Bone Thugs shake up Leavey

By Katie Powers

The electrifying rush of Girl Talk and the deep thuggish beats of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rattled Leavey Center during last Wednesday's Activities Programming Board winter concert.

And with the passion of Bone Thugs and the lovable mixing of Girl Talk, I'd say it was the best concert I've seen at Santa Clara.

The floor was packed, the lights were off and the students were into the music.

The show also featured Jupiter Rising, a hip-hop duo who performed before Girl Talk and Santa Clara DJ team Short Shortzz, who got the night off to a good start with a mix of electropop music, rap and techno.

With an all-access press pass, I decided to take full advantage of my door-opening, barrier-lifting abilities. When the time came for Girl Talk, chosen students with special wristbands got to hop on stage to dance to the set, a quintessential staple of any Girl Talk show. I joined in, naturally.

The set began as he stared intently at his computer, wrapped in cellophane. As he bobbed his head up and down, the tracks mixed and the crowd roared.

Down in the first few rows, my friends were being crushed in the crowd -- going crazy -- and I felt guilty, so I spent most of my time flailing my arms and legs in dance-worthy excitement smiling out at the crowd as if for some reason I was famous.

As Girl Talk stripped down from his sweats to his shirtless self, the music escalated and I became more intoxicated with glee.

Girls in pleather and tight dresses swooned next to him, and once he had his shirt off, it was hard to resist touching his back. It was so sweaty, your hand slid right off.

After Girl Talk, Bone Thugs came on with the new high-energy hit "Flow Motion," and the group's remaining three members took their passion all the way through the show.

Despite the poor acoustics of the Leavey Center, Bone Thugs brought an energy that hip hop shows in the past seemed to lack.

Playing a variety of hits, like the '94 single "Thuggish Ruggish Bone," and "Notorious Thugs," which was recorded with the late Notorious B.I.G., they kept the audience reminiscing with classics and entertained with songs from their newest album, "Strength and Loyalty."

They interacted with the crowd, asking who liked to smoke weed before launching into the classic "1st of Tha Month." A large majority of the crowd held up lighters and cell phones to show their appreciation.

The last half of their set brought high intensity bass, the best hits and the most affection from the audience. Even those in the bleachers were getting into it.

Before "I Tried," Bone Thugs personally addressed the collegiate audience, asking us if we liked college and telling us to "try real hard." Or in other words, "Get yo' motherfuckin' education on!"

The lights dropped to red and yellow and Leavey felt reverberation as Bone Thugs prepared for their greatest hit, "Tha Crossroads," which got the biggest reaction from the crowd. People swayed their arms. Even though it was more evident that the trio was just rapping over their songs by the end, no one cared.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was seriously playing "Crossroads" live for us, and it was undoubtedly cool.

After the show, I caught up with Bone Thugs backstage, gave Layzie Bone a hug and repeatedly told them that they were great.

They seemed to think only half of the students liked the show, but in such awe I urged them that everyone did and thanked them for coming.

Then Layzie Bone said, "Well if you liked it, then I guess everyone did."

Next I found Gregg Gillis, Girl Talk, hanging out with his posse in the dressing room, chilling. Gillis was really friendly and agreed to an interview -- but in the hallway because he gets nervous in front of his friends.

As we walked down the long corridor, we could hear Bone Thugs hanging in the locker room. Gillis wondered what it'd be like to smoke a joint with them.

Drinking a Rolling Rock Light in a change of clothes -- a shirt with electric colored cats -- he sat down on the floor with me and chatted about the show. Tonight, he thought, was pretty good, mostly because there was a lot of air and a big space, so he didn't get as sweaty as he typically does.

"I do every show the same and I feel like I put a lot of energy and heart into all of them as far as the philosophy. I try to never change," said Gillis. "No matter what I'm playing, I do my thing. I've gotten used to that, playing a lot of shows. I concentrate on what I like doing and do that same thing."

Gillis explained he wrapped cellophane over his computer to keep the computer clean under the mess of his own sweat and hair and also as a shield from other bodily fluids.

"I have had people throw up and stuff. It serves its purpose," he said. "It saves the computer but it also makes it less sweaty and disgusting."

The average guy that has become the phenomenon of mashup music, transcending an underground, alternative-dance scene with a mainstream party appreciation, is pretty modest.

"I think everyone's an innovator. No one listens to the same thing the same way, so anytime someone has a perspective on something, it's an innovation," he said.

Hey, he's pretty open about his sweaty clothes, and manages to get giddy over Bone Thugs, just like everybody else.

Ryan Groshong contributed to this report. Contact Katie Powers at (408) 551-1918 or krpowers@scu.edu.