FLINT, MI - It was Saturday August 31st, a day I'd been anxiously waiting for. I had seen a post on Instagram a couple of months ago made by Flintside News about the previous barbeque. I knew that it was something I needed to experience and be a part of.
As soon as I saw his interview, I naively shot Jeff Skigh a message,
"Jeff, how do I get an invite to this Barbeque??".
"it's an open event, pull up".
I was in! I was also already painfully showing my lack of understanding of the entire event. I had no idea who Jeff was, I had no idea what this barbeque would be like, no idea it was an open event, but I saw 2 minutes and knew the vibes were right and stumbled forward. Once Jeff posted the flier, I added everyone on the list I could find on Facebook. Let the awkwardness and fanboying ensue. I couldn't believe what I had been missing. So much fucking talent in the City of Flint.
Something about Ace Gabbana and DaeDae Flint clicked with me. I started messaging and bugging them to let me take pictures of them at the event. They were very nice to me about it.
Ace and DaeDae doing their thing on stage
I later found out, that there would be a considerable amount of people there taking pictures of everyone already, and it really wasn't necessary to discuss. Another awkward "lesson learned".
That brings us to the barbeque. After 3 Facebook conversations, I wanted to show that I was there for more than just showing up. I figured If I'd be shoving a camera in every body's face I should help set up. Because, "anxiety", I arrived way too early. I found a spot to park, took a deep breath and walked through the side lot to see who needed help.
I walked over to four men I had never seen or talked to before. I quickly realized this event required social interaction. I awkwardly walked over, "Who needs help?". One of the four gentlemen walks over and offers me a hit of the blunt in rotation. "I'm Tehcari man, who're you?". We were quick friends. Any anxiety I had about being unfamiliar was fading along with me.
I was there to help, had good intentions, and the entire time I had nothing but completely positive interactions. Set up was well organized and each vendor was quick to get in place and put their best foot forward. In short order we had the area quartered off, the bounce house was up, the stage was ready, the vendors were ready to make some money, and I had already made a handful of new friends.
Everything coming together nicely
I had new friends, a buzz and pictures to take. At 3 o'clock SillyBoy and Kal-El Drew Newman took the mics and set the stage for the evening. There were so many good performances all night, too many to break down here. However, I wanted to make special mention of the hosts. The evening ran tight and on schedule thanks to Jeff and these fine men.
As each act went on the crowd continued to grow around the stage. Our hosts for the evening did a great job highlighting the vendors and promoting spending money with them. By the end of the night each vendor sold out. At any point in time through the rest of the evening, I was either at the stage taking pictures or rubbing elbows with people I knew I needed to meet. Any social anxiety I had, had melted.
I think it was when De' Mon Cashflow Thomas hit me with his, "whip it like candy" that I realized that I was a part of something special. I looked through that THC haze at all of the people I didn't know this morning and they were all already so accepting of me. Everyone was having a good time, and the rest of the evening turned into the stuff of legend.
It's driving me nuts I can't find a recording of this song!
From there on out each performance was better than the last and the crowd only got more into it. I had already listened to and remembered a lot of Ace's and DaeDae's music, so I particularly enjoyed their sets. But on this night a star was born, and that's not hyperbole.
Twicee put on an all timer. He immediately had the crowd jumping and pulling their phones out to get the moment on camera.
Shout out to the Feeling Good Podcast!
What else is there to say? I went in not really knowing a single person. I came out high on life, with a ton of new friends and got to be a part of a night that you only hear about. There is no true string of words that I can put together that will properly capture that moment in time.
There's no way it could have been THAT good right?
Wrong. That shit was magic, and you need to experience it for yourself.
-Rob
Carriage Town Mixtape
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