On April 6th, Mad Clown & San E made their second stop at the Highline Ballroom, New York, as part of their month-long “We Want You” Tour.
After much anticipation, I was beyond excited to finally attend Mad Clown & San E’s We Want You Tour in my hometown, New York City! I arrived at the Highline Ballroom around 6:30PM, and walked into their ongoing rehearsal. San E, Mad Clown, DJ Juice, and Sobae were all on the stage: checking their mics, the timing of transitions, and quality of the projected videos. I was impressed with the level of thorough preparation by the artists and staff, and could not wait for the concert to officially begin!
The meet & greet fans trickled in about 30 minutes later, and it was heartwarming to see such a relaxed, open atmosphere. The artists invited fans, one by one, to come sit with them and simply hang out. All the meet & greet fans were able to not only get a photo with all the artists, but also to have genuine conversations before the show. I was humbled to have Sobae and San E thank HiphopKR for our various coverage, and was even fortunate enough to get my ‘Anything Goes’ album signed by Mad Clown.
After the meet & greet, the artists went backstage to get ready, and the rest of the audience entered the cozy concert venue. I situated myself front and center, and eagerly waited for the concert to begin. Sobae took charge of the opening performance, with her recently released second single: ‘Homegirl‘. A humble, sweet artist, and despite it being her first collaboration tour, she took the stage in natural confidence. She made a special shoutout to all the strong females in the crowd, and it was uplifting to have her dedicate the song to the audience as her “homegirls.”
After Sobae’s opening, DJ Juice spun a quick flashy intro for our main artists: San E & Mad Clown! The audience burst into laughter and cheers as San E & Mad Clown stormed onto the stage in these outlandish animal print coats:
The two opened with their first collaboration single, ‘Sour Grapes’. To complete the look, Mad Clown even threw fake money with the faces of both artists on it.
Afterwards, there was a jam-packed back and forth between Mad Clown and San E, each performing a solo verse. In fact, they planned a contest format, and asked fans to cheer for who they thought performed better. The audience and I clearly had a blast shouting their names and seeing their reactions. For watchers of Show Me The Money, both artists showcased the best of their best verses from the show!
Namely, Mad Clown’s famous “ear-piercing” rap for the guerilla showcase mission on Show Me The Money 2 was recreated for the concert, and the cheers following were equally “ear-piercing.” Personally, it was amazing to hear such power coming from such a reserved person. Even during rehearsals and my interactions with him, they were limited to a few quiet words. Yet, his rapping, magnified when heard live, was something that made me freeze in awe. To my pleasant surprise, he even performed a song from his first album, ‘Get Busy’. With my signed copy of the album nested in my purse, I couldn’t help but to feel emotionally charged. Mad Clown definitely knows how to rile up his fans. Even when making comments throughout, he was more confident with Korean, but would shyly throw in English–making the crowd go crazy. His interaction with the audience was so wholesome!
On the complete other end of the spectrum, San E’s wild unchecked energy brought such positive vibes throughout the concert. He set the bar for our reactions. I love when artists are in their happy place and loving what they are doing–San E seemed to be doing just that. He was the person to make the jokes to the audience, to jump around all over the stage, and to bring it all together. In the middle of the concert, he surprised me by asking me to translate the exchange between him, Mad Clown, and DJ Juice. Honored, I (awkwardly) explained that San E and Mad Clown would do rock-paper-scissors for who would perform next because it would be boring to have everything scripted. An experience I’ll never forget, I watched the rest of the concert in a slight daze.
Of course, we couldn’t go home without San E and Mad Clown performing their newly released single: ‘Butterfly‘. The two artists taught fans how to dance to the song, and gave out specially signed singles to audience members who were the best dancers. Everybody in the crowd was flailing their arms, shaking their heads, and singing along. It was a fun, and in the strangest way homey, exercise.
Lastly, the best way to end the night was the encore performance: where San E and Mad Clown dressed up as each other, performing ‘Sour Grapes’; but this time, they performed each other’s verses. I was so busy laughing that I didn’t even get to take a decent picture.
Overall, I was so happy with the concert! It was very well-prepared with many little skits planted throughout. A packed two hours, I loved the chemistry between Mad Clown’s careful cautiousness and San E’s uncontainable energy–although their personalities don’t seem to overlap all too much, perhaps that’s what makes them such a well-balanced, amazing duo!
Without a doubt, I know this tour is already and will continue to be successful. That being said, the tour will be ongoing until the end of this month–grab your tickets now!
We would like to thank Bluenote Entertainment and Clossed Sessions for providing the press pass, as well as Kamoflage Entertainment for organizing a great event!
Featured tour dates & locations:
Boston–April 15 at The Middle East
Dallas–April 26 at Trees
Chicago–April 29 at Park West
[x_button shape=”rounded” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”https://www.kamostudio.com/wewantyou-tickets” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Tickets[/x_button]
All presented by Kamoflage Entertainment: Kamoflage Entertainment is proud in providing a multifaceted array of creative contents ranging from concerts, artist build, festivals and videography. Prior acts produced include Dynamic Duo, Epik High, Sean John, Tritonal, Porter Robinson, Carnage, etc.
Article edited by Lena