Common Just Made My Day
by Cousin Kim
Some days serendipity smiles on you and yesterday was one of those days. I arrived at the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade at 10:30am hoping to kill some time and join a friend for a movie while my car was being repaired. For those who don't know, the Third Street Promenade is a Los Angeles tourist attraction combining beach community, movie theaters, shopping and live street performances.
As I walked the Promenade, I noted a makeshift stage and a sound check in progress. A few twenty- somethings wearing orange wristbands sat on the ground in front of the stage and on the nearby curb drinking Starbuck's coffee and eating pastries. A large poster onstage announced "Common Performing Live" at noon sponsored by Starbucks Hear Music. Serendipity smiled big time.
After some crowd warm up by the camera crew and the street team, musicians and back up singers, including Bilal, took the stage followed by the man himself wearing his signature cap and a big smile. The crowd responded by waving their recent purchases of Common's new CD "Finding Forever" which was executive produced by Kanye West.
After thanking God for the beautiful day, Common launched into songs from the CD which was released yesterday. He high-fived the fans who were lucky enough to secure spots at the foot of the stage. Surprising all onlookers, he didn't stop there, but actually walked off the stage and bestowed high fives upon other members of the crowd. Bystanders were heard exclaiming with enthusiasm, "He's in the crowd!"
Between songs, Common gave a shout out to Starbucks, the concert sponsor, and spoke about some of the ideologies behind his lyrics. The beauty and diversity of the crowd did not escape Common's notice as he commented on hip hop's ability to provide social commentary as well as bring together people of all nationalities, sexual preferences, and genders. He also gave a shout out to conscious artists that he admires including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Nas, Talib Kweli, and Erykah Badu.
The highlight of the show, however, was when Common let the beat continue and did a freestyle using observations about the crowd. He even hugged a woman who carried a sign that read, "Common, can I have a hug?" while he continued to freestyle about the sign she carried. Common closed the forty five minute set with a crowd favorite "The Light" from his 2000 album release Like Water for Chocolate. The gathered crowd willingly provided the vocals for the chorus.
As the stage and equipment were struck, fans sporting orange wrist bands raced to Starbucks to stand in line for the CD signing. My concert companion, age twenty nine, remarked that he was too old to stand in line. With that, we walked in the opposite direction of the sea of orange wrist bands, each toward our own vision of serendipity.