The Trail

Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: A&E

Sacremento natives Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel will intimidate UPS students with their large sunglasses.

Two great live performances are coming to the Field House tomorrow night. If you love seeing live music, but hate venues excluding the under twenty-one crowd, paying for gas to Seattle or being overcharged for internet tickets, come see Blackalicious and Common Market this Saturday.
Sure, I go to plenty of shows in Seattle, but I am bitter about it. This weekend my show-going experience will be made easy. The venue of a great show is not only in Tacoma, it is right here on campus. Blackalicious will be at the Field House, at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Blackalicious is a hip-hop group with Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel. They started making alternative hip hop in Sacramento in the early nineties and released their first single, "Swan Lake" and full-length album, "Nia," on a small, independent label. Their fan base grew and MCA Records released their subsequent album, "Blazing Arrow," in 2002.
After "Blazing Arrow" Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel worked on separate projects, and in 2005 they released their newest album "The Craft." Blackalicious also now has their first DVD for sale from a performance in 2006 called "Blackalicious - 4/20 Live in Seattle."

Common Market will also be performing at the show on Saturday. Common Market is likewise a hip-hop duo created by RA Scion with DJ and producer, Sabzi. They both had solo projects before coming together as Common Market. Sabzi is also half of the hip-hop duo Blue Scholars. RA Scion and Sabzi started their collaboration in Seattle in 2005 and released their self-titled album the same year.

Common Market expresses strong political views through their music and created an indie hip-hop label, Mass Line, with the Blue Scholars and Gabriel Teodros of Abyssinian Creole. Mass Line's mission is to stay small and release hip-hop with a message that branches off from the mainstream industry. Their tagline is "From the Masses to the Masses."

The alternative hip-hop of Blackalicious could be compared with the fun, eclectic beats of Jurassic 5. Common Market's progressive political and spiritual approach to hip-hop is one that is sure to please the members of the UPS campus.
If you think you do not care for hip-hop, you have not heard these groups. There is more to hip-hop than 50 Cent and Lil John. Go to MySpace to hear these groups or listen to KUPS hip-hop between 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday to hear some quality underground hip-hop. You will probably like it.

So, go to the Blackalicious and Common Market show tomorrow. The location of the venue, the Field House, is more than convenient. The ticket price, only 10 dollars for the campus community, is a great deal, and the Info Center will not charge you with a service fee.

Guster was the last music group of considerable fame that UPS brought to the Field House. That concert was in March of 2006. It would be great if the campus had famous acts come visit more often. Come support live music at UPS, see a great show, and go home with a smile on your face because you did not give all of your money to Ticketmaster's service fees.

• Caitlin Boersma's ringtone is "In Da Club."

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