Black Violin
If you managed to make it through the snow for the zillionth time on Tuesday night, Black Violin put on quite a show at the Lied Center.
The duo gained notoriety after appearing on Apollo Amateur Night in 2005. For Wil B and Kev Marcus, it’s been all good from there. They’ve played with the likes of Alicia Keys and worked with Kanye West and P. Diddy. But on this night, they belonged to Lawrence.
They kicked it into high gear right off the bat, playing pop and hip hop covers and getting folks out of their seats. I kept spotting people out of the corner of my eye dancing in the aisles, waving their hands in the air. These guys were like rock stars for the crowd, but instead of throwing a drumstick up in the air, Kev Marcus threw his bow, and caught it just as good as any drummer.
It’s not all hip hop covers and jazzy violin pieces. Black Violin spent as much time onstage telling jokes and talking with the crowd as they did actually playing their instruments. This works well for them, because by the end of the night most folks in the audience built up a connection with Black Violin. Even the nerdiest of concert-goers with no rhythm got a lesson in hip hop that night. Black Violin stripped down the average hip hop songs, dissecting it with flair (or as they called it, “stank”).
The duo even threw down in a violin battle. It got pretty intense as their fingers plucked feverishly at the strings and flew up and down the neck. They went head to head, Kev Marcus armed with a violin and Wil B armed with his Viola that he lovingly calls “Tiffany.” The battle was full of attitude, and at the end Kev Marcus threw his bow at Wil B. It reminded me of the movie “Drumline,” when the main character throws his sticks down.
The music was so good it got into your bones. The set was short (most likely because it was a family friendly event), but ended full of energy. At the beginning of the night, they announced “Rule number one, this is a Black Violin Show, this is a party,” and they weren’t kidding. They packed as much of a party as you could into an hour and a half, and left us all feeling a little glad that we told the snow to shove it and headed out to the Lied Center that night.
Listen to the audience sing along at the end of this Fugees cover:
Black Violin
If you managed to make it through the snow for the zillionth time on Tuesday night, Black Violin put on quite a show at the Lied Center.
The duo gained notoriety after appearing on Apollo Amateur Night in 2005. For Wil B and Kev Marcus, it’s been all good from there. They’ve played with the likes of Alicia Keys and worked with Kanye West and P. Diddy. But on this night, they belonged to Lawrence.
They kicked it into high gear right off the bat, playing pop and hip hop covers and getting folks out of their seats. I kept spotting people out of the corner of my eye dancing in the aisles, waving their hands in the air. These guys were like rock stars for the crowd, but instead of throwing a drumstick up in the air, Kev Marcus threw his bow, and caught it just as good as any drummer.
It’s not all hip hop covers and jazzy violin pieces. Black Violin spent as much time onstage telling jokes and talking with the crowd as they did actually playing their instruments. This works well for them, because by the end of the night most folks in the audience built up a connection with Black Violin. Even the nerdiest of concert-goers with no rhythm got a lesson in hip hop that night. Black Violin stripped down the average hip hop songs, dissecting it with flair (or as they called it, “stank”).
The duo even threw down in a violin battle. It got pretty intense as their fingers plucked feverishly at the strings and flew up and down the neck. They went head to head, Kev Marcus armed with a violin and Wil B armed with his Viola that he lovingly calls “Tiffany.” The battle was full of attitude, and at the end Kev Marcus threw his bow at Wil B. It reminded me of the movie “Drumline,” when the main character throws his sticks down.
The music was so good it got into your bones. The set was short (most likely because it was a family friendly event), but ended full of energy. At the beginning of the night, they announced “Rule number one, this is a Black Violin Show, this is a party,” and they weren’t kidding. They packed as much of a party as you could into an hour and a half, and left us all feeling a little glad that we told the snow to shove it and headed out to the Lied Center that night.
Listen to the audience sing along at the end of this Fugees cover: