Recap: Nas at The Palace Theatre in Albany

Way back in the day, somewhere around 1991 or 1992… I (Rob Smittix) went to the Palace Theatre for the Hit Squad tour featuring EPMD, Das EFX and Redman. For whatever reason K-Solo wasn’t there but fortunately K-Solo and I became friends in recent years. Anyway, that show back in the early 90’s was not a diverse crowd at all, in fact I may have been the only white kid there. I remember hearing from my uncle Bill who ran security that a lot of chairs got broken at that show and it was a very long time before Hip Hop had a chance to return to The Palace after that.

Fast forward to last Friday, July 19th and what a difference. This crowd was from all walks of life with no problems at all. It was just a bunch of fans that got together to hear the music they grew up with. It’s great that Hip Hop has returned to The Palace and Nas is one of the greatest MC’s of all time. This show came just after the recent Alive at 5 with KRS-One at Albany’s Jenning’s Landing and that show was also a tremendous success as well, with yet another one of the greatest. Although KRS-One has the song “The Bridge is Over” that dissed Queens rappers with the line “Queens keeps on fakin’ it.” But Nas has the retort song “The Bridge is Over” with the lyrics “the bridge is over” Nah, this is a time we destroy and rebuild it.” Anyway we all know that Hip Hop started in the Bronx but we also know that many of the greatest rappers ever came out of Queens. But that beef has long been squashed but it’s still fun to reminisce.

The Capital Region’s DJ TGIF opened the show spinning classic rap for the crowd before the headliner. I was very happy to see one of our very own have the opportunity at such a big event. Nas came out swinging and went non-stop hit after hit. I took my brother with me to the show and my wife was texting me while I was there “why didn’t you take me?” She’s not a hip hop fan like we are, so I responded with “name one Nas song right now!” She came back with “Oochie Wally.” I was actually surprised that even people that don’t follow the genre know Nas tunes.

All in all, it was very cool to finally see Nas live but to see Nas at the venue I grew up in was the icing on the cake for me. More legendary Hip Hop is coming soon to The Palace, November 1st The Lox will be performing. You best believe I’ll be there for that one too!