A good day on Saturday. Cook’s Garage transported its listeners back to the ’90s hip-hop era for three hours straight. Many in the audience weren’t even born when Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony first became famous, but their nostalgic tunes delivered the excitement of a show from 30 years ago.
Plenty of people there appeared to have bumped the “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” album release at their Texas Tech dorm rooms, and many of them are likely to still be there now.
The group represented a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Anyone from a young child with an X on their paperwork to an old timer who grew up in the ’90s was there. Even though there was no uniform fashion, everything looked good together.
Even if it’s just for legendary lineups like the one on Saturday, the combined performance proved there is a demand for hip hop in Lubbock.
This explains why there was still a considerable crowd dancing after 11 o’clock. Back in the day, any concert including even one of the musicians would have been a sellout. There were many people who had missed out on this opportunity and were determined to make amends.
“Let’s take it back to 1994,” said Wish Bone, with an expletive for emphasis before the “four.”
To kick off the evening of nostalgia, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” provided the necessary gasoline. It was a true celebration of ’90s classics, with Bone Thugs drawing from the roster of luminaries they’ve worked with in the past. Eazy-E, Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac were all a part of that group.
The tributes flowed smoothly into “Crossroads,” the set closer.
As the sun set, clouds rolled in, and Cypress Hill’s lush green backdrop took center stage. For an entire hour, B-Real and Sen Dog reminded Lubbock that they are, in a word, “loco.”
In a set full of hits, Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Membrane” and a cover of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” were the highlights.
Ice Cube wrapped up the evening as the crowd rode the ’90s nostalgia wave.
The crowd was so large at the beginning, yet the West Coast rapper still played a little part. Bone Thugs and Cypress Hill would be huge draws, he acknowledged, but would anyone come to see him?
“Can Ice Cube get on the mic and do what we like?” he pondered out loud.
The answer: yes.
Ice Cube embraced his musical heritage, even taking it back to his “Straight Outta Compton” days with N.W.A. The songs he sang included ones from as recently as the 2010s like “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It.”
The evening was winding down, and some had been taking advantage of Cook’s plastic bags full of beers. Maybe Ice Cube could feel this, too, and he had a good idea of who he was talking to. With his last two songs, he hoped to “send you off to church well.”
Ice Cube gave the folks what they wanted after the more modern “Go to Church,” and a chorus of “It Was a Good Day” ensued.
As the crowd dispersed, Ice Cube promised: “We’ll be back to Texas soon.”
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