Eric Bobo

Tales From The Road 2012 - PointFest - St. Louis, Missouri (5-20-12)

We had a morning lobby call of 10:30am, which wasn’t too bad considering I didn’t have a long night.  I woke up more refreshed and a little less jet lagged.  Another good thing was having the breakfast included with the room so I helped myself to that $Free.99 meal which was well worth the price.  What wasn’t such a good thing was us running out of the herbal essence.  Hopefully St. Louis would be able to help us out with that little problem.  I would’ve also liked a straight through flight instead of stopping in Chicago but as that Rolling Stones song says, “You can’t always get what you want!!”

We arrived in St. Louis later in the afternoon but we wouldn’t have too much time in the hotel because of us having to get to the venue for some press and for our crew to get all of our gear there.  The word was that a big storm was coming so hopefully that wouldn’t affect the show.  If this was Europe, a storm wouldn’t mean anything because the crowd wouldn’t leave.  They aren’t afraid of a little rain, mud or anything like that so if they stay, they expect the show to go on.  We are used to it because it seems that CH brings the rain a lot so it kind of adds a certain mood to our shows.  This is purely just my opinion but I think that some of the other guys would agree with me.  When we got to the venue, it was instantly familiar to us.  We played here several times over the years with the first time being Lollapalooza 94.  We were all laughing because we had many of funny and crazy times here.  If you are expecting to read about these times, you won’t be in this particular story.  You may just have to wait for the book.  LOL!!  The one thing that we did notice that for as many times as we have played at this venue, our picture isn’t on their walls.  Not even one hip hop group was on there.  Oh well, you can’t have them all, right??

The catering was much improved from the Columbus show because there was actually food available.  I have to say that you really appreciate good catered food when you are on tour because if the food sucks, your only other choice is to order in and that usually means fast food which is a no-no for me.  Our other “problem” was quickly solved when one of the homies who was touring with Incubus hooked us up with the herbal upliftment.  We just had a little press to do so besides that, all we had to do was just chill and wait for our set.  We also had a t.v. in the dressing room so we were able to watch the playoff game, which was a big plus.

It was close to showtime when the storm came through heavy, so they pushed our time back to wait for it to pass.  The lightning was pretty fierce so when the crowd was cheering, it was because of the light show from the storm but soon it was over and it was time to play.  We were definitely ready!!!  We’ve always had a good crowd in St. Louis and tonight would be no exception.  We only had a 45-minute set so we were able to blaze right through.  We were more in pocket than last night’s show which wasn’t bad at all.  I definitely believe that the first show of any tour isn’t necessarily the best show as that is the show that you get all the cobwebs off so to speak, unless you have already been on tour & you are just coming back after a short break.  I think that the best is yet to come!!   The new weed medley that we do is working out great and the new DJ/Percussion battle is getting better.  By the time we get back stateside, that will be on point.  I will say that doing a 45-minute set sure seems to go by quick.  We’ve gotten used to the 90-minute set and to be dripping with sweat.  This isn’t to say we don’t work as hard in the shorter sets but after doing a long set, doing anything short seems like a walk in the park.  In any case, the crowd was very into the show and they were loud!!

After the show, we just chilled out for a bit while we waited for the van to take us back to the hotel and that seemed like forever.  Back in the early days, we used to always walk in the crowd before and after our show.  B, this time, felt like walking around so we all trooped out to the crowd to check out some of Incubus’ set.  There were people tripping out that we were all walking around and when we sat to watch the show, people came over to us for autographs and pictures. We stayed for a few songs then made our way back to the dressing room.  By this point, we were all ready to get back to the hotel.

All in all, the fans in St. Louis were hype and it seemed that everyone had a good time.  As for us, we were happy with the show.  There are things that we will change and improve on but we are just getting started.  We have about 50 or so shows ahead of us.  We have about a week before we head out to Europe.  We originally had a show in the Canary Islands but since that festival got canceled, we get a few more extra days to enjoy some down time before the grind begins.  50 shows means 50 blog entries so stay tuned!!

Next Stop: Nice, France

www.Eric-Bobo.com

Tales From The Road 2012 - Rock On The Range - Columbus, Ohio (5-19-12)

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest installment of “Tales From The Road”.  It’s been a while since I’ve written any new tour journals and there definitely have been a lot of things that’s happened in between then and now but since Cypress is about to go on a lengthy tour, I thought it was time to get back into writing mode.  This touring season is going to take us through Europe and the U.S. and from my last count, it’s going to be around 50 shows, so that means there will be a bunch of tales from the road!!  With that being said, let’s get this started.

It’s been a little while since our last full length tour, but no matter how much time is in between tours, when we all get back together, we take up right where we left off.  It’s rare to still have that feeling after 20 years of touring the world together.  It is easy to get tired of one another but we still have a great time together and that’s the important thing.  It has also been a while since we’ve played here in Columbus, Ohio.  From what I remember, the fans here are great so I definitely expect a good turnout.  For me, Ohio also has some of the best pizza outside of New York.  There’s a place called Donato’s that has great pizza. Can you tell that I have a little bit of the munchies??  Anyway, we got into Columbus the night before our show.  I was feeling some serious jet lag since I had just arrived to the States from Argentina the day before so I didn’t really expect to do anything but get my time adjusted and sleep.  The Laker game was on so we all met up in B’s room for a little herbal upliftment then Sen had received a call from Slash, who was also playing at the festival, and he wanted to know what we were doing. Some of the guys then met with him and other’s went to a spot to go watch the game.  As for me, I needed to sleep so I stayed at the hotel.  It wouldn’t be a good look falling asleep at a sports bar.

After a good sleep, I woke up a bit more refreshed.  We had a 1:30pm lobby call and we had some press to do before our show, which was an early one for us.  We were headlining the second stage and we had a 40 minute set.  A set that short is us bearly making a sweat.  I call these type of gigs “hit it & quit it” shows.  We finally left to make our way to the venue which was very near the Ohio State University campus, which meant that the crowd would be a little crazy and be a little tipsy.  What else do you do on a Saturday while in college.  Some will study but the majority will be ready to party.  More on that later.

When we all saw the lineup for the day, we realized that we were the only hip hop group on the whole festivial.  The festival lasted for 2 days and it seemed to be a primarily a rock festival.  There were groups like 5 Finger Death Punch, P.O.D. & Incubus just to name a few.  The next day featured Marilyn Manson, Anthrax and more.  We were all asking, “What are we doing at this festival?”  Now, Cypress has been known for playing rock festivals with being the only hip hop group there so this wouldn’t be a stretch for us being on a festival like this.  It’s a lot more common outside of the States but Cypress can rock any stage so this wouldn’t be a problem at all.  I must say that Cypress is one of the only hip hop groups, besides the Beasties and probably Public Enemy, that can rock an alternative rock crowd with success.  Our homies from P.O.D. came by the dressing room to say “What’s up” to us.  We go back with them a little ways so it’s always good to see them.  Slash was playing right before we went on so I doubt any of us could make it over to watch his set because it was a very long walk from where our stage was.  We didn’t have too much press, which was cool, so we had more time to just chill before the show but before you know it, it was showtime!!

The crowd was packed and they seemed ready for the show. For me, our first show for a tour is always a warmup for us because after a little layoff, we are kinda rusty but like that, we always come to rock the show.  Having a 40 minute set bearly makes us break a sweat now that we are used to our 90 minute sets, but like I said earlier, we “hit it & quit it’!!  We hit them with some classics early on.  We really didn’t play too much from our last record “Rise Up” but we did give a good selection from our catalog or as much as we could do within 40 minutes.  The crowd was really into the show.  I saw people singing along to  many of the songs which is always cool to see.  The DJ/Percussion solo that I do with Julio G. has been upgraded with B joining us.  I don’t want to give it all away just yet but you definitely have to see how we bring it now.  Before you knew it, it was done and we left the crowd happy and perhaps a little higher.

We left to go back to the hotel soon after our show.  It seemed like we were going back through the University grounds because we saw so many people outside their dorms and houses with the beer pong set up, hundreds of empty beer cans and portable swimming pools.  I don’t remember beer pong being that popular when I was in college but now it seems like its the hottest thing in the streets.  If you walked down this block, by the time you got to the end, you would be shit-faced drunk.  After a full day of the festival, what else is there to do when it ends before 9pm besides get faded. HAHAHA!!  It made me think about my college days.

Getting back to the hotel, we were all starving since the catering at the venue was horrible. Horrible because there wasn’t anything available and what was there looked toxic so we were all welcoming a nice dinner so we chose a steakhouse.  On the way there, we noticed just chilling outside the hotel Eddie Levert from the world famous O’Jays.  They were a very popular r&b group in the 79’s and they have many hits.  If you don’t know them, google them or look for them on wikipedia.  I’m sure a lot of you have heard their music.  Well, the dinner was great and worth every penny.  I definitely felt the “Itis” so the walk back to the hotel was much needed.  I was still a little jet lagged so as soon as we got back to the hotel, I went to my room and fell out.  We had an early lobby call so it was best for me to just sleep and get ready for yet another plane ride.  Thanks for the love Columbus and we will see you later this summer with Sublime.

Next Stop: St. Louis, Missouri

www.Eric-Bobo.com

Tales From The Road 2011 : Lima, Peru

Cypress Hill was finally after a long wait returning to South America for our tour with The Deftones. It’s been over 10 years to be exact. I always enjoy going to S. America because I can strongly identify with the culture and the fans are some of the best in the world. Our first stop was Lima, Peru & it will be our first time there. We were performing at the Urban Music Fest with Calle 13, which for those who don’t know are a popular band from Puerto Rico who are known for their musical style and their social commentary.
We arrived in Lima at 4:30 in the morning, so driving to the hotel at that time, I could really see the city plus arriving that early, I wasn’t trying to keep my eyes open. On the way to the hotel, some fans that were following us from the airport so they can get some autographs and pictures escorted us. Any time we have gone to a place for the first time, especially a place like Lima, the fans are waiting at the airport for you and will stay outside the hotel to get as many pictures as possible until we check out.
I was amped up to see what Lima was all about. I love Peruvian food, so I know I was going to achieve that mission pretty early. Walking around the hotel, I found the vibe and pace of the city to be really laid back. The majority of the people are short but from what I had heard, the Incas weren’t too tall anyway so the lack of height can definitely be passed down to the generations. The surroundings from the hotel were more third world and I didn’t get a chance to see the more happening spots but I did go to the mall in a racing car. I felt like I was in the Fast & Furious as we were weaving & dodging through the insane Lima traffic. I was a bit nervous I have to say.
I am happy to report that Hip Hop is alive and well in Lima. The one thing that I’ve noticed throughout the years here is that the preference of Hip Hop in S. America is the 90’s golden era, which I can’t say is a bad thing at all. It is a shame that more Hip Hop artists don’t make it down here. I don’t know if it’s a money thing or a promoter thing but I do know that the fans here would love it!!
The concert was definitely a highlight since it was our very first time performing there. It would be the first time we shared the stage with Calle 13. They are really popular here but since it was our first time in Peru, we were headlining the show. The one thing about South America is that until the people know you are actually there in the country, a lot of people wont buy any tickets so it’s important to do press. We had a pretty big press conference so there was a strong walk up of people buying tickets. It was an outdoor venue but the problem that I had was with the altitude and the air. Being that this was the first show in a while, it took a bit of time to adjust. I did get a chance to see some of Calle 13’s show, which was off the hook. The lead rapper Rene aka Residente definitely has control of the crowd and the band is really good. Hopefully collaboration can happen at some point. By the time we hit the stage, the crowd were chanting for us and they were ready for their first experience seeing the Hill. It was a good show but I will admit that we were all a bit rusty since we’ve been off for a bit, but things happen. All in all, the crowd loved it and we did promise to return.
Peru was a great experience and we did meet some cool people there. Hopefully, their economic situation will improve but the Peruvians are great people and most of all, they are great fans of ours and they showed us a lot of love. Until the next time….

My Song Of The Week - Tito Puente - “Ti-Mon-Bo”

http://eric-bobo.com/bits/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/09-Ti-Mon-Bo.mp3