Anticipation 2our with Trey Songz and Big Sean

19 Feb 2012

Paramount Theatre – Oakland, CA

Section ORCH Row AA Seat 12

It was my first time going to a concert at The Paramount Theatre in Oakland. I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen both artists before they really blew up. I saw Trey Songz back in 2005, when I wasn’t much of a concert goer at 106 KMEL’s House of Soul at Ruby Skye along with Ne-yo. Tickets were $25. I was in love with the song Gotta Go and Ne-yo was blowing up at the time, so I had to see both of them. I became a fan of Big Sean when the All of the Lights remix came out. His flow was tight and his style was distinctive, so when he tweeted that he was performing at Stanford’s Blackfest and that it was a free show, I couldn’t resist. After several years of not seeing Trey Songz perform live and missing Big Sean’s Finally Famous tour, the Anticipation 2our was seemingly perfect.

Parking at the Paramount Theatre was very convenient. There was a parking garage directly across the venue. $10 flat rate. Three huge tour buses lined the sidewalk as we walked in. Concert time was at 7:30p. My sister-in-law and I arrived at 7:50p, thinking we’d just miss the opening acts, but I was slightly disappointed that they actually started on time! As we walked in, Big Sean was performing Memories, one of my favorite songs off his Finally Famous album, so I immediately walked in, waving my arm in the air, along with the rest of the crowd.

The Paramount Theatre is a pretty small venue, but more elaborately decorated than most venues I’ve been to. Seats were theatre style, much larger and more comfy than the chairs at HP Pavilion. The crowd was majority women and a majority of the women were there for Trey Songz. A lot of them were sitting down during Big Sean’s performance, but would get up when hits like Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay and A$$ came on. I was probably one of the few that was probably more excited for Big Sean than Trey Songz. Don’t get me wrong, I love Trey, but I know more of Big Sean’s songs. Two women sat next to me and one of them even commented as I stood there and rapped every song that he sung “Oooh girl, you know all his songs.” Yes, yes I do.  She was nice enough to text me some of the good photos she took with her phone. Props to her! She told me that they were there to see Trey Songz because her sister is a big fan and even showed me on her phone, that whenever she calls someone, a picture of a shirtless Trey Songz pops up…for everyone.

I’ve seen Big Sean perform four times now, but his comfort on stage was more apparent this time. He worked the crowd like a star and had a lot of fun on stage, using the mic stand to mimic his john and was gyrating on the ground at one point. Just when everyone thought he was done, he came back out announcing that he forgot to perform a song, and that was when A$$ came on. The crowd went wild and when he announced that Trey Songz was coming out, the crowd went wilder.

Trey entered in cabaret fashion, in a tux, coming down stairs. It was an older, classier, but still very sexy Trey Songz. Highlights included a girl he handpicked out of the crowd, who joined him on stage to wipe the sweat off his body. She didn’t do too much wiping. She did more kissing and licking of his chest. She then walked up the stairs he came down, and they descended backstage, where cameras followed, up until he got to his dressing room, and he shut the door. He returned to do some of his upbeat songs and had the crowd join him as he sang Can’t Be Friends. He ended the evening with one of his recent songs Top of the World, a song in which he raps and sings, a different song from most of his tracks, but one of “the realest songs he’s written” in which he addresses his hometown, his success, and the unfortunate aspect of  not getting to bring everyone with him to stardom.

Seeing Big Sean again is starting to feel like seeing an old friend and it was great to renew my fanship (is that a word?) for Trey Songz.