 "Photo:")
-- Audio from La Coka Nostra available at the bttom of this page --
As they exhaled clouds of pot smoke that billowed to the ceiling, an enthusiastic crowd bobbed their ball-capped heads and waved outstretched arms to the punk-tinged hip-hop of the Kottonmouth Kings.
The Orange County ganja gurus lit up the stage Thursday night as part of the "Bring Tha Noize Tour" with Big B and La Coka Nostra. People flocked to the Senator Theatre in full SRH apparel to honor the occasion, and they didn't forget to hide a few presents in their shoes.
Once the Kottonmouth Kings completed their dramatic entrance into darkness, they were pelted with plastic bags and cherried joints flying like Molotov cocktails. Alpha rapper Daddy X lifted one of the joints from the stage and took a powerful puff. He was simply catching a closer whiff of the skunky scent everyone else was enjoying.
"It smells like California in here," he declared to uproarious applause.
The band delivered the energy of their anthemic party songs with sharp hand gestures and violent stage pacing. A breakdancing pot mummy popped and locked and showered the audience with beer in a successful attempt to keep people jumping.
But Big B got the jumping started. With songs like "Hooligan" and "White Trash Life," the trailer-park poet kicked off the show with rumbling bass that penetrated the heart like a defibrillator with each thump.
He too was a master of crowd persuasion. Between songs, he convinced the audience to chant "Fuck the police" with reckless abandon, even though the crowd was surrounded by security guards shining flashlights on every suspected smoke session.
They hung on his every word.
"If you like to get fucked up like I like to get fucked up, raise your hands in the air," he requested as hundreds darted their hands up like impatient students itching for extra credit.
After Big B set up the right aesthetic, La Coka Nostra - a hip-hop sextet featuring members of '90s Irish rap group House of Pain - flexed their muscle for a crowd that probably never heard them before. The group seemed ecstatic to be making music again.
The positive energy transmitted into the audience, which celebrated every performance with whooping cheers and thunderous whistles.
With bandanas draped over their faces, La Coka Nostra's songs exploded into a powerful din of call-and-response chants and DJ scratches.
Not everybody who lined up in droves to see the Kottonmouth Kings got their chance.. Luke Brown said he was refused entry because he lacked an I.D. He paced the perimeter of the Senator yelling about his lack of success in going to the show.
He cursed the Kottonmouth Kings' name before going into a lengthy freestyle rap about his day's struggles.
"If they want to blaze with me, they can go down Highway 3," he rhymed.
"I'm An American (Clean Version)" by La Coka Nostra Audio courtesy of La Coka Nostra
Be the first to comment on this article!