N*E*R*D* & Soul Mob

Soul Mob, also known as the band who makes the music behind N*E*R*D*, started the show, which meant the band opened for itself. While not quite my cuppa, Soul Mob definitely deserved their own time upfront. Their strong keyboard-led pop can best be described by the title to their closing song "Half Steering Half Eating Ice Cream." Standing up front, I visualized the singer's car speeding along the coastline, his hair being blown back by the salty air, bobbing his head and singing along to his own song on the radio. Their music was catchy-catchy, and if the girls in the audience have anything to do with it, you too will soon be able to drive along to Soul Mob.
After changing the bass drum head, N*E*R*D* took the stage. Once they started on "Brain" and the bounce-inducing guitar riffs began, all hands were in the in the air and all bodies were bouncing. Neither came down until the headliners left the stage and the house lights came back up. N*E*R*D* had the audience and the audience had N*E*R*D* It was great to go to a show where the performers and the audience fed off each other, fueling the show with great energy and a lot of fun. Though Pharrel's voice couldn't always reach those high notes and a couple of lyrics were misplaced, the group was just as good outside the studio, something I wasn't sure they'd be able to pull off. That full sound on In Search of. . . came through with a deeper groove that even the hardest in the audience nodded along to.
One thing I didn't anticipate was the apparent sex appeal of the group. Young ladies behind the barricade reached as far as they could just to graze Pharrel and Shay (Chad, who's married, sticking to his keyboards in back) who obliged especially on songs like "Tape You" and "Baby Doll." Their singer, Kelis (best known for her single "Hate You," being the girl that sang "Hey, Dirty. Baby, I got your money," and her great hair), was given a spot mid-set to perform three songs from her upcoming album. This was the only spot that the show slowed a bit due to the slower tempo and more R&B-ish nature of the music. I'm sure that for the fellows shouting her name throughout the show and throwing video cassettes onto the stage for her, it wasn't long enough.
Every track from In Search of. . . was performed with N*E*R*D*'s own philosophic ideas thrown out to the crowd. I was hoping there would be some tracks I had not yet heard; especially because each song was done true to the album, and I like a group to switch things up live. Luckily they decided to give us two songs off their future release. "Locked Away" was a jazzy number that made me look forward to release day.
And if anyone knows why someone was tossing slices of Wonder Bread on stage let me know.
- Jess Bibbo
- Photos By Jeff Shaner

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