As I attempt to assimilate into the LA lifestyle and culture I recently came to the conclusion that I need to bring plenty of patience, have time to waste, and a very laid back demeanor when it comes to partying in this town. When I was in my late teens early twenties I partied like a rock star on a daily basis. I remember me and my friends going to clubs when we were 17 and 18 straight kicking it. We knew we were too young to get into the clubs but back in the day getting a fake I.D. was really easy. Clubbing, booze and early morning breakfast as Denny’s became a regular weekend thing. Back then we would leave the house around 1:00 am, close the club down at 6:00 am and then go get something into eat ( If you live in STL, try Uncle Bills on S. Kingshighway after the club, great food and they have the best coffee, it will sober you up real quick), by the time I got home it would be about 7:45 in the morning. This continued every weekend for about six years. Needless to say my party like a rock star days are over, and I am lucky if I can stay up until 11:00 pm to watch Juanita Bynum on the Word Network (what, a sistah gotta get her word) . Basically my life consists of working, exercising, domestic activities, shopping (when funds permit) and if I am really feeling cooped up I may go to the movies or out to eat. As I try to climb the corporate letter and loose 90 pounds I have basically lost my social life and sometimes I crave my old East St. Louis party days. So in an effort to reclaim my social life I decided since I now live in LA I should partake in a few activities and occasionally go to a few clubs.
Yesterday I went to see Raheem Devaughn at B.B. King’s Blues Club. I love neo soul and I saw him perform live on VH-1 so I thought this would be a great opportunity to mingle, have some great food, and listen to the smooth sounds of Raheem. I purchased my tickets from Ticketmaster and was told that doors open at 5:30 and the show would start at 7:00. So I was hyped all Saturday and went shopping to ensure that I would be looking “fly” in case I met my ex-boyfriend that night. Unfortunately, I have not met any friends in LA so I go out by myself a lot and I was looking forward to seeing some black people ( I live in Ventura County, not many black folks round here). Okay, I get to the place and it cost $10.00 to park ( if you live in LA you are probably used to paying for parking, but I am still trying to embrace this concept). Now BB King’s is located in Universal Studios City Walk. It took me about 30 minutes to find the damn place because there are only two directories in a 7 mile radius. It was hot yesterday as I began to sweat my make up was starting to shine, plus I was afraid I was gonna be late because it was 6:30 and I wanted to get a good seat because Ticketmaster said the show was gonna start at 7:00. Once I finally discovered were BB Kings was located I saw a line of people wrapped around the building. Now I was a bit upset because I did not expect this massive group of people to be waiting outside, and this was the pre-paid line! I starting asking around and was told that they had not opened the doors yet. They started letting people in around 7:30 (yes my pisstivity level was very high). Once seated I decided to hell with the diet and healthy crap I’m out so I’m gonna have what I want. I ordered some hot wings, sweet potato fries, peach cobbler with ice-cream, and advised the waitress to bring my special (grey goose, tonic water, with limes and olives). I immediately went to the restroom to get myself together and refresh my make-up. When I got back the people began to set up the stage and I was like okay Raheem is about to relax my mind and when my drink come I will be feeling groovy. Then they announced someone by the name of Ima D was gonna start her set. I understood and was like okay she is opening for him. Ima D. took to the stage sang three songs and still my drink had not arrived. Then they started setting up the stage again, I thought come on Raheem baby, take my mind off this mess. No Raheem another group called O.N.E. (but I’ma call em Jodicky because they reminded me of a young Jodeci mixed with Pretty Ricky.) No one in the group appeared to be over the age of 20. At some point in the performance the group leader fell to his knees and began to curl up in the fetal position while he sang about begging a woman to please let him stay. Now these fools sang four songs and it was close to 10 o’clock at night still no Raheem, no drink and no damn food either. So I stopped the waitress and was like I been waiting two hours for a drink and some food, when is my order coming. She had the nerve to tell me that my order was lost and she needed to retake the order. I ice grilled that chick so hard she had to drop her head. In an effort to be courteous I lowered my voice and told her my order again. As I looked around no one in my area had food or drinks. Now you know black folks don’t like to be kept waiting and people were starting to grumble and wanted either some liquor or some Raheem asap. Okay Jodicky left the stage and they just started playing random music. So finally at 11:30 my wings show up, no drink or fries or cobbler. Sistah just dropped off the damn wings with no napkins or anything. My last meal was at 3:00 and so you know I was hungry as hell. I said screw the napkins I will eat the wings and worry about wiping my hands later. As I bit unto the wings they were cold and soggy like they have been sitting for hours. Ah hell naw, this was not gonna work, I could only stomach 2 wings because they were just that nasty. Not only is my mouth on fire because of the hot sauce and I have no drink but now these $10.00 wings (only came with 6 wings) taste like sh*t. Next thing I know my whole section is about to riot the place, all I know is security, police and managers are in my section. Black folk (myself included) was pissed and they was about to let the lil waitress feel it, she went and got back-up. The manager got bombarded with people saying “I ain’t paying for this. I know you ain’t trying to charge a 15% gratuity fee when we been waiting hours for drinks and food.” Oh it was bout to be straight South Central in that piece. Man my folks showed their ass so good they comp the whole section. At midnight the peach cobbler that I ordered finally arrived and they were setting the stage up again, this time a bunch of background singers showed up and the stage was looking real professional so I really needed Raheem and now that I had some cobbler it would make seeing Raheem even sweeter. Finally the band is on the stage, the four background singers have taken their place and the announcer says get ready to experience the Queen of the West. I was confused for the moment then some lady shows up saying she is the Queen of the West and she started to sing songs I never heard of before. Still no Raheem (and no drink ). I later found out the Queen of the West is Latoya Williams (right, I don’t know who the hell she is either). But the LA natives are screaming like she is the next Mary J. Blidge. Don’t get me wrong the girl could sing but I really did not want to hear her. Finally the lady next to me got her water and she noticed that I had been without a drink for 4 hours and was dry hacking like crazy so she was nice enough to give me her water. Finally around 12:45 Raheem finally came on the stage, but half the people left because they could not take it anymore. Being hungry, hot and thirsty can make any crowd consider other options especially black folks, we really like to party but we appreciate good customer service too. Raheem apologized to the crowd and said that keeping people waiting was not his style but he had no control over the matter. As soon as he said that I forgave him and decided to keep the attitude at bay and have a good time anyway. Raheem sounded good and looked good too. He has cut his braids off and his voice sounded like silk. Around 1:30 I began having difficulty staying awake plus I had to be at work in the morning. No to mention the 35 minutes it would take me to get home. I blew a kiss to Raheem and decided to leave. As bad as I wanted to leave I could not find my car. The parking lot structure is huge and I could not find the level that my car was parked on. After another 25 minutes of looking for my car I finally found it and drove home. By the time I got home it was close to 3:00 and I was hungry and tired. Next weekend I am suppose to go to a comedy show I hope I don’t encounter the same problems or I may have to modify the way I party and try some white clubs or hang outs. If you have any suggestions let me know.
Yesterday I went to see Raheem Devaughn at B.B. King’s Blues Club. I love neo soul and I saw him perform live on VH-1 so I thought this would be a great opportunity to mingle, have some great food, and listen to the smooth sounds of Raheem. I purchased my tickets from Ticketmaster and was told that doors open at 5:30 and the show would start at 7:00. So I was hyped all Saturday and went shopping to ensure that I would be looking “fly” in case I met my ex-boyfriend that night. Unfortunately, I have not met any friends in LA so I go out by myself a lot and I was looking forward to seeing some black people ( I live in Ventura County, not many black folks round here). Okay, I get to the place and it cost $10.00 to park ( if you live in LA you are probably used to paying for parking, but I am still trying to embrace this concept). Now BB King’s is located in Universal Studios City Walk. It took me about 30 minutes to find the damn place because there are only two directories in a 7 mile radius. It was hot yesterday as I began to sweat my make up was starting to shine, plus I was afraid I was gonna be late because it was 6:30 and I wanted to get a good seat because Ticketmaster said the show was gonna start at 7:00. Once I finally discovered were BB Kings was located I saw a line of people wrapped around the building. Now I was a bit upset because I did not expect this massive group of people to be waiting outside, and this was the pre-paid line! I starting asking around and was told that they had not opened the doors yet. They started letting people in around 7:30 (yes my pisstivity level was very high). Once seated I decided to hell with the diet and healthy crap I’m out so I’m gonna have what I want. I ordered some hot wings, sweet potato fries, peach cobbler with ice-cream, and advised the waitress to bring my special (grey goose, tonic water, with limes and olives). I immediately went to the restroom to get myself together and refresh my make-up. When I got back the people began to set up the stage and I was like okay Raheem is about to relax my mind and when my drink come I will be feeling groovy. Then they announced someone by the name of Ima D was gonna start her set. I understood and was like okay she is opening for him. Ima D. took to the stage sang three songs and still my drink had not arrived. Then they started setting up the stage again, I thought come on Raheem baby, take my mind off this mess. No Raheem another group called O.N.E. (but I’ma call em Jodicky because they reminded me of a young Jodeci mixed with Pretty Ricky.) No one in the group appeared to be over the age of 20. At some point in the performance the group leader fell to his knees and began to curl up in the fetal position while he sang about begging a woman to please let him stay. Now these fools sang four songs and it was close to 10 o’clock at night still no Raheem, no drink and no damn food either. So I stopped the waitress and was like I been waiting two hours for a drink and some food, when is my order coming. She had the nerve to tell me that my order was lost and she needed to retake the order. I ice grilled that chick so hard she had to drop her head. In an effort to be courteous I lowered my voice and told her my order again. As I looked around no one in my area had food or drinks. Now you know black folks don’t like to be kept waiting and people were starting to grumble and wanted either some liquor or some Raheem asap. Okay Jodicky left the stage and they just started playing random music. So finally at 11:30 my wings show up, no drink or fries or cobbler. Sistah just dropped off the damn wings with no napkins or anything. My last meal was at 3:00 and so you know I was hungry as hell. I said screw the napkins I will eat the wings and worry about wiping my hands later. As I bit unto the wings they were cold and soggy like they have been sitting for hours. Ah hell naw, this was not gonna work, I could only stomach 2 wings because they were just that nasty. Not only is my mouth on fire because of the hot sauce and I have no drink but now these $10.00 wings (only came with 6 wings) taste like sh*t. Next thing I know my whole section is about to riot the place, all I know is security, police and managers are in my section. Black folk (myself included) was pissed and they was about to let the lil waitress feel it, she went and got back-up. The manager got bombarded with people saying “I ain’t paying for this. I know you ain’t trying to charge a 15% gratuity fee when we been waiting hours for drinks and food.” Oh it was bout to be straight South Central in that piece. Man my folks showed their ass so good they comp the whole section. At midnight the peach cobbler that I ordered finally arrived and they were setting the stage up again, this time a bunch of background singers showed up and the stage was looking real professional so I really needed Raheem and now that I had some cobbler it would make seeing Raheem even sweeter. Finally the band is on the stage, the four background singers have taken their place and the announcer says get ready to experience the Queen of the West. I was confused for the moment then some lady shows up saying she is the Queen of the West and she started to sing songs I never heard of before. Still no Raheem (and no drink ). I later found out the Queen of the West is Latoya Williams (right, I don’t know who the hell she is either). But the LA natives are screaming like she is the next Mary J. Blidge. Don’t get me wrong the girl could sing but I really did not want to hear her. Finally the lady next to me got her water and she noticed that I had been without a drink for 4 hours and was dry hacking like crazy so she was nice enough to give me her water. Finally around 12:45 Raheem finally came on the stage, but half the people left because they could not take it anymore. Being hungry, hot and thirsty can make any crowd consider other options especially black folks, we really like to party but we appreciate good customer service too. Raheem apologized to the crowd and said that keeping people waiting was not his style but he had no control over the matter. As soon as he said that I forgave him and decided to keep the attitude at bay and have a good time anyway. Raheem sounded good and looked good too. He has cut his braids off and his voice sounded like silk. Around 1:30 I began having difficulty staying awake plus I had to be at work in the morning. No to mention the 35 minutes it would take me to get home. I blew a kiss to Raheem and decided to leave. As bad as I wanted to leave I could not find my car. The parking lot structure is huge and I could not find the level that my car was parked on. After another 25 minutes of looking for my car I finally found it and drove home. By the time I got home it was close to 3:00 and I was hungry and tired. Next weekend I am suppose to go to a comedy show I hope I don’t encounter the same problems or I may have to modify the way I party and try some white clubs or hang outs. If you have any suggestions let me know.
**** Oh the photo is of Ima D. I was too tired to by the time Raheem came on*****
3 comments:
Well, damn. I would have thrown a chicken wing at the waitress, then went behind the bar and made my own drink, LOL!! That is pure fooly-wang. Good luck on your next outing, hope it turns out better than that one!
And yes- RD is FIIIINE!
I had a similar experience at BB KINGs Universal...Backstory-my roommates went on a Thursday eve to see Rahsaan Patterson. They had very good seats on the ground floor right next to the stage. Stevie Wonder and his crew from his radio station sat at the table next to them. Stevie performed and Deborah Cox. They said it was a great night. So the following Sunday, we go there to see Dwele. It was a damn fool mess. I am in my thirties and am not in the mood for standing room only but the place is packed. We finally get in and get seated three floors up in a corner area where you can't even see the stage but they have flat screens situated near the bar which was a stone's throw away. And of course everyone who went to get a drink, stood in front of the fuzzy snowy screens so we constantly had to ask them to step aside.
It took forever for someone to come take the order and even longer still for someone to deliver. The personnel tried to act brand new like the shit didn't occur. After three or four opening acts its now close to eleven here comes Dwele...the acoustics were terrible you could barely here him. The youngsters were busy socializing so they didnt really seem to care but again many people were leaving. I go to ask for a refund and the short silly ass manager starts acting the fool. I of course snap and then he tells me I can't come back into the club and walks his happy ass away. I wanted to beat his bitch ass. The head of security came and was very cordial and got me a business card for the manager who of course was not there. I love Neo Soul and like you don't get out much but that shit was foolish.
OK, I thought that my last Raheem DeVaughn concert experience was special (http://www.itslikebuttababy.com/2007/09/butta-onraheem-devaughn-does-damn-thing.html), but you have me so beat.
Note to self: stay far, far away from BB King's next time I'm in L.A.
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