Rae La Soul

I forgot to tell ya’ll about the time I went to AfroPunk back in October. I absolutely LOVE the concept–the fact that all the quirks, nerds, and punk stylists can all convene in one space and admire each other is absolutely DOPE. But I realized it’s not for me and let me run the story to you.

I’m cautious of how I use my vacation days and since I didn’t want to use one just to fly to ATL, I hopped on an early morning flight via Spirit with just a personal item. This was the lightest I’ve ever traveled, but since I was only spending the night, this was all I needed. Harper drove down from Tennessee while I was in the sky so by the time I landed, she was outside waiting to pick me up. We were ready to do the absolute most for the short time we had in ATL, but only after we took a “short, quick” nap.

Well the nap turned into an extended one. I didn’t even know how tired I was until I woke up. That’s that good sleep. I could probably blame part of that on the chicken and waffles I had from Richard’s Southern Fried. My ATLiens should have warned me about this. After waking up, we went over to the Georgia Aquarium and then to Ponce City Market after a few suggestions from my ATL friend boos Danica and Sanniyah.

 

I totally forgot the place that we ate at & that was probably because the food didn’t leave a lasting impression. But it was enough to satisfy my hunger. We headed down to Afropunk and I was immediately overwhelmed with the crowd. I never knew how uncomfortable I’d become being around so many people packed in one area like sardines. It sends my anxiety through the roof. We found stages off to the right that were less populated, one where Danny Brown was performing. I was never really a die hard fan of his until I saw his performance. This dude really has an amazing stage presence. I watching from outside because crowds and lack of acknowledgement of personal space was quite apparent.

 

We waited around and took in all the creative costumes and outfits of all those in attendance. Miguel was scheduled to close out the show and I was ready to watch him perform and hear Sky Walker. Did I mention this was my first concert? Ever? In Life? I mean, if we’re not counting the ratchet club appearances that was my life eons ago. (Thank God for growth!) Anyways…. They announced Miguel and suddenly I was pushed onto the back of the person in front of me, stepped in gum, and my butt was directly underneath someone’s stomach. The girl next to me periodically used my shoulder to give her a boost since she was height-challenged. And with the limited amount of space between myself and the person in front of me, rude ass people STILL managed to squeeze between and stand in front of me. Now I’m wondering, what part of the game is this, but I just took the loss and decided that outdoor concerts are something I will never subject my sanity to in the future.

The good thing about this experience, besides being around so many beautiful, positive, black people, is that Miguel is a really, really good performer — at least to me. From the performances that I saw at Afropunk, I enjoyed his and Danny Brown’s the most. And even though that was enjoyable, I most definitely won’t return to any outside concert where I can’t sit down and there isn’t assigned seating. LOL! Or perhaps I’m just not a concert type of person. (I would probably return during the day to check out the vendors though.)