The above pic was taken about three months ago, backstage at Rock The Bells. That was when I saw Redman and Method Man live. The show was so good, I had to go back for a second turn on Saturday night at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz.
Saturday's show was, not surprisingly, very similar to their RTB show. Given the long list of shows that these guys have scheduled throughout the year, it makes sense they would travel the same show.
They opened up with a remix of "Da Rockwilda," their homage to Cypress Hill's "Hand on the Pump." Oddly, they re-organized their entrance as if they had mistakenly used the wrong intro music, then came back out to the strains of "1,2,3,4."
Combined, their catalogue of solo and group material is considerable. Meth can pull from both his individual work as well as his Wu-Tang Clan material, while Red has five albums and two collaborative projects (Def Squad and his work with Mef) to siphon. It's a good collection to choose from.
Red hit the crowd off with "Time For Some Action," which sounded great over the sound system. Meth followed with "Method Man," and the packed crowd went all kinds of berzerker.
I appreciated the wildin' out on stage and the crowd support, but you could tell the guys were in cruise control for certain bits. Going back to their tour schedule, it's gotta be tough getting up on stage every night and keeping up the energy these two possess. It's just not human.
I imagine they must be about od'd on 5-hour energy drinks. Red looked extra-high (although I don't know what he would look like not high), but kept toking with the crowd whenever they offered fresh blunts (which was all night). My girl wondered if he ever worries that the stuff they give him might be laced. He certainly didn't appear too concerned.
The fun stuff happened toward the end of their set. After the obligatory ODB tribute (which wasn't as contrived this time around compared to past renditions), they pulled out "Da Rockwilda" again, which may have explained why they fudged the intro.
Then, Meth did that thing where he stands up on the crowd like Jesus walking on water, Red jumped up on the club's balcony railing, standing about 10 feet over the crowd, and dove in! Some rock star ish, for sure, but he pulled it off without hurting himself. The crowd ripped off his Tony Parker jersey, but you could tell he genuinely loved it and genuinely was relieved he didn't mess himself up. That was ballsy.
While those were highlights, I think I'll while before seeing them again. At least another 3 months.
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