Old school shows are great when you have the right artists. They are great for the venue because the crowd is too old to get into a real fight, plus the bar will be bereft of all Hennesey and Heinekin (and possibly Guinness) by the end of the night. It’s good for the fans because you know pretty much all of the songs,  and you get to relive when the music was yours and those 4 am days were the regular. And for the artist, for fleeting moments they feel that rush; the feeling only champions and the victorious feel with the multitudes at your whim. For one more night the world is theirs.

First up was AG who recently dropped a really dope album with fellow DITC member OC. AG did classic hits “Fat Pockets” and “Soul Clap” and brought out a new group from the Bronx to get a bit of light.

He was followed by Masta Ace and Edo G who also dropped some new heat for the masses. They delivered individual hits like Ace’s verses from the “Symphony” and “Crooklyn Dodgers” and Edo’s debut (including drunk uncle dancing) “I Got Ta Have It.” As a special treat, Ace hit us with the mad ones from his criminally slept on Slaughtahouse album. The duo peformed new songs together including a tribute routine to classic duos in Hip-Hop.

They were followed by the highlight of the night, Onyx. The group looked like crap with the live band at the VH1 Def Jam Honors but here with a DJ (who admittedly did not bring his A game) and capacity crowd, none of that raw energy was dispersed. Fredro was in full rage, Sticky as sinister as you thought he was before the MTV fiasco and even Sonny Caeser represented properly. From “Throw Ya Gunz” to “Shiftee” to “Bacdafucup” to “Slam,” the cats from Queens were pulsing with boundless energy and took you back to the days when chains were either tucked or took and all the soft concert goers were forced to the rear for fear of elbow. They blew the roof off.  See title video.

Next up was the long time coming reunion of EPMD and the almighty DJ Scratch. It was good to see the band back together again. They went through their immense catalog with dexterity to a much delighted crowd. It’s always good to see what Scratch has up his sleeve and to hear that helicopter before “It’s My Thing” and not have to listen to “Ain’t No N***a.” “Rampage,” “Crossover,” “So What You Sayin,'” “You A Customer,” “I Shot The Sheriff” “You Gots Ta Chill” and many more hits were delivered.