Jeremih’s Album Release Party
July 2, 2009
Filed under Media & Music, Review
Tuesday night, Def Jam’s Jeremih who shares the label with mega artists like Jay Z, Jadakiss, LL Cool J, Ne-Yo and Nas to name a few held a party that was supposed to launch “Home of Rhythm” with his official album release party. Home of Rhythm is a new and exclusive bi-monthly live performance series held at Providence on 57th between 8th & 9th avenue. Doors opened at 7pm, the show started minutes after 9pm and I left at 11:30pm during the Michael Jackson tribute. I was baffled. I did not see Jeremih and do not understand why he had not performed before I left. Instead fo being a formal launch party for Jeramih it was actually a showcase for Def Jam’s Electrik Red and independent artists, Sean Flight, Black Violin, and Peter Hadar. If you took the Jeremih posters down and removed the fliers, you might have thought it was a party for Electrik Red.
Providence’s stage is extremely small. The stage and reserved tables were on the ground floor and a private section and balcony was upstairs. The guests seated at the tables were guests of Def Jam (family, friends, and execs). Although the set up was cramped, the guest seemed comfortable while they ate dinner and drank champagne. Very nice. Electrik Red mixed and mingled and posed for pictures while giving interviews. The lead singer, Naomi Allen, was very nice. The group performed a few songs and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. I was on the upper level and people around me were screaming “Electrik Red!” After the ladies performed, I looked around and noticed most of the people on the upper level were gone. They left the venue. The independent artists followed with a lengthy intermission between each performance. I barely heard anything Sean Flight sang and was literally standing right above him. The drummer was good but so loud he out shined the singer. Next was Peter Hadar. Again, I could barely hear him. His drummer and pianist were quite passionate.
The guests on the lower level seemed bored with the show and more interested in their dinner and champagne. Peter attempted to sing acapella so we could “really hear his voice” but I was distracted by all the table conversations downstairs. The 2005 Apollo Theater winners, Black Violin, performed next but again their drummer was a bit too loud. For the first half of the performance, the sound on one of the violinist’s instrument was not working. I cringed twice from microphone feedback but overall, they did well. Black Violin finished their set a little after 11pm and I was pretty sure Jeremih was going to perform next. Wrong! During this intermission, I noticed people were taking down the back drop and cleaning up. I assumed the event was coming to an end. To my surprise at 11:20pm the host said, they were about to start the Michael Jackson tribute. I think my face said it all. I had enough and it was time to leave. I like Jeremih’s single, but not enough to drag the night out any longer.
G. Stone
Five Things You may not know about Jeremih with MTV
Stable on Tue, 14th Jul 2009 2:52 pm
The sound was bad. U must not have been to the previous R&B Live showcases at Spotlight. I didn’t matter if Puffy was on stage, the industry crowd was always runnin their mouths. It was more of a social networking thing rather than a showcase cuz nobody shut their mouths when someone hit the stage. At least you could see Stars/celebs in the audience at Spotlight… I hope it gets better.