Sunday night at Shrine: A Date with Harlem

I'd been wanting to check out TreZure the Empress for a while, but it was a conversation with a good friend that solidified the deal for my "Date with Harlem" at Shrine this past Sunday...not known for the best sound system, but I couldn't pass up the artists on the show list.

A teacher? Really? After her performance she says outside, "Yes, I specifically teach music of the African Diaspora." I was sold on teacher, but the African Diaspora part was a cool add to a list of accomplishments.

Photo: TreZure and the band, taken by Black Daria

TreZure delivers to a crowd. Kicking off her set with a couple of what appear to be "crowd favorites," (watching audience response is a good thing) she's certainly takes you on a journey with her lyrical abilities, touching the end of her set with a sexy Afro-Cuban vibe...keywords in her set were love, and her red dress, color-popping make-up job and white shoes reminded me of what maybe Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington would look like if they were performing today...reincarnated voice reminds me of many ancestors...I was sold. Check out some of her "TreZures" here.

The host was Crash of the "Pop Champagne" video...I assume the association was Harlem. That's all I should probably say about her, to be nice today...but one comment from a crowd member was "She's weird." Eh...whatever. I guess she's a pretty girl, so that helps things. And if it were a music video, and she had the pink wig she referred to, maybe one of the white people there would have known that, otherwise it was pretty irrelevant. As a black girl, I kinda just felt like I would have left that out, and mentioned it to those who asked "What videos?" off stage.

I ran into Charles of Hustlemode later who told me I was on the list, but I wasn't tripping as Black Daria believes in supporting events, as opposed to free rides when it comes to shows to feed artists specifically, to be clear. Otherwise, I love a good sponsored party or album release with an oper bar just like the next guy.

I'll also refrain from where things went after that and in between...not even the distracting event support handling the run of show could interrupt what I heard, although I felt the hectic energy at points, and even stepped out for a few cigarettes on their behalf. Yes, smoking is bad for your health, and I am quitting on May 15, 2009. Next. Somehow, I always end up saying the shit I didn't want to say...oh well.

The good news is Peter Hadar saves the day...and not by outshining TreZure, but by just being Peter. Knowing him from his humble beginnings, I was impressed with how far he's come. I got to chat with him briefly about his experience at SXSW recently, which he enjoyed...now just ready for labels to recognize his talents...wish someone would...he was the perfect ending to chaotic interludes. I've featured him on all of my Black Daria Files radio shows...check out more of Peter here. He helped to make me not so mad about the show, or stimulating the bar with dollars to pass the time due to...damn it, there I go again...note to self, nobody is perfect. These two artists were certainly the highlights.

Here's a slice of what you missed...he requested the lights be low for this one...so you'll have to just listen to what we were hearing and seeing amongst the blue hue...

PETER HADAR, "PLANETS" @ SHRINE - APRIL 26, 2009

A tout a l'huere...off to check out another party...back onto my Beyonce case study soon...If you didn't hear already, Obssesed sold $28.5 million. Good job Bey, but I am still not really impressed. I'll tell you why on Entry 2 of my case study, which requires me to go and actually watch the movie.

xoxo,

Black Daria