Common makes sense

Imagine a concert without opening acts. Imagine a venue with standing room only, with clear visibility of the performers.

Imagine a performance with enough mass appeal to draw a crowd diverse enough to make the United Nations proud. That concert existed Tuesday night at the Gypsy Tea Room.

Rapper Common brought his Electric Circus tour to Dallas and fed hip hoppers what they’d been missing on mainstream radio.

The deejay for the night flipped the bird to the Billboard charts and played music by underrated artists like Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Gangstarr and Q-Tip.

Listeners were taken on a rollercoaster ride through hip hop’s glory days. He played songs from the mid ’90s and back.

There was an evolution to the music. You could hear the love child of be-bop and jazz being conceived.

Cutting right to the chase, Talib Kweli took the stage only an hour after doors opened. Singer Tracey Moore of Jazzyfatnastees provided backup vocals.

Kweli gave a high-energy performance, performing songs from his debut album, Black Star, as well as cuts from his current release, Quality. He kept the crowd’s undivided attention during his generous set and closed to his current single “Get By.”

After Kweli’s set, the deejay returned to his mix-mastery. The universal appreciation for the music was almost palpable as b-boys were seen breakdancing in the corner and concert goers sang along with every song.

No one really cared about the time it took to prepare for Common’s set.

His show lived up to the tour’s name. Colorful images were projected to the rear of the stage and a disco-style light show accompanied his performance.

He performed cuts from Electric Circus and his earlier releases, including hits like “I Used to Love H.E.R.” and “The Light.”

But he also paid homage to his favorite artists, performing “The World is Yours” by Nas, “One More Chance” by the Notorious B.I.G. and “Tha Next Episode” by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

On a serious note, Common called for a moment of silence for the troops and expressed his disagreement with the war.

He rocked the crowed tirelessly for more than an hour. For the encore, he brought his girlfriend and Dallas native, Erykah Badu to the stage and they performed “Love of My Life” together.

Even though there were only two acts, Dallasites got an amazing show with the Electric Circus tour.

And to make it even better, it was over before 1:00 a.m., which was excellent for those of us with 8:00 a.m. classes.