Wyclef, friends rock Ferris State

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Black Eyed Peas, De La Soul and Wyclef jammed it out at the MTV Campus Invasion tour hosted by Ferris State University Tuesday night.
I must admit I was unsure of what to expect when I walked into the Ferris State University Gym and found it to be the smaller than my old high school auditorium. I was even more unsure when the crowd was lethargic and unreactive in the beginning of the night.
When Black Eyed Peas came out the crowd just stood there! They lacked energy and there just weren’t enough smiles on the faces of everyone present. I personally thought that the Peas put on a great performance and really ripped it up.
They tried, without much success, to engage the crowd by shouting MICHIGAN and throwing cold water on the crowd, but that really didn’t get everyone into it. They even threw T-shirts without a whole lot of reaction. Thumbs down to the kids in the bleachers that didn’t even tap their feet.
So I was really surprised when I saw the Black Eyed Peas wandering the crowd, signing autographs and talking to people during Wyclef’s show. That was a cool move considering the crowd had no energy during their performance.
Second on stage was De La Soul. They started out with a mix master on his turntable ripping out a sweet mix, getting the crowd started. When De La Soul came out they finally got some action out of the crowd by making them scream on each side of the stage who were the better party people. They pumped it up and put on a great show.
It really turned out to be quite a contest which side could scream louder. I was impressed by their energy and the positive effect they had on their audience. When they left the stage, everyone was ready and waiting for Wyclef.
When Wyclef and Refugee Camp came out they commanded the stage. Wyclef started with a Bob Marley cover, “No Woman, No Cry”. They led that into songs from the old Fugees days and “Stayin’ Alive” from Wyclef’s album “Carnival”.
Next Wyclef comes out and tells a little about himself to the crowd and reveals that it’s his birthday! He is just about to jam into another song when the crowd sings “Happy Birthday” to him. That was a great move by the crowd, because then he really wanted to party with us and put on a great show.
He pulled his “baby sister” sister out on stage and she belted out some incredible sound to us. She sang a touching gospel song in her powerful voice and accompanied Wyclef for the rest of the night.
He played “It Doesn’t Matter” with the Rock on-screen in the background, which was a little disappointing because there was a rumor the Rock might have traveled from a WWF show in Detroit.
Wyclef made it up to us with a freestyle lyric contest that blew me away and put another “biggie smalls” onstage for the rest of the night. He also had a dance contest that some people were doing some freaky things. One guy ended up going old school with “the worm” and some other crazy stuff.
In the end the winner put on a great show for the crowd and did the best rendition of the robot I have ever seen. Wyclef let the crowd pick the winners and got everyone all riled up. It was a lot of fun.
And just when you didn’t think the man could get any nicer, he cuts up his birthday cake that someone on the Ferris State University Program Board had gotten him and helped pass it out to the crowd. As the night got later, the program board threatened to shut down the show because of the time. Wyclef called the decision maker out on stage and managed to sweet talk her into another half and hour or so, the crowd backing it up the whole way.
He could have been a real jerk considering the size of the stage, crowd and school, but he wasn’t. He really made it a great show and tried to get everyone involved. Even most of the kids in the bleachers that refused to melt into the energy of the crowd, finally got up and started to get the blood pumping.
I have to admit I was impressed and surprised with all of Wyclef’s generosity because of performers like Busta Rhymes and David Spade basically made it their job to rip on the town of Mount Pleasant and Central Michigan University, calling it “Po’ Dunk” and making fun of the stage and so on.
But Wyclef, at a much smaller school than our own, Ferris, made the best of the crowd and place and made it a great show. I definitely give him merits for being so cool and not only vocally promoting peace, but making people in the crowd and onstage feel good. He basically shared his birthday with us and refused to have a bad time.
The only thing that bothered me at all was that he partied with us but at the end, didn’t sing a whole lot. He even closed with his favorite song on the mixer and left the stage. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to hear him do a couple more songs. But it was all good because Wyclef and his Refugees went by the crowd going off stage giving handshakes, autographs and hugs! It was the first time I had seen a big name performer become so intimate with the audience.
It was a great show and I was impressed by all of the performers’ ability and energy.