Kid Sister was determined to break Oakland off with a piece of Chicago — and by the looks of the ladies directly in front of The New Parish stage who attempted her hometown’s signature juking style, the mission was accomplished.
Before Kid Sister hit the stage, members of the Bay Area’s Honor Roll crew got the crowd going with the collective’s first lady and emcee Josie Stingray, producer Trackademicks, and singer 1-O.A.K. who offered his take on the Cure’s “Lovecats.” Together, the crew offered doses of traditional hip hop that were sprinkled with rock-influenced R&B and genre-bending emceeing.
Kid Sister (aka Melisa Young) was next and came to the stage rocking a black shirt, black and white striped leggings, boots, and (of course) her signature, decorative full set which was appropriate for the introduction of “Right Hand Hi,” the opening track from her long-awaited debut Ultraviolet (Downtown). The stage had just enough space for the DJ table, which was lined with water bottles for much-needed breaks between uber high-energy dance songs, and for Melissa to rock out and drop it low enough to make Chicago’s South Side proud.
After only the second song, you wondered if Young had to endure fitness training in order to pull off her physically-exhausting show multiple nights in a row. For the average person, jumping up and down, rapping, keeping the crowd going, and dancing up a sweat without hype men or band members would wear a body out. But then again, Kid Sister is far from average — a fact she proved as she ran through renditions of “54321,” “Control,” and “Step” with the smile of a cheerleader, the confidence of a learned emcee, and the friendly charisma of the girl next door.
The lessons of Chicago music made a mark with Young’s remake of the Jungle Brothers’ “I’ll House You,” a track that was released last year as part of Reebok Classic’s remix project. Young also schooled the crowd on the art of juking with track “Switchboard.” Though the comparison to Oakland’s “hyphy music” didn’t go over so well with a few of the people desperately trying to detach from the image, everyone in the crowd got it: Juke music is the stuff crazy, hyped club nights are made of.
With no lights, no backup dancers, and an intimate crowd, the show had more of a club performance than a concert vibe — but the lack of flash did not equal a lack of energy. In the end, there was left a bunch of sweaty concertgoers who even enjoyed the perks of a post-show juke with Kid Sister. Way to get fresh.
This story was originally written for and published by www.venuszine.com
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