The Spaced Invaders were invited to perform at the Charleston City Paper’s Best of Charleston event. It was an awesome gig! For those of you who don’t know about the event. (Myself included) The event is held at the Joe Riley Stadium. The City Paper brings in all the “Best Of” winners to showcase their food, goods, etc., Bring in the alcohol vendors, and hand out 1500 free tickets to the City Paper’s closest friends, family, etc. And let me you, those tickets go fast. In fact they started handing the tickets out on the Friday before the event. And by Saturday morning they were gone. (Thanks to Blair the advertising director for allowing me to make a list to allow friends in.)
The event really kicked ass. Flatbroke and I dropped music in between each bands set, and they gave us like a 3-story video screen to project on. Check out the video to see some of the madness of the party.
In lighter note, the Spaced Invaders didn’t make the “Best DJs in Charleston.” But we did somehow make the “Best Graffiti Artists.” Which we’re pretty confused about thinking that I haven’t touched a spray paint can since my teenage years and Flatbroke has not touched a spray paint can since his early 20’s. We couldn’t help to make jokes the whole time we were up on stage about being the, “Best Graff’ers” in Charleston, when we know we’re DJs, we’ve always sent press releases out stating that, and there are so many good artists here that could definitely own that title. Anyway, I hope that after Wednesday the local press has a better grasp of what we do.
All in all, can’t thank them enough for having us out there and hope that we all continue having a blast together and we can elevate the scene and get something real going on in this city.
One last thing, I have to shout out to Bad Jon Photography. I still haven’t met the fellow, but he took that wicked photo of Flatbroke on the decks.
So it appears that Sonar was the only one in Charleston who has never heard of the Charleston City Paper’s – Best of Charleston Party. For those as clueless to the event as I was, every year the Charleston City Paper throws a big party-concert for all the winners of the Best of Charleston awards. The attendees usually top in the early thousands. The folks at the City Paper have asked the Spaced Invaders to do fills in between each band, as well as do visuals for all them. That was really cool of them! However, the party is special invite only and this year they are only giving out 25 tickets to the public. This is straight from the City Paper website showing you how to snag one:
OK kids, we’ve got 25 pairs of tickets to give away for our annual Best of Charleston party on March 4. This year’s party will be held at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. ballpark (yeah, that’s the big baseball stadium by the Citadel). It starts at 6:30 and goes to 9 p.m.
We’re mixing things up this year, so to get free tickets you’ve got to prove you want ‘em. To enter, upload a photo of yourself with a mustache to your profile on this site. Leave a comment at the bottom of this page and we’ll choose 25 winners out of all the profile pictures on Monday afternoon. Funny wins. Clever wins. Searching Google for “mustache” and grabbing the first image you find LOSES.
NOTE: We will notify winners through the e-mail address listed on your profile. If it’s not valid, or you don’t check it, you won’t get the notice!
That’s from the horse’s mouth right there. Other than that I really cannot tell you much more about it. Truth is, I really don’t know much more than that. I’m supposed to meet up with the folks from City Paper and the production company sometime today to see how we’re all going to set up for Wednesday. I’ll post something else up when I know more. But until that time, get your moustache on!
The art of break dancing and dance battles may be attributed to the early hip hop movement in the South Bronx, but from what I’ve seen, it has expanded exponentially over the past 30 years. At the Future Sound of Breaks tour that recently came to Charleston, young locals came and conquered the dance floor at the Music Farm. Nowadays, those who showcase the immense strength and stamina of the b-boy give props to their hip hop ancestors, but also get down to rave-like break beats, and new-school club music.
When I arrived at the steps of the Music Farm, there was a strong scent of spray paint in the air, and lined up across the railings outside were rows of wooden boards where live artists showed off their talents with graffiti. There was not much to see just yet, as the artists had just begun. The music was booming out of the venue, so much it could be heard over a block away. I thought this might be a lamer version of Kulture Klash, but it turned out to be a very different thing altogether. (Cont. after Joshua Curry’s pic)
I was surprised to see that the crowd was small when I first arrived. The majority of the audience for the first stage of the dance battle were the dancers themselves, plus me and a few other friends videotaping. I was pretty ignorant to the fact that we have so many amazing dancers in Charleston, but the things I saw on the dance floor blew my mind. The dancers had rhythm like James Brown or Michael Jackson, with the athleticism of an Olympic gymnast. Each DJ offered different variations of dance music, and didn’t just stick to hip hop. By the last round, the crowd had grown to maybe four times its original size, and the dancers were putting on their A-game.
I ended up leaving before the winners were announced, but I honestly didn’t want to know. I liked every crew. Every dancer had their own style that made them unique on the floor. As I walked out, the graffiti was finished. Within a few hours, the artists had created some of the coolest street art I have seen in a while. I would have bought some if it were on sale. This event was one-of-a-kind. To know that there are people in Charleston with that kind of passion and talent make me proud to live in this city. — Kelly Stroup
