On Tuesday night, I had the privilege of seeing Calvin Valentine, (also known as G_Force), perform at the Hawthorne Theater, where he opened for Philidelphia hip hop group OCD: Moosh and Twist. This was the first time that I’d seen Calvin Valentine perform live. As a CV fan, and having recently checked out an advanced copy of CV and Lawz Spoken’s new album, “GREEN TEAM OFFICIAL”, (coming July 10th; keep an eye out for the review here), I went into the show with pretty high expectations, and was not disappointed. The music was fantastic, the venue was great and CV himself was on his game. Calvin Valentine knows how to control his audience. Looking around, I would say the Hawthorne Theater was probably about half way full, (a good turn out for a local performer). But Calvin Valentine had everyone moving, chanting, yelling, and participating in call and response to the point where the theater felt packed and energy ran high. The guests featured that night were Tope and Epp of TxE, and N.VS of Fang Tshida. Each performer brought something different to the show. While Calvin Valentine did a little bit of everything, (and I mean EVERYTHING), the guests he brought with him complimented his performance extremely well. The set list for this show included a good balance of classic Calvin Valentine tracks, as well as songs from new projects. He and Epp dimmed the lights for a performance of “Lights Off” from the album Valentine’s Day and the crowd went wild when the intro for “Boat Shoes” played and Tope took the stage. On “Red Eye Flights”, fans got to see N.VS do his thing. While the entire show was an experience to be remembered, I think the high point may have been when Calvin Valentine gave the audience a sneak peak at the soon to come “GREEN TEAM OFFICIAL” album and performed the track, “150”. He, Epp and Tope taught the audience the chorus from the song and had them chanting, “150 for my zip, that’s your half ounce” each time the line came around. You could tell fans are getting excited for the new album, as they should be. Overall, the show was great. I would encourage everyone to check out the GREEN TEAM OFFICIAL Album Release Party at Berbati’s Pan this Saturday. After what I saw on Tuesday, I can say, it will not be a show to miss.
“GREEN TEAM OFFICIAL” // Availible for Pre-Order
