Wiz Khalifa is one of the best performers I have seen. Of course, I say that about most everyone I see (i.e. Tokyo Police Club is better live than recorded, Lady Danville is fucking adorable, Panic! At The Disco is the best performance I have ever seen) but, it is only because, when I pay to see someone perform, I make sure that it is going to be worth my money; Wiz Khalifa is worth the money.
For one, there's the experience of every concert; each one is very different. Wiz's is the first concert I have ever been to where I simultaneously saw three different groups light up their joints. It is the first time I saw a haze stay above the heads of the crowd, at an outside concert, and it is the first time I saw a performance I was dying to see, followed by one I desperately wanted to avoid, though I stayed for my friends benefit (Snoop Dogg is not in my list of top 200 performers. I do not know who is in that list, but I know he does not make the cut. Anyone who has a stuffed dog prance around the stage hitting girls asses with a giant foam penis; no. Everyone knows you're over compensating now. Congratulations on outing yourself.) Where was I? Oh yes, secondhand smoke.
Yes, it is quite possible, and totally plausible, to get high from secondhand smoke. How do I know this? I attended a Wiz Khalifa concert; don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Wiz and think that he is awesome, but he is also a big supporter of legal and recreational weed use. I should have realized something was up when I was at the pizza place after the show and could not quite read the screen on my phone; or maybe when I was driving home and kept slipping between paranoia and incessant giggling. There was no real cue for the laughter either, just two idiots in a car, laughing out of insanity.
When I informed my friend of what I was pretty sure was happening, she stated there was no such thing as a secondhand high and that I was just paranoid.
Me: "DUDE! That's what HAPPENS."
Friend: "'-Blank stare-' *gigglegigglegiggle*"
When we got back to the condo, it became fully apparent, to me at least, that a secondhand high was all too possible.
Me: "That light is flickering; it's really freaking me the frack out. We're in a horror movie. We.
Are going. To die."
Friend: "Fuck. Get in the elevator. GET IN THE ELEVATOR." *one minute later* -gets off
elevator- "RUN!"
Once we were inside, with the door securely locked and all the lights turned on (because that always saves people in horror movies), I was certain there was such a thing as a secondhand high but, as my friend continued to contest what I deemed solid factual evidence, I decided to consult someone who had dealt with many of my outlandish conclusions and ramblings throughout the years.
Me: "Hey mom. Uh, just, you know, a theoretical question, speaking candidly, on theory; is there
maybe a way you could, I don't know, get, uhm, you know, high? From people smoking around
you, I mean, not firsthand stuff, just secondhand smoke, if you're in it, for say, four hours?"
Mom: "Yes... If the content is that intense for an extended period of time it is quite plausible. I
told you he was a big pot supporter. Did you drive last night?"
Me: "Erm, what? No. That would be irrespons-I'mareallygoodhighdriver. It made me focused, I
think. I mean, more focused, than before. More focused than usual...I wouldn't still be high,
would I?"
Mom: "'-Sigh-' Goodbye."
The incredibly long point of this short dive into the chronicles of my unintended debauchery: Wiz Khalifa is amazing, especially live. When I saw him, he opened with "When I'm Gone" (one of my favorites) and immediately captured the attention of the crowd. How many people can play those first few notes on a piano and have kids running towards the stage? It is so difficult for a single performer to command the stage, while still creating a sense of ease and enjoyment for the audience, yet Wiz Khalifa does this flawlessly; he was born to perform. He knows when to mix it up with a slow or fast song, when to throw in a song that everyone knows before he loses the crowd, and when to pump up the crowd and make sure everyone is singing along by the time the chorus rolls around.
He is a naturally great performer and well worth the money to see him perform live. He's rocketing towards fame pretty quickly, and with fame comes higher ticket prices, so make sure to see him while you can still afford it as, the higher the ticket price becomes, the less his real fans will be present; and seeing a performer surrounded by his real fans makes the experience ten times better than seeing that same performer surrounded by the people who could afford the concert (this difference was extremely evident the second time I saw Passion Pit; it makes a big fucking difference). And despite my personal feelings on Snoop Dogg, he is a really, really good performer, and seems completely at home on stage. Plus, it was worth staying for Snoop to see a fifty year old woman grinding on a palm tree to "I Wanna Fuck You" and seeing Wiz come out on stage and sing with him to "Young, Wild, And Free" (even if Snoop Dogg kind of had a coughing fit that made me laugh a little at the start of their performance).
So go see Wiz Khalifa (and I suppose Snoop Dogg, as well), or at the least, get some of his songs. They're pretty great and, behind all his lyrics, there's that sense of freedom, fun, and that ever present theme of staying young forever.
- E
