he was done makin' sure everyone was havin' a good time. He even took us on a lil journey through PA to his younger days of Blunt Crusin, which truth be told wasn't even close to one of my favorite cuts from Asleep in the Bread Aisle, but that quickly changed after hearing his rendition of the track.

Yea it helped that I was about 10 feet away from him with an unimpeded view with plenty of easy access to relatively cheap ($4 at a concert isn't bad these days) drinks, but I could have been wedged in a crowd of people and still enjoyed the show, which ended (of course) with him playing I Love College.

We all thought it was the end of the show until he blessed us with the fresstyle that helped him get noticed enough to end up blessing us with a classic mixtape (Greenhouse Effect) shortly after. If you're not sure what freestyle I'm talking about then shame on you, do yourself a favor and give his A Millie freestyle a listen here.

All in all it was the perfect storm for a great concert. I got to hear most of my favorite cuts from Asher (although I would have appreciated hearing Fallin' and maybe even his verse from Change Gon' Come, but that's a little picky), I had a great seat in a fitting venue where the crowd and energy was 100% what Hip Hop should embody - nothin' but positive energy with people gettin' hype enjoying great music.

A+ Ash, keep doin' your thang man, you've earned my respect and I look forward to you furthering your stance as one of the true up and coming emcees in the game.