The Game: Live @ The House of Blues [San Diego]

We here in Cali love our West Coast rappers. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to see The Game, Clyde Carson, and one of my favorite up-and-comers, Nipsey Hussle perform at the San Diego House of Blues. House of Blues is my favorite concert spot in San Diego. After seeing Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, and Jean Grae kill it there in 2005, I always kept my eye out and some money stashed away in case they hosted more acts I wanted to see. The venue is underground and it’s dark, so it seems like the concert is being held in a basement, which gives it the feel that we’re taking it back to the early, grimy days of hip-hop. Indeed, it’s what The Game did, but not without some bumps along the way.

My boys Steve (who took the initiative and bought the tickets ahead of time)and B (who put me on Nipsey Hussle) rolled with me and assured ourselves a spot close to the stage by showing up in line an hour and a half before the doors opened. In the age of downloading and piracy, few artists go platinum. Rather, gold is the new platinum. Since The Game is one of the select few to go platinum nowadays, we expected a full house, and San Diego delivered: the event was sold-out.

First up was Nipsey Hussle, an LA cat who’s building a nice buzz for himself out west. He’s a throwback to Snoop Doggy Dogg, gangsta rap delivered via talented lyricism. Performing standout tracks from both volumes of his Bullets Ain’t Got No Name series, Nipsey’s rocked the crowd with “Bullets Ain’t Got No Name.” Unfortunately, he ignored our pleas to perform “All for the Dough.” His 20-minute set was way too short. I wanted more Nipsey. And that was just the beginning of our disappointment.

Up next was Clyde Carson, whom I had seen last year opening for Little Brother. Well, apparently something happened because he was a no-show. So we, the paying customers, stood around for an hour staring at a curtain while someone just played a Death Row Records compilation, which is something I could have done in the comfort of my bedroom for free-99 instead of $30. After half an hour, the crowd started booing after every song, only to stop so they could sing along to Dr. Dre. But once the CD started skipping, all bets were off. All I’m saying is that the House of Blues was smart to frisk everyone coming in. I knew it was bad once we started booing over “I Ain’t Mad At Ya.”

After an hour, Black Wall Street rapper X.O. came on stage and performed 2 songs to get the crowd back on their side. 2 songs aren’t enough for me to accurately gauge someone, but I’ve previously heard of him, and liked what I heard on stage. I’ll be checking for him.

FINALLY, The Game came onstage, prompting a mad surge by the rabid mob of fans wanting to get close to the biggest West Coast rapper since Snoop Doggy Dogg. I was a mere 10 feet away from The Game, and he came ready to shut the place down. Say what you will about him, but he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. He kicked it off with one of my favorite cuts from L.A.X., “Dope Boys” and went through more L.A.X. joints, including “State of Emergency” and “Cali Sunshine.” Then he performed hits from Doctor’s Advocate, and absolutely wrecked it during “One Blood.” Continuing the trend of moving in reverse chronologically, he launched into a blazing Documentary set with “Hate it or Love It,” “Higher,” “How We Do,” “Put You on the Game” and “Westside Story.” The Game, acknowledging his drunken flow on “Start from Scratch,” proceeded to chug an entire bottle of Grey Goose before performing it. The bottle was full of water for all we knew, but I wouldn’t call him on it. His security guards made NFL linemen look like kickers, so they were all the convincing I needed.

Another highlight was his calling all the ladies onto the stage, which led to an unrelenting wave of young ladies shoving me to the side to get to the stage, as he closed with “My Life.” It was like The Game announced a sale on wedding dresses; it was absolutely terrifying. As “My Life” ended and the girls were kicked off, The Game hit us with a surprise announcement: he’s going back to the studio and doing a fourth album, which he says will be in stores this September. “I love this hip-hop,” said The Game. Hopefully he makes good on the promise, because the West Coast will always check for their own, as San Diego proved last night.