Ghost As In Never Come Back
By Matt Wood in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 18, 2005 4:01PM
Chicagoist has loved hip-hop music ever since we got a cassette tape of the Beat Street soundtrack and we called it "breakdancing music." We love it so much that we often spend our hard-earned money to go see our favorite rappers live in concert. But this is an unrequited love, because rappers routinely put on the worst live performances of any musicians. Just ask some fans who went to see Ghostface Killah at Joe's on Weed Street last night who now have staples in their heads.
According to Pitchfork, the start of the Ghostface show had already been delayed, then the crowd had to suffer sets from marginal groups Swollen Members and the Molemen. The crowd became restless, demanding the headliner five hours after the doors opened, but another two-bit warm up act, Roc-a-Fella signee Tru Life, hit the stage. The crowd reacted predictably, the insecure rapper reacted predictably, and soon beer bottles were being thrown. The play-by-play from Pitchfork staffer Chris Kaskie is harrowing, sounding more like a dispatch from downtown Fallujah than downtown Chicago. Tru Life's posse took up position in the balcony, then:
"[They] began having target practice on the crowd below, hitting people in the faces/heads/bodies with bottles. The crowd threw back, and the people upstairs kept hitting the ceiling with bottles, which would then explode and fall on the crowd. There was a rush for the exits, people yelling about guns, etc. As people ran, and we ran, bottles were continually being thrown at us from above. My friend was running, and got drilled in the head with a broken bottle, opening up his head."
The police eventually relieved Joe's hapless security and cleared out the crowd. Ironically, Ghostface went on to perform later, when we're sure he took the high road and made pleas for squashing beef and one love. The problem is Ghost, you're just as big a part of the problem as the promoters who scheduled this fiasco. Your gigantic ego simply can't take the risk of letting your performance stand by itself without having a bunch of hacks make you look better by comparison first. It's too bad, because we always thought of you as one of the more principled rappers around, artistically at least. But now we know you're no different from the rest. A couple hundred fans in Chicago thank you for clearing that up for them so they don't waste their money on your music again.