Excerpt: I was truly frustrated and was heading out of the club when I looked to the stage and saw her. Actually, I saw her afro and new immediately who it was. Lauryn Hill was about to bless the mic.Those who have read my Book Expo coverage know that I'm a whore for publicity, promotion and parties. With the DNC in town, I'm able to push all three.
The fun started Saturday night in Harvard Sq at a Young Dems/College Dems party and spilled right into Sunday at the Boston Social Forum. I had one of the more awkward standup comedy venues along with Sam Worthen, Tissa Hami and Derek Gerry, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. While I was at the Forum, I got to attend a lecture/discussion with Richard Stallman, father of the Free Software Foundation, the foundation of Linux. I'll probably write more on that later.
From the Forum at UMass-Boston I jetted downtown to seen a Paul Wellstone discussion with local city councillor Chuck Turner, Al Franken, Arianna Huffington and more people whose names I've forgotten. I couldn't stay long because I had a gig in Dorchester at Corey Manning and Chris Tabb's "Funny Sundays."
What I was most excited about for the day, though, was the "Jumpoff" party at Avalon. It was put on by Democratic GAIN, a campaign bootcamp for young people, and promised the following people:
President Bill Clinton
Senator Hillary Clinton
Chairman Terry McAuliffe
Rev. Al Sharpton
Governor Howard Dean
Jon Stewart
Biz Markie
Natalie Portman
Amber Tamblyn
Jerry Springer
Mission of Burma
Free from BET's 106&Park
The X-Ecutioners
Chris Heinz
Vanessa Kerry
Paul Van Dyk
DJ Roc
Slam Poetry
I didn't roll through till late and thought I had missed the fun but it turns out I'd missed Springer, Free and a local band -- not bad. When I came in, the crowd was hype, and Biz Markie was turnin it out. It was a great scene. Every once in a while, he'd remind us "We gotta get Bush out!"
After him, The Executioners came on and also spun some good beats, but then things got really slow. A band was setting up, but it wasn't your normal setup. I'm used to seeing live music, and I have NEVER waited so long for the sound check to end. I'm not kidding, this "sound check" lasted over an hour! At various points, the crowd would chant "We Want Bill" (referring to Clinton), but we got nothing.
I was truly frustrated and was heading out of the club when I looked to the stage and saw her. Actually, I saw her afro and new immediately who it was. Lauryn Hill was about to bless the mic. I ran all the way to the front, probably knocking over several college kids (hey, they're young. they heal fast) and got some decent pix with the camera phone. Then I listened, astounded and impressed with her song about politicians who compromise too much. Note to Kerry? Hmmm
Oh, and walking away from the club, I ran into Triump the Insult Comic Dog, so peep Conan and lemme know if you see me!