Thoughts on the Real Love Party @ LIV

For those of you who missed it all I can say is "Damn". The two elements of this party that resonated with me were Questlove, who I now have a heightened level of respect, along with the fan loyalty displayed through the attendance alone.

I got there when the doors opened at 10 and conversed with Stone (The Couch Sessions) for about 45 minutes. LIV is steadily filling up and the place was thick by 10:45. DJ Dredd kick off the show spinning everything from Michael McDonald's "What A Fool Believes", Kid 'N' Play's "Do This My Way", Morris Day and The Time's "777-9311", to Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless). With each transition you hear the crowd going crazy with "Oooohhhh!" and "Aww shit!". That's one indication of you doing something right at a party. Questlove came on at about 11:30 and it was a wrap. The highlight of the evening for me - he starts his set off with Rare Essence's "Call My Name" and "Go Down Baby". It's a safe bet that 90% of the patronage wasn't from the DC area so to see people partying to "The Wickedest Band Alive" touched me (pardon my mushiness) and I don't know too many DJs who can do that successfully? I unfortunately had to leave early (yeah I know) to hit up another party but upon my exit and keeping in line with the wonderful sound of live instrumentation, Questlove segues from R.E. to the Menahan Street Band (think "Roc Boys" sample) then into the actual "Roc Boys" track. You gotta love a DJ for dropping the original sample before any sampling track. In the words of Marcus Dowling (True Genius Requires Insanity), "I would like to advise a lot of DJs that Questlove, after 4 minutes, is a better DJ than you are."

This event proved to me that my mission with The Glass House is not in vain. You had the grown and sexy, hipsters, sneaker kids, nerds and your average Joes all communing under one roof all to hear good music from good people. It was all love with no pretentiousness. If you couldn't fit in with this crowd then you're probably not as cool as you thought...