Luda let loose in The Lou

Luda let loose in The Lou. I know he’s been to town a few times since, but the last time I saw Ludacris light up the stage, it was at the late great Super Jam 15 years ago. Do y’all remember those big ole blow up boxing hands he had on? He was doing the most, but I got my life from that set. Anyway, why did Luda’s Celebrate 250 performance at The Arch on Friday make me feel like time has stood still for him? When I tell you he got it all the way in while letting us know he has the hits and hasn’t aged a bit! And his love for STL is as big as those inflatable arms he used at Super Jam! On Friday, he let us know before he got too deep into things that St. Louis was one of the cities who had his back when he was trying to make a name for himself. He ain’t the only one! G-Eazy, Future and a gang of other folks owe their success to our early support from our city. But anyway, back to Luda. He could have just stood there on mute after he brought my boy Chingy to the stage to perform his Disturbing Tha Peace classics “Holidae In” and “Right Thurr” and I would have given it a 10 out of 10. But Luda had the nerve to give us an hour-long set. Now keep in mind it was 126 degrees Celsius. II know he had to be rapping on that stage feeling like he was on a rotisserie rack. If I’m being honest, I didn’t realize how universally loved he was until Friday. The lumberjack looking gentleman in size 2X deer hunting camouflage gear and cowboy boots let me know what time it was. He hopped and bopped around kicking up dirt like he was at somebody’s hoedown, but knew every lyric Luda spit! Thousands of us were sizzling like we were on a QuikTrip hot dog grilling contraption, but a time was had. Thanks Luda and Ching-a-ling! 

Storm chasing instead of celebrating. I had such a ball thanks to Celebrate Saint Louis that I had decided to go for a round two on Saturday. Too bad Mother Nature proved herself to be an equal opportunity offender by cutting up even worse for Celebrate 250 than she did for Black Wall Street 314. I can’t say I was looking forward to the aroma of the heat activated granola eatin’ folks that had me contemplating bringing a portable air purifier to see Stephen Marley – who is quietly my favorite of all Bob’s boys. What? Y’all know some of the reggae heads be smelling like ganja and slow cooked onions. I’m not judging. I’m just saying. I was actually hoping Michael McDonald was gonna pop out on Kenny Loggins’ Saturday set the same way Chingy hopped out with Luda on Friday. Oh, so now y’all wanna act like I’m the only thug who loves yacht rock and eighties pop? Mother nature and that hurricane dashed all my hopes and dreams of a live performance of “This Is It” and “What A Fool Believes.” I turned right around as soon as that first thunder boom hit and headed back to the house. I was told the show went on, but I didn’t want to risk catching “flumonia” from getting soaked to the bone two weeks in a row. In somewhat related news, did anyone else catch that group of poor unfortunate souls holding up traffic on Tucker near the St. Patrick Center so they could film an impromptu twerkfest on a device so tiny that it could have passed for an iPod Nano (remember them) on Friday? I was almost late to Luda because of their shenanigans. It was a mess. The only thing missing was a sign that said, “Will Twerk For Food!”

Almost MATI time! Y’all have to know that I am over the moon because I only have seven more days to wait until one of my favorite music festivals of all time gets underway. Music at the Intersection (MATI) is about to have me in those Grand Center streets getting my whole entire life from local, national and global music stars. By the time Sunday night wraps, I’m wore down in the best possible way! If I even tried to list the dozens of folks who will be taking the stages between the special show by Jon Batiste on Thursday night and the rest of the weekend of top tier talent, I wouldn’t be able to put anything else in Partyline. I will say that I’m looking forward to Killer Mike, PJ Morton, Wyclef and of course Keyon Harrold. And I’ve been in physical therapy since around St. Patrick’s Day to make sure this meniscus can handle Big Freedia’s show and the Mannie Fresh Block Party powered by Delux. My nephew has been helping me stay ready by randomly playing the intro to “Back That Thing Up” so that I can be ready to make my knees touch my elbows right on cue!