John Mayer took center stage performing an acoustic solo set for Dave Chapelle’s 50th birthday celebration at the iconic Madison Square Garden. I was excited to attend this event, especially considering the last time I saw a comedy show at The Garden was 15 years ago when Chris Rock performed his special. The exact dates escape my mind, but I do remember Dave Chappelle introducing Rock, after his long hiatus from show business. The crowd went nuts, believing that the special was for him. In Dave’s classic trademark style, he diffused the crowd and said, “Relax, I ain’t got jokes tonight! I’m here to introduce one of the greatest”, paying homage to his friend Rock. Dave Chappelle is known for throwing block parties, in celebration of music and comedy, bringing entertainers together under one roof – setting him apart as the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
Madison Square Garden (The Garden), known as the mecca for sports and entertainment (there can only be one sorry Boston garden – small g)! The Garden, home of the New York Knicks and Rangers Hockey. Hosting the biggest names in entertainment with Billy Joel, Elton John, Marc Anthony, Romeo Santos, NAS, Pfish and many other legendary artists. On this night, August 26th 2023 – Dave Chappelle’s 50th Birthday Celebration, The Garden was bursting to the seams for the GOAT of comedy and cultural icon.
Kicking the night off DJ Triumph was spinning old-school classics from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s (stuff that was way before my time, I had to look up a few of these- thank you, Google). David Ruffin’s “Common Man”, Bobby Byrd “I’m Not to Blame”, then Little Boy Blues “Seed of Love” dropped I just started dropping lyrics like it’s karaoke night – “It’s just a Public Service Announcement,… allow me to reintroduce myself my name is HOV – H to the O V….” recited every verse and lyric like it was my last, sitting next to another fan who was spittin with the same vigor. Then Triumph continued luring us into this experience with mesmerizing classics, seducing us with hit after hit. Then he drops “Something for Nothing” by MFSB. As we all know that became Jay-Z’s classic hit from The Black Album, “What more can I say”, with Russell Crowe’s sample from the Gladiator to start the track.
So many classics spinning on the turntables, a night of nostalgia as we honored Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. As the night continued to amplify, Triumph was in full control, getting us prepared and energized for what would become one of the most legendary experiences in comedy and hip-hop. Then comes a transformative moment when he drops the hammer by playing The Fugees “Killing Me Softly”. Lauren Hill’s vocals harmonize across The Garden audience. It was a hypnotic and spiritual experience casting over the crowd. Then in unison everyone sings along – “Woah-oah-ah-ah-ah uh, uh, La-la-la,la,la,la ….. The entire Garden was lit!
Boom! The first comic and host, Jeff Ross comes to the stage to start his set. This was a Netflix special so I won’t be sharing any jokes here, at least I will try not to. From there, Ronny Chang, Michelle Wolf, Pete Davison, and Michael Che came to the stage, all delivering exceptionally funny sets, that could have easily been their hour special, and we would have been satisfied. After a few cocktails, hip-hop classics, and all these legendary comics, we were primed to see Chappelle hit the stage.
This is now when John Mayer comes out to do a 3-song acoustic set and the crowd goes wild! Then silence filled the room, introducing Dave Chappelle. Making his grand appearance, the ground opens up, air filled with smoke, lights tinted red, a shadow appears out of the smoke, and a spotlight shines through the ground, Chappelle rises to take the stage, cigarette lit and a puff a smoke hits the air. As soon as that happens you see lighters rise, what seems like the entire arena joining him in the ceremony. Maybe this was all a dream… Honestly, could just have been my section puffing clouds of smoke filled with cannabis. What can you do at that point but join in on the fun? Then everything went black preceded by red lines across the screen that shaped an “N”, then followed by the classic sound we’ve all come to recognize when a Netflix special is about to begin.
Dave does his comedy set, delivering punchlines and wisdom that we’ve all come to appreciate. Then John Mayer returns to the stage, to start their set “Controlled Danger”. This is where they share stories and sing songs together. You hear a few Taylor Swift jokes, all in good nature. But then John switches gears and mentions Bob Saget’s death. A bit morbid considering how the night had already produced epic performances, and we were celebrating Dave’s 50th birthday. But John felt that it was important to share this story because It truly described who Dave Chappelle is as a friend and leader of the community. I’m paraphrasing here, but John shares a story where He and Dave Facetimed each other shortly after Saget’s death. Dave says, “SEE! This is WHY I always want us to share more moments together!” The whole crowd felt that grief. This was bigger than hip-hop, or comedy, race, gender, or anything else you can imagine. Bringing people together, as a community, to share laughter, music, and sorrow is the ultimate human experience. The message truly resonated with me and it all started to make sense.
Then the night opened up into a Hip Hop concert celebrating its 50th anniversary. Dave Chappelle introduces Common to the stage, the crowd goes wild honoring this hip-hop legend! Now I might offend some people here, but Jay-Z ruined the Common experience for me when he said – “Truthfully I wanted to rhythm like Common Sense, but I did 5 Mil – I ain’t been rhyming like Common since”. Why’d you have to do that HOV! In all seriousness though, the crowd was in for a treat with the likes of T.I. – reppin’ the Southern hip-hop culture. If you are 35 and older your hip-hop experience was shaped by these legendary MCs.
Dave Chappelle kept coming out to introduce his friends and keep the party going. As he’s getting ready to introduce the next artist, he looks backstage, pauses for a moment, and is star-stuck by who he sees. He then asks “Hey, do you want to come up?” Whoever it was did not really want to come on to the stage, but then Chappelle shares his findings with the crowd. Mike Tyson was backstage and as you can imagine everyone went WILD! Iron Mike eventually came up and took a bow! A legend in Boxing and embraced by the hip-hop community for his contribution to the culture we were celebrating. We all remember the time he came out to DMX’s Intro song, “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot”. This was after Tyson served his suspension for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear off. We all still love Tyson because if you saw him in the late 80s and early 90s you’d see that no one could ever beat this man. Not even ALI! Yes, I said it. Rest In Peace DMX – Ruff Ryder’s Anthem is still a song I play to get my workouts started. No one hyped you up more than DMX.
Then to close out the night, after so many artists performed, there was nothing left in the tank. It’s safe to say that this concert over-delivered, and we all got our money’s worth. Then it got even louder when Dave Chappelle introduced Brooklyn’s very own Busta Rhymes. The lid flew off the ceiling of The Garden and the grand MC, with lyrical wordplay that to this day cannot be replicated, graced us with his presence. Performing classics from his earlier albums with “When Disaster Strikes” and “Extinction Level Event”! Again, if you went out dancing in those days, Busta was part of the DNA that made hip-hop a special art form. And if the DJ wasn’t playing Busta it most likely was a party you didn’t want to attend.
Chappelle is the GOAT of comedy. He is creating his very own Blue Zone. A place in which people thrive and live happier lives into their older ages. If you are not familiar with Blue Zones – you can now watch it on Netflix. Here you understand that people live well into their 80s and 90s and are still functional. The one thing that Blue Zones share in common is the fact that people have a community. They don’t necessarily have sophisticated tech jobs. They aren’t lawyers and CEOs as you think of it in today’s society. Most people have jobs that contribute to the community – farming, engineering, carpentry, etc.. But the most notable thing that all Blue Zones shared in common was community, integenerationally. This often gets overlooked in modern society because we are obsessed with our technology. Most of us cannot leave our homes without our phones. I know that I can’t! We are inundated with text, emails, and social media.
Entering Madison Square Garden for his special, the first thing that they do is lock your phones in a secured pouch. You have no access to your technology for the entire time that you are in the garden. A few obvious reasons for this of course. Comedians don’t want you posting their original work before they release it on a special. This also was a Netflix special so it all made sense as to why you would not want cameras recording the experience. In reality, Dave Chappelle was allowing us to experience how he sees the world, and the relationships that he’s cultivated throughout his career. He never sold out and stayed true to his message. Throughout his career, he created his very own Blue Zones.
To close out the show, Chappelle reminded us why these gatherings are so important. Advised us to forget about our phones and technology, and to focus on our community, on our familes. After 5 hours of entertainment and pure nostalgia, I felt like I had teleported back to a place in time where life was limitless. The feeling of joy, love, and enthusiasm wrapped my body like a warm blanket. This was a night that I will remember for a very long time, and I’m sure everyone in attendance that evening feels the same.
Thank you and Happy birthday, Dave!
