Credit or blame the fact I’m closer to middle age than ever, but I’ve grown tired of attending nothing but hip hop shows and concerts all the time. Save for artists whom I’ve never seen perform and the occasional in-house DJ who plays my favorite cuts, I don’t see the point of fighting through the crowd and weed smoke to catch a glimpse of a rapster’s 50-11 piff pocketers either shouting over the actual artist during their set, or worse, rapping artist’s own lyrics because the guy has either ran out of breath on stage or simply forgotten them.

I’m looking at you, Nas.

So, much like I’m forcing myself to listen to radio for at least an hour a day and attend a party more than once a week to get a grasp of what to play at my own gigs, I’ve been making a conscious effort to hit up a non-rap event at least once a month. A smoother, more soulful alternative to the roughened nature of rap shows, the R&B show spotlights the three reasons why I attend them: not feeling like I’m being barked on by the performer, being able to hear the actual performance itself and the bevy of women that easily outnumber the men who attend.

I checked out John Legend and The Roots’ free show last night, which turned out to be one of the better shows I’ve attended. I’d seen John a few years back, and the end result was exactly the same as last night’s show: you’re surrounded by soulful sounds backed by a live band while a gaggle of dime pieces seductively writhe around you.

If only rap sets could figure out a way to get this into their own shows...

Actually seeing an artist sound exactly like they do on wax live is rather amazing to me. Hell, it almost compelled me to get off my ass and buy the album instead of waiting for the leak to drop (that’s the cheapskate backpacker in me). All quasi-homoerotic banter aside (as I’m sure this may receive in the c-section), being able to clearly hear the actual songs without some hired goon screaming them at me made for a better, less headache-inducing show.

Plus, going to an R&B show will almost always guarantees sex from your date, and at the very least you’ll be getting it a lot sooner than you would taking her to a rap show, which would more or less compel her to go home after standing in her heels all night listening to a bunch of guys howling at her the whole night. When you add that into the equation, is going to an R&B show really that bad? Good music, less migraines and an increase in the percentage of successfully getting ass at the end of the night. Trust me, I’m a doctor I’ve been a lucky recipient.

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