Review: Cypress Hill Got Insane On Monday at Brooklyn Steel

When Halloween comes to town, so do the bands. This weekend was lined up with an insane number of fun shows to check out. I, personally, was able to enjoy two great ones at Brooklyn Steel (319 Frost Street). First one being Cypress Hill on Haunted Hill and then Primus the next night on Halloween.

When I first heard Cypress Hill was performing down the street it was a no brainer to check the show out. Being a weed enthusiast I thought I might even have a chance to hit their infamous giant bong. Sadly, there was no onstage bong, not even much of a stage setup at all. I figured a well-known act like Cypress Hill, who are only doing three Haunted Hill shows, might at least have a giant pumpkin (or even a small pumpkin!) smoking weed on stage, but sadly they didn’t. That being said…. I left this show stoned out of my gourd. I mean supreme dream.

So, let’s break down the evening. I got there early around 8pm, and the crowd all stood around like cattle because the first DJ/Rap act had just arrived, “Thanks douche,” I thought. So because of his late entrance I wasn’t interested in seeing what he had to offer. Instead, I started drinking and mingling with the Cypress folk. Because it was Halloween, I wondered wonder if the Juggalos were actually Juggalos, or if I was already thinking too much from the contact high.

Then, I heard the second act come on, and my ears perked right up. RAHZEL! Boom sauce! A Queens born and raised beatbox master, rapper and showman that I grew up listening to and impersonating. I don’t know how many hours I spent trying to learn If Your Mother Only Knew in my room, never actually getting it quite right but always trying to dissect it. Rahzel was accompanied by DJ JS-1, who put on an amazing show. They were dueling each other with records to see if Rahzel could match the beat; DJ JS-1 would spin them, and Rahzel would recreate them. Dropping some Wu-Tang and even spitting Black Sabbath’s Iron Man, Rahzel was on a mission to pump the people up, and he did just that. He beatboxed a full set and DJ JS-1 even had a solo section which received pleased applause from the crowd. By this time I was pretty high, not super high, but high enough to buy a Snickers from the bathroom attendant.

Now came time for the MAIN ACT! The men in green! The human smoke machines! Cypress Hill! The air quickly filled with smoke, basically getting anybody high within in a mile radius of the entire venue. The percussionist, “Bobo” Correa and DJ Muggs came out to set the stage and mood. Moments later B-Real was let loose starting the set off with Another Body Drops from their 2004 album, Till Death Do Us Part. Sen Dog quickly joined the stage when his verse kicked in and the power couple was back at it again. Personally, I was having a great time bopping around and watching these two old school dudes jump around and tear it up, but I wanted more theatrics. It would have been fun to see a big inflatable bong, or skeleton man that when he smokes weed, the smoke comes out of his body, or maybe just the infamous giant Cypress bong that can make any man instantly blazed.

Once I joined the crowd, people were nice enough to pass around the few blunts and joints they had. I totally know if someone’s happy when I ask to take a hit, and they roll their eyes and nod. I see friendship in the future. After about making it half way through the set I had to exit for some water and a smidgen of fresh air. I was feeling pretty nambazam at this point. Nabazam, while not a technical term, is when you’re so high you’re basically sleep-walking. That’s when I walked thirty blocks home, ate an amazing slice of pizza and downed a soda. Then something else happened around this time that I forgot, and I then proceeded to hang out with my local deli guys while eating an ice cream sandwich. Later, I found myself miraculously still clothed, shoes still on laying facedown in my bed at 1:30am with a little pool of drool. Ladies? I’m single.

Overall, I went to Cypress Hill to have a good time and get completely blitzkriegged, and I did. Still, I was a little disappointed on the stage theatrics but had an absolute blast and would see them again in a heartbeat.