Foxwoods Diplo vs. Boston Diplo

Saturday night..Club Shrine..DIPLO..sold out..it wasn't wrong that I was expecting BIG THINGS, right?

It is with great difficulty that I must say I was supremely disappointed.

Flash-forward to the end of the night..hotel room..I was in one bed and my friend in the next bed over..

"If you're talking music wise, comfort level, crowd interaction, and the energy from the crowd itself, on a scale from 0 to EDM (a new rating system I've derived), I'm only giving that show a "Vertical-Line-for-the-E" which converts to just a 1/10."

My words..those were my words - and ask anyone, I'm not hard to please. I tend to make the most and best out of every situation I'm in..but I'm sorry Wes (Diplo)...I don't know if Shrine gave you that playlist or you just weren't feeling good or something but that wasn't the Diplo I've been following for the past 5-6 odd years. I've been to over a dozen shows in the past 2 months and this one was definitely in my bottom tier.

The Diplo I saw perform wasn't the Diplo of Mad Decent, of Major Lazer, of Jack Ü...that was a DJ catering to the request of a club who just paid him at least 30 large...(that's my opinion and estimation, folks, I have no proof to back up those accusations). But that is what I really think happened. I think Diplo showed up to the club at around 11PM, the manager/owner of Shrine approached him, and said something like, "Hey man, the sound here is basically mainstream hip-hop/rap, so can you make that happen?" I imagine Diplo pulls out a certain specific USB, plugs in, and plays freaking artists by the likes of Bobby Shmurda...Bobby Shmurda...let me write that one more time...Bobby Shmurda...I'm sorry I just can't stand this artist.

...Diplo played A LOT of rap. A lot. I typically don't like when people use the word "mainstream" because for whatever reason there are negative connotations attached to that word when it's brought up with regards to the music industry. But I don't know what else to call Diplo's performance Saturday night at Club Shrine - Foxwoods, Connecticut. It was like I was listening to the radio...that's how I felt. To top it off, I couldn't understand anything Diplo was saying into the mic..and I wasn't the only one who said that. I don't know what happened.

More and more rap was played, and it got to the point where I was reminded of this video featuring Snoop Dogg making

fun of the way rappers of today sound...I tend to agree, and I make fun of my students for listening and enjoying said "rappers" (if you didn't see yet from my bio, I teach at a high school).

Photo by Trevor Finney

My friends and even random others who were in the hotel we were staying at during complimentary breakfast the next morning (shout out to AmericINN Griswold, CT for outstanding service and an overall great stay) had this to say:

"I felt like we were just at some random club..or better yet..a frat party..it didn't feel like a "show" like I was expecting."

"From what I remember [this group of people spent over $3,000 on a VIP table and bought a lot of liquor...], he did play a lot of mainstream stuff. If I wasn't spending time with 9 other friends, I probably would have been pissed I speant $100 on this ticket."

I have video to back me up: Diplo played almost the full version of "Hot N*gga" before FINALLY transitioning into a halfway decent drop. I almost felt embarrassed posting the video I took to my Facebook. Low and behold, the comments started streaming in after I did so...

"Did he really play a lot of rap?"

"Man, that sucks..."

"I hope to God his set tomorrow in Boston isn't like this."

BOSTON... Diplo performed earlier that night at Jingle Ball, Kiss 108's annual holiday concert featuring TONS of famous artists from around the world. After that he headed over to Club Bijou and went on at 12:30pm.

I realize this post is getting long so let me get right to it - His..set..was..amazing - a complete 180 degree turn from what I saw at Shrine. This was the Diplo I was expecting. Me and my crew gave our experience an "EDN" which converts to a 9 out of 10 on the "0 to EDM" scale.

As it turns out, my partner, Mark, got a word in with one of the members from Diplo's team. He asked him why the sets between Shrine and Bijou were so different. The team member's response was that Shrine was a "practice run" for Jingle Ball. Take out of that what what you will...

Let me finish off by diving into a bit of both mine and Mark's motivation for starting this blog. WE KNOW New England is lacking when it comes to the EDM scene here. It's disheartening to see someone by the likes of Diplo have to perform a set like I saw Saturday night. But that's what you get when you have a chain of command that's so static that nothing new can come by to spice things up. Now on the other side of the grass, we can look at New York. The style and influx of music is always changing and always on the rise. There are hundreds if not thousands of clubs and venues in the area that can bring in artists. Boston, for example, is so limited that there seems to be some sort of monopoly on who decides the who, what, where, when and why when it comes to the talent that gets brought in and how they perform. That's not right. I don't know how we can change this yet, but I think we can all agree that something needs to be done. We were lucky that Bijou let Diplo be Diplo do his thing, because I don't think Shrine did.

#Diplo #Foxwoods #Shrine #Boston #Bijou