Consecutive club-rap hits "Sex 4Suga" and "Punch Drunk Love" set the tone early, promising thatinstead of a series of the word slinger's slow jams, the gig would be anall-out booty-shakin' romp. At times, Common's thunder was out of control. Whenthree audience members stormed the stage to break dance during Finding Forever's "ThePeople," Common halted the song and told the three guys to "respectthe stage."
Later, Common embarked on a hip-hophistory lesson, spitting lines from A Tribe Called Quest's "BonitaApplebum" and mixing Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M.," LL Cool J's"I Need Love," Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" and othersbefore closing the pastiche with Joe's "Stutter." And he dropped Milwaukee locales like Water Street and the East Side, along withstereotypical Wisconsin farebeer and thePackersin a four-minute freestyle rap.
Opening the night, Dashboard Confessionalintertwined Chris Carrabba's early sappy acoustic rock with the group's harderpower pop. The hit that rocketed Dashboard to instant fame, "ScreamingInfidelities," fell flat; the song lost its intimacy when played with afull band as opposed to Carrabba's lone guitar and sentimental voice. And acover of Weezer’s "El Scorcho" sounded uninspired, with the frontmantrying to pull off his best Rivers Cuomo impersonation instead of owning thesong himself.
Carrabba and company twice spliced coversinto their own songs, infusing a chorus of U2's "Pride (In the Name ofLove)" at the end of "Rooftops and Invitations" and weaving SayAnything's "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too" with the otherwise earnestlysung "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most." A blazing renditionof "Hands Down," Dashboard's most gleeful tune, ended the gig on ahigh note, though, as an elated crowd sang every word.
