On September 19th, New York based rapper Hoodie Allen kicked off his Whatever, USA tour in Columbus, OH. I got lucky enough to have the opportunity to go, so obviously I took it. I hadn't seen Hoodie in Columbus since 2014, and that was the first time I ever saw him live. This was a very important concert for me because this is what initially started my love for Hoodie and his music. It was also the first time I ever met him.
After having issues that may have prevented me from going to the show at all, I eventually got them resolved. To keep a long story short, I went to the DMV to get a new ID for the show, and the worker there gave me a temporary ID. I called the venue asking if I could get in with it, and they said no, but they said I could use my passport instead. I had absolutely no idea where it was since I hadn't used it since I was 17. Eventually we found it though, and I was set to go to the concert again.
After a drive that seemed to take forever, my friend Emmy and I arrived at the venue. We got in line and shortly after, Hoodie came outside. He was going down the line talking to fans and taking pictures. When he got to me he said hi to me and gave me a hug. He then followed that up with "I didn't know you were coming to this show, I thought you were just going to Pittsburgh," despite me telling him I was going to Columbus a million times. Emmy then introduced herself and I took pictures of them for her.
Shortly after that, it was time for me to go inside since I had VIP. Once inside, I had to wait a little bit to meet Hoodie...again. When it was my turn, I handed my phone to the guy in charge of VIP. I gave Hoodie a big hug and told him what I wanted to do for our Polaroid picture. We ended up doing a simple peace sign pose. For the picture on my phone, we recreated the first picture we ever took together. After we were done taking our pictures, we said bye and I took my place by the stage.
The show itself was amazing. Emmy luckily found me after GA was let in, so I wasn't by myself all night. The opener was Jake Miller, and I actually used to listen to him a lot in high school. He was amazing live. The main event, however, was Hoodie. Like always, he put 100% into his show. The visuals and lights for this show make this different than any other tour he's ever done. You can really tell the crew has put a lot of work into this one. Here are some highlights from the show:
1. The clip of Hoodie "driving" and running out of gas, just to reveal that he's in Whatever, USA. The transition into the song itself was the best possible way to start his set.
2. "Surprise Party" and the dropping of the balloons. This is always a favorite, let's be honest. I look forward to this every time I see Hoodie.
3. "You Should Let Me Know" being on the setlist. Enough said.
4. Hoodie crowd surfing on the inflatable raft and climbing onto the balcony.
5. The slow rendition of Sushi. This really showed off Hoodie's singing voice, and it's gotten even better over the years.
This show was absolutely amazing. I highly recommend everyone go see Hoodie on tour if you can. For a complete list of tour dates, visit his website: http://hoodieallen.com/
