Curren$y Kept Crowd Waiting Only to Disappoint

In our ever–evolving world, music is always undergoing major changes. Unlike in the good old days of mixing tables, music production is now done mostly by computer, with programs like Pro Tools. Singers can now rely on modern technology to steady and perfect their wavering tonality or nasally voices. It is unfortunate, but it has become commonplace for artists to sound great on a digital track, but sorely disappoint their fans when they sing on stage, using nothing but their raw voices.
Recently, I found this to be true of one of my favorite artists, Curren$y.

On May 4, my friend and I arrived at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco over a half an hour late for the concert. However, had we shown up on time at 7 PM, we would have found ourselves waiting for over two hours for Curren$y to even come on stage. My friend and I scanned the surprisingly small audience and squeezed our way through until we found a satisfactory spot.

Upon a quick crowd–scan, we realized that the audience was comprised of what seemed like 95 percent guys. Our feeling about the concert’s atmosphere suddenly changed from excited and anxious to uncomfortable and creeped out.
Swallowed in the male–dominated crowd, we waited. As the time stretched on, more people trickled in and the smoke billowing up from the audience began to form a cloudy haze above us.

The disappointment started before Curren$y even took the stage. Not only was the audience kept standing on its feet, but there wasn’t even an opening act, just a DJ playing Curren$y’s music. Every time a song’s beat would begin to climax, I would crane my head, expecting Curren$y to run out and begin the show. This mind game got very old very quickly, and I soon lost all interest, almost forgetting that I was at a concert, supposedly enjoying myself.

When the rapper finally did begin his long–awaited concert, his performance was nothing like what I had expected. I had heard from multiple people that he was a great performer and that he sounded just like he does on digital tracks. It is a great understatement to say my friend and I felt let down. If I hadn’t known what he looked like, I surely would have thought he was an opening act, because he sounded mediocre at best. After only an hour of the concert, we left, severely disappointed, slightly claustrophobic, and wanting our money back.

When we got home, we looked up his other live performances only to find out that he sounded great, meaning we probably caught him on a bad night and our money was completely wasted.

If Curren$y is one of your favorites, consider this article when buying tickets for his concerts. On the other hand, I fully intend to see him again at some point, just to see whether it was a bad night or if he just sounds atrocious live.