Wesley Pentz aka Diplodocus aka Diplo, has been on the scene for a minute killing it with his unique style. Arguably he’s best known for 1. Releasing one of the illest mixtapes ever with M.I.A called Piracy Funds Terrorism and 2. For dating M.I.A. But really, what he should be recognized for is introducing North America to Baile funk. In ’06 he formed his label, Mad Decent, which brings us to today as Abe Vigoda, Telepathe, Boy 8-Bit and Diplo are on 24-city tour throughout North America.
On Thursday night I got the opportunity to check them out, but admittedly I was only able to show up for parts of Boy 8-Bits set, but got to see Diplo’s amazing set. With that said I can’t comment on the other two acts, but when I walked in Boy 8-Bit had the crowd dancing pretty hard with his unique 8-bit like stripped sounds, hence the name. One of the joints he played had me gettin’ loose and that was the “Township Funk” remix, the build-ups and dips in that track on a great stereo system is amazing.
At around 11pm, while Boy 8-Bit was still spinning, a make shift DJ booth with lights was wheeled into the middle of the dance floor. Had everybody anticipating and wondering if Diplo was going to be spinning on this spot. They wouldn’t have to wait long as he jumped on shortly after it was wheeled out and the crowd lost their shit.
He started the set playing reggae, reggaeton mixed with RnB and transitioning into hip-hop. When his remix of N.E.R.D’s “Everyone Nose” came on, the crowds were freaking it hard on the dance floor. From there he would mix in Naffie’s “Satisfaction”, a little AC/DC, Santogold’s “Creator” before going into Lil’ Waynes “A Millie”. The song would set off a string of what I would like to dub as some serious hood anthems. Playing “Money In Da Bank”, “Hustlin”, “Hip Hop”, “Paper Planes”, and “It’s Going Down” to name a few tracks. To change it up he went from Yung Joc straight into MGMT’s “Electric Feel”, now how’s that for a complete 180, somehow it worked though.
The set would go on for about an hour and a half before he was told he had to shut down, but then was told to do two more songs. As he was selecting his tracks, my home girl, Shiva, shouted out “PLAY SOME SLOW SONGS!”. To which he obliged and dropped The Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes For You” flavored with his drums of course and followed it up with Ginuwine’s “Pony” before ending the night with the final track B.O.B from Outkast.
Probably one of the nicest dudes I met as he hung around to share some of the Girl Guide cookies he had with him and take pictures with his fans.
The night was absolutely amazing as he was able to mix it up throughout the night dropping songs you wouldn’t expect but adding his recognizable drums overtop of the tracks. Definitely check this out if this hits your city. Oh and I just got word for those out in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area, Diplo is doing a pre-show set at Commonwealth in DC before his show at Black Cat. A big thank you goes out to Sealed With A Kiss for hooking this show up. As always check out www.sealedwithakisspresents.com for upcoming shows, as they’re always bringing in talented acts.
Check out the rest of our pictures here.
Tour Dates:
10-16 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-17 Cambridge, MA - Middle East (Downstairs)
10-18 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Musée Juste Pour Rire
10-20 Ottawa, Ontario - Babylon
10-21 Toronto, Ontario - Circa Nightclub
10-22 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
10-23 Chicago, IL - The Abbey
10-24 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10-25 Lawrence, KS - The Granada Theatre
10-27 Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
10-28 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
10-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard’s on Richards
10-31 Seattle, WA - Nectar Lounge
11-01 Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
11-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11-04 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
11-05 Phoenix, AZ - The Brickhouse
11-07 Austin, TX - Emo’s
11-08 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
11-10 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
11-11 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
11-12 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
11-13 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
11-14 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
