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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A year ago, the mere thought of a multi-act Bad Boy tour playing to a three-quarters full San Jose Arena without incident seemed laughable. Conventional wisdom dictated, after all, that hip-hop shows always ended
When the Puff Daddy & The Family tour rolled into town on Wednesday, however, a lot had changed. Notorious B.I.G. was slain by a still-unknown gunman in Los Angeles on March 9, and seven months earlier, rapper Tupac Shakur had been killed in a similar gangland-style in Las Vegas. As such, the tour -- which featured performances by Puffy, and his fellow left coasters Mase, Lil' Kim, 112, The Lox, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Busta Rhymes and Usher -- was less about the gangsta-like boasting that has characterized the work of Notorious and Tupac and more about paying respect to their West Coast counterparts as well as playing many of the biggest pop hits of 1997. As the tour's only West Coast stop, it symbolized to many the chance for the hip-hop nation to complete the healing process kicked off by Puff Daddy's massive hit, "I'll Be Missing You." "People were really shocked when Tupac went and Biggie went," hip-hop fan Joseph Williams, 22, said after the show. "This year for a lot of fans was all about the loss of some major heroes. Puffy has helped us through that, and I came here tonight to show my gratitude." If there was anyone in the crowd who wished to do harm to Puffy, his label mates and/or his fans on this night, they did an excellent job of hiding themselves. There were the sexually outrageous hootchie-mamas and fly-guys galore, but as for troublemakers, there were few. "I'm not really worried about a thing," said Judy Mitchell, 42, when asked if she was concerned about a flare-up of any remaining East Coast vs. West Coast tensions. "People are here to have a good time and dance, ya' know? This seems like a pretty together, well-mixed crowd. I really haven't felt that kind of tension yet." While the show's closer may have been "All About The Benjamins," the concert was clearly all about Biggie and, to a lesser extent, Tupac. Rappers in 112 sang to the B.I.G. guy. Puffy rapped with him via video clips and at the end of "I'll Be Missing You," encouraged the crowd to "Pray for Biggie! Pray for Tupac!" Mitchell, who had brought her son James and his friend Ryan Geller, both 13, to the show, said she was more concerned with the music than the violence. "That last act was a bit more, ummm, expressive than I thought he would be," she said, referring Busta Rhymes' sexually explicit performance of "It's All Good" and "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" (RealAudio excerpt). "Ryan seems a little too anxious to see Lil' Kim," Mitchell added while they boys giggled in the seat next to her. Mitchell was far from being the only one to attend with family in tow. Among the other parent-and-offspring combos filling the arena were Cam Stinemates, 40, and his 12-year-old son, Nick. The Stinemates expressed little concern about possible violence. "It was awesome," the elder Stinemates said. "It was cool the way Lil' Kim came out on her bed," Nick interrupted, referring to how the rapper made her appearance. "And all the explosions and sparks were really cool, too." Hip-hop fan Bycha Smith, 27, said she was also enamored with the show's positive vibe and constant energy. "I thought it was really nice," Smith said after the show. "It was a little slow in some parts, but I guess it had something for everybody." During the show, R&B crooner Usher kicked things off and set many a heart a-flutter with his sexualized dancing and trouser-dropping rendition of his hit, "You Make Me Wanna." Busta Rhymes, who was second on the bill, got the audience out of their seats by rampaging through a greatest-hits set that included his part from A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario." Puffy Daddy & The Family's set was a cornucopia of the biggest R&B and rap hits of 1997, featuring everything from the R&B crooning of 112 to the demanding sexuality of Lil' Kim to Mase's party jams to the mourning anthem dedicated to Biggie, "I'll Be Missing You." After leading the arena through three laps of the wave, Puffy further paid homage to Tupac by playing the beat from Makaveli's "Hail Mary" and letting the audience play fill-in-the-rap. "I thought it was really well done. [Puff Daddy] can do that for the rest of this year," Smith said. "But next year he needs to come out with something different." [Mon., Dec. 22, 1997, 9:00 a.m. PST]
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