Wednesday, March 15, 2006

...but they don't fall down


What can I say about Vail, CO??? Oh, I got it. The floor... It bounces!
You're prolly wondering "What Is Vurs Talkin About???"

Well we play this spot called "8150" when we go to Vail. It implies that
Vail sits 8,150 feet above Sea Level. Dig? It's like an elevated log
cabin style joint. This spot is known for the dance floor that bounces. Okay, u may have seen sum'n like this, but nothing quite this this exreme. It's surreal. When you got 600 people packed in this room, and everyone is jumping up and down, it is literally transformed into one huge trampoline. The entire club is wobbling around as though it had turned into a liquid of some sort. Feel like ur walking on a giant waterbed. Haha! It's kinda dope.
It can get out of control. People were jumping so hard and so much that the turntables and other equipment started to sway back and forth. To the point, it took 2 people to hold the equipment together long enough to finish the set. Bananas!!!
Thanks Vail!

click to visit 8150

VURSATYL

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Technology 101 & The Lost Blaxploitation Scrolls

Check 1, 2. Check 1, 2. Can ya'll hear me? What ya'll know about that audio blog? Hopefully you got off the late train and started listening to the daily 'get down'. Thanks to the Angel on our shoulder, we have taken another step in to the futuristic vibe of Gutterfly and become one of the first to expand the phenomenon of blogging. Enter The Audio Blog. Our collective daily journal in audio clips as mp3's for those of us who'd rather hear it than read it. Feel me? Just in case we missed someof ya'll, we wanna make sure you can still get the written tid-bits. So here it goes... To bring ya'll up to speed, we made a brief excursion to the Bay Area to mix songs that will potentially go on the new Lifesavas LP entitled Gutterfly. I mentioned that I wanted to give the fans the actual math on Gutterfly before unreliable sources leaked the info we've attempted to keep quiet until now. Originally Gutterfly was a movie that was conceived during the Blaxploitation era. The movie was never completed. But we got our hands on the remnants of it and we were given permission to record it's soundtrack. WOW!!!! You'll have to buy the CD in order to get the entire breakdown on how this "MIRACLE" took place. In short, it's a mixture of actual and ficticious events that come together as an amazing ride. Starring Bumpy Johnson, Sleepy Floyd :brother to (Mink Floyd), and Jimmy Slimwater. Co-Starring, Dead Prez, Camp-Lo, Smif N Wessun, Ishmael"Butterfly" Butler, Fishbone, and Vernon Reid of Living Colour. Gettin' it? Got It? Good! I'll get more details to you all later. You'll just have to tune in to see how this one ends.

VURSATYL

Tiny Bubbles

The only thing dope about Breckenridge, CO was this one man band style lounge singer we had the pleasure of seeing. It was hilarious!
We were at this spot called Bubba Gumps. The waitress brings us menus and simultaneously hands us an extensive list of songs that a 'live'entertainer would be willing to sing upon requests. Man, this cat had a repitoir of at least 300 songs. We're in Breckenridge, CO mind you. Very upscale. Very ritzy, ski-town. So use ur imagination on the type of songs there were to chose from. Simply put, this musical selection would have made Pat Boone and John Denver very proud.
It was just him, an accoustic guitar, and one of those harmonicas on a neck brace type things... Well it was this cats' job to play whatever the patrons selected. And if he did a good job, we(patrons) were supposed to tip him. So of course, being the deviant that I am, I scoured that list to find the songs that would push his musical range to the max. :) Amidst the slew of Barry Manilow and Conway Twitty covers, I found some challenges for him. 'Hey Ya' by Andre' 3000, 'Reasons' byEarth Wind & Fire and 'Sexual Healing' by Marvin Gaye. Haha!!! I wish I would've had my cam-corder! Classic. One after the other, I requested them. And one after the other, he attempted to pull them off. Whoa. Had to give ur boy credit for knowing that many songs. Althought he gets a capital "E" for effort, these were some of the cheesiest renditions of these songs you'll ever hear. It was something out of an SNL skit!
Now, don't write me off as being too cold. I tipped him after each song... I was genuinely entertained. I laughed so hard I gave myself a headache. The tips were worth it, because that type of comedy... You just can't buy that.
I may not go back to Breckentidge to perform, but I'm definitely coming back to see the Live Entertainment. The one man band. Insane!
100
VURSATYL

Don't drink and sell Merch

...all of the shows on this tour have been sold out! We played the AggieTheatre in Fort Collins tonight. It was INSANE!!! I've said it beforebut, outside of playing shows at home, Fort Collins crowd might be one of the best crowds we play.
A lot of people drove from the surrounding areas. One love to my cousinTia who came from Denver to check us out and bring a touch of home with her. One cat drove 3 hours to be there. His name was Jorgè. He's a huge Lifesavas fan. Or so he says. Actually he wasn't lyin. He knew every song by heart. He got so drunk, he drifted behind the merchandise table and started selling cd's and t-shirts. Haha!!! He was even telling people he was in the group and even tried to sign autographs! Amazing! Those are the things that have me dying out here. Jorgè, wherever ur at, right on for coming and giving us some comic relief. Hope u decided not to drive home that night.
It's cool to play to a crowd that wants to have a good time. After that show, we didn't have anything left. We were exhausted, in a good way. I feels good to give everything u have when ur getting all of that energy in response. Hype crowds push us to our limits. Plus, this is our 3rd day and we still haven't gotten acclamated to the elevation. So by the time the set is done, we've given everything we could give. Literally!
Thanks for being a dope crowd Fort Collins.
100
VURSATYL

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Fort Collins

...we had a day off today in Fort Collins. We pulled in to the 'telly'around 2:30pm. Had my own room today. YES!!! We all love each other, butMAN!!! You never know how much you cherish ur own space til' you set outon a road trip of this magnitude. We spend so much time within inches ofeach other, it's healthy to spend some time apart. Thus, "The GreatVursatyl Escape". Haha! Yeah!We've been on tour close to a week, and I have yet to really pack, forthis tour. By pack I mean, have all of my wears in a distinguishableorder and in one place that I can access with reasonable convenience.Feel me? So today is that day. I had to get packed.Aight, I told ya'll the other day I wanted to see the Dave ChappelleBlock Party. Well, I finally saw it!!! Dope! I thought it was sooooodope. Dope to see some of my favorite artists all in one place. The offstage activity and conversattions. It was definitely a historicalevent.What's really crazy is that Lifesavas were in Brooklyn that day. We hadheard that Erykah Badu and Wyclef were giving a free concert that daythrough the rumor mill. We had a flight schedule to go back to Portlandthat afternoon, and it was begining to rain. Also, let it be known wehad just played a free show in Brooklyn the day prior at Brower Parkafter completing a 3 week European tour. We were anxious to get home anddidn't know if the Erykah and Wyclef thing was real. So we opted to flyhome. Come to find out, it was The Dave Chappelle Block Party that wecould have witnessed in person, AND WE MISSED IT!!!!Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! It's hard to accept. But, it's one ofthings you wouldn't have guessed would ever really materialize.Any, I finally saw it. I think my favorite moments were seeing Big DaddyKane and Kool G Rap perform with Roots. Three ILL MC's killin it on onestage. Classic. A Fugee reunion... Wow. Dave Chappelle is hilarious. Iwas lovin' all of his commentary. Especially his conga accompanied poem.He's dope. I actually thought Dead Prez killed it with the liveperformance of "Hip Hop". I was really feelin that. I could go on andon, but if u ain't seen it, u sleepin on heater. Word.So, after a good day of packing, writing, and cinema, I called a cab totake me to find some food. The receptionist calls me to let me know thecab is there. As soon as I get in the car, I'm reminded that I'm in asmall town in Colorado. This cat was anxious to get me outta his cab."Where do u need to go?" he asks. It's after 10pm, and I had calledseveral resteraunts and 98% of Fort Collins was closed. Through all ofmy inquiries I had found out that infamous "Waffle House" was the onlythe only thing crackin'. So I told the driver, "u can just take me tothe Waffle House". Wich was about 3 miles from where we were staying."That's too far!" as though I had asked him to take me to Denver. This acab service right? He makes money when he takes people where they wantto go right. Not a foreign concept, is it? So I ask, "How much would itbe to take me there?" "I don't know, round $23.00 one way" he says. Mypride was temting me to agree to pay it, just to make him do it. But Iain't wanna pay $46.00 round trip for a Patty Melt and Fries. Hesuggests I go to a near by Tavern called Jackson's Bar & Grill. I'mstarvin', so whatever... $5.00 for the cab ride... I tell him to wait,I'll pay him to wait. I need a ride back to the hotel. Not only does hespeed off when I get out the cab, Jacksons didn't serve food that late.HOW WACK IS THAT!!! So I end up walking back to hotel and just grabbingsome microwavable burritos at some 24hour gas station/mini-market andcall it quits.It's all good. We usually have a good time in Fort Collins, and I don'tthink tomorrow will be any exception.That's it for me today. Hollar at ya'll tomorrow...
VURSATYL

Aspen, CO

...last night we were in Aspen, CO. In walks DeRay Davis. He\'s the voice ofthe interludes on Kanye West record and he is also the cat in"Barbershop" who comes in tryin\' to sell various things to the people in the Barbershop. He was there to check out the show, but woundup hosting he show. Also in attendance was Joe Clair, comedian and former Host of BET's RapCity. He's also a closet "MC", for those of you who never watched RapCity when it was dope. Haha! Am I sayin it's wack now? YES!!! Yeah, I said it! Aight, don't get started Vurs.DeRay was hosting, and of course before he introduced us he had to gethis freestyle on. Haha! And that opened the stage for Joe Clair to dropa few lines. Well, several lines. Thay weren't bad. But I can\'t help butwonder what would happen if 33333I popped up at one of their Stand-Upconcerts and just hopped up right before they were about to go on andburst an imprompto stand-up routine. Haha!!! Underground MC turnComedian, one night only. :) Picture that. Don\'t sweat it, that\'ll neverhappen.They weren\'t bad though. I had heard them both before.Finally, he gave us love and introduced us. It was a dope night. Aspencrowds are typically party crowds, and this crowd was no exception. SOLDOUT!!! That made the 3rd SOLD OUT show in a row! Yeah! Lovin\' That!Aspen is an ill town. It\'s on some High Society type vibe. Louis Vutton,Gucci, Prada, Polo etc. Nothin but Mink Coats and Old Money. I fit rightin. :) Actually, we\'re always the Misfits, but that\'s never moreapparent than bein in Aspen. Wherever we go we \'hush the crowd\'.SILENCE! Funny how u can make people uncomfortable in their own town.That is until after u perform. Then the very people who were lockingtheir car doors, and clutching their hand bags when u walked by earlierin the day, are running up and giving u hugs. Ahhh, Music, it\'s abeautiful thing. I love it, I just wish we could feel that muchtogetherness before the song and dance. Feel me?We had a blast when it was all said and done. Big Ups to the cats fromAkomplice Clothing who hooked us. Good lookin.We\'ll be back!Be Well,
VURSATYL