Saturday, March 28, 2009
4th Annual Jazz in the Gardens hosted by Tom Joyner
Jazz in the Gardens is a two-day festival in Miami Gardens. We only bought tickets for the first day, but they had a decent line-up for both days. The headliners for March 28th were: Anthony Hamilton, Common, Erykah Badu, Will Downing and Roy Ayers. The Headlines for March 29th were: Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Babyface, Kenny G, Angelique Kidjo, and Johnathan Butler.
This was my first year going so I was pretty excited. What I WASN'T thrilled about however, was our WACK seats :( We waited too late to get tickets and ended up WAY in the back. I like to be up close and personal! lol. Despite our seating arrangements, the day was beautiful, and the place was PACKED!
I had to take pictures of this big screen that we were pretty much sitting right in front of.
Check the pics & flicks. (click the picture for larger images)
(Roxanne, Seeta, Josephine & Friend)
(Monique, Jazmine, Tanya & Natalie)
Paulette Dozier: FLY. I don't know how old this woman is, but she was EXTRA FLY! lol...that's all I could focus on! lol...seriously. She's a native Floridian so she got a lot of love. I enjoyed her set, but I couldn't even tell you what she sang, because Monique and I were too busy talking about her outfit.
Roy Ayers: Never seen him perform live before. He's got some hits! His band was really good too.
Will Downing: Now, I love some Will Downing, but I was SO over his performance that was making me feel extra uncomfortable! Seriously!! There was a lot of "sexy baritone" talking, and "LL lip-lickin", that I was just over!! My older sistas in the crowd were definitely feeling it, but it just made me feel like my daddy was in the club trying to pick up girls. Sorry. Seriously speaking, he looked great. He was really sick for a while, and had lost a lot of weight, but he looked like he had recovered well.
Eyrkah Badu: We waited for an HOUR or more for her to come on stage...and they were already behind!! Natalie said the last time she saw her, she kept the crowd waiting for THREE hours. So clearly arms were crossed and feet were tapping, but when she came out, nobody was mad anymore! It was like magic! She's so flyyyyyyy. I was drooling over her hat and those shoes for days after. Musically, she's the TRUTH. Every time I see her I feel the same way! She always seems so comfortable on stage...like she's at home. I LOVE THAT. I think that's why her performances always seem personal, even when she is an hour late. :)
Common: I automatically think of Chicago whenever I see him. I've seen him perform countless times, but let me tell you how he straight ripped this show! For one, this was JAZZ in the Gardens, so I think we were all a little surprised to see him on the bill, and I think he had the most work to do as far as crowd participation, because the old heads at the stadium, either 1. had no clue who he was, or 2. thought he was just some run-of-the-mill rapper. But he was the ONLY performer that day to have all those people on their feet by the end of their performance. There are two things I always look for when he performers...his break-dancing, and his freestyles! Did them both...loved them both! lol. I really wish I recorded that freestyle because it was just so on point! He did a little ode to old school hip-hop, which I loved...naturally.
Tichina Arnold joined him on stage briefly to curse and holler (sing). Mz. Badu surprisingly joined him on stage for "The Light". Given their past, it wasn't awkward at all! lol.
We didn't stay for Anthony Hamilton. We had been there ALLLLLLLLLL day and it was after midnight before Common even got off stage! I'm kinda bummed that we missed him, but we hit MAJOR traffic on the way home...and that was without the stadium traffic, so all-in-all, it worked out for the best.
Next year, the DAY the tickets go on sale, is when we will be buying tickets. No excuses! ;)
