Naughty By Nature Lives Up To Name
Summer Jam ‘95 Monday, Aug. 14, The Gorge
They might as well have called it the KUBE Summer Jam NaughtyFive. Despite nearly a dozen acts appearing on stage for more than seven hours, the KUBE Summer Jam ‘95 was all about Naughty By Nature.
Naughty members - Treach, Vin-Rock and Kay-Gee - with their no-fail party anthems, “O.P.P.,” “Hip Hop Hooray” and “Feel Me Flow,” were the perfect group to finish off the all-day party Monday at The Gorge.
From afar, it looked like the crowd was jumping on a giant trampoline or several thousand pogo sticks, chanting “yeah you know me’s” and “hey, hoe’s.”
Vin-Rock’s mischievous personality tickled the audience when he was pulling down his pants and flashing his backside. Treach, scandalous as ever, coerced audience members to shower the stage with a barrage of bras and panties.
The group’s chemistry looked almost too complementary. Vin-Rock pranced around the stage with the carefree spirit of a child, Kay-Gee’s steady hands never missed a beat on the turntables, and the Treacherous MC was glowing with passion, rapping like he had a gun to his head. Naughty By Nature was simply electric.
The Summer Jam got off to a slow start when Beastie Boys knock-offs Bloodhound Gang opened the show. Their music was so irritating that when they threw free tapes to the audience, the crowd booed and threw them back on stage.
Things picked up, though, when Seattle-based 2ND Nature took the stage. It left the crowd stunned with its a cappella renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Two young ladies barely out of the puberty stage - Monica and Brandy, 14 and 15 respectively - rocked The Gorge stage like old-school veterans. They sparked the crowd with their hits, “Don’t Take it Personal” and “I Wanna Be Down.”
Four-foot wonder Skee-Lo proved that little guys need love, too, when he had the Shorty-Americans, vertically-challenged audience members, singing, “I wish I was a little bit taller.”
Rhythm and blues trio Brownstone almost didn’t perform because of the absence of two members; one suffered a foot injury, the other stayed with her at the hospital for moral support. But after begging and pleading from the audience, newest Brownstone member Keena performed “If You Love Me” solo.
Montell Jordan, who gave a shady performance with Boyz II Men Sunday, showed up as a surprise guest. Anyone who went to both shows would hear “This is How We Do It” live four times in two days. Seeing Jordan perform that song once was more than plenty.
, DataTimes