original entry: July 13, 2005 ("Pimpin' All Over the World")

PICTURES FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
Ludacris
Ludacris
G-Unit on stage
Ludacris

Last night, my friend Deb hooked me and my friend Marie up with FREE tickets to the Brooke Valentine/Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyzs/Ludacris/G-Unit concert! I tried taking some pictures with my camera phone, but they didn't turn out the greatest. Oh well. We skipped Brooke Valentine since she's a one-hit wonder (come on, with a song like "Girlfight," we all know it's true) and spent that time sitting at the alley bar at Champps downtown, drinking beer and chatting with Deb's new friend, Zach. By the time we got to the concert, Lil' Jon was finishing up his set, so we heard a little of "Get Low" and then it was the intermission before Ludacris came on. I wish we would have seen more of Lil' Jon because:
1. I read in the Star Tribune that he was pretty good, and
2. Playing on the big screens flanked on either side of the stage were clips of Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock screaming "What?" and "Okay!"
 

Ludacris was okay--he's no Snoop Dogg, but he still was entertaining. Deb was saying, "Hey girl, how you doin?" all night long, so she was excited when Ludacris started in on "Pimpin' All Over the World."
Marie and I got Michelob Golden Light to drink, on tap, and it tasted like yeast, so we were busy complaining about that for the majority of the evening. I would not recommend ordering Michelob Golden Light at the Target Center--gross!
 

I guess rap doesn't pay that much, because during the next intermission, commercials for 50 Cent's new movie, new energy drink (like Gatorade??), new G-Unit clothing/shoe line, and new video game where he's killing all sorts of dudes, were playing. Not to mention the vendor booths at the concert for G-Unit sneakers from Reebok, t-shirts that said "Crunk King" or "Crunk or Die!" that sold for $30 each. Honestly, who's going to buy that? (Although I thought it would be pretty funny to have a "Crunk King" shirt. Oh well.)
 

Then G-Unit came on. Yawn. Seriously, they were not good. The only song I wanted to hear was "Shorty Wanna Ride" by Young Buck, and once that was done, we left. Thankfully the tickets were free, so we didn't feel bad for leaving early!
 

Deb and I then left Marie at the parking ramp and walked over to Lyon's Pub, which I'm sure Deb will be mentioning in her blog. We sat down outside with a guy named Marcus who was waiting for his coworkers, Andy and Sean, to join him. Domestic pitchers are $5 at Lyon's Pub on Tuesday, so we had to have one! Then Deb proceded to get tipsy, and we didn't end up leaving until about 11:30 PM. I had to be at work at 8 AM today, so that sucked. Plus, someone called my cell phone at 4:50 AM and woke me up--I'm so changing my number!