REVIEW BY DAVID TAYLOR AND PHOTOS BY PAM WHISENHUNT | Go Venue Magazine
In 2023, a collaboration in music happened that I would have never imagined. In May of 1996, The Simpsons episode, “Homerpalooza”, aired on television. In the episode, Homer tours with the fictional Hullabalooza festival, and on that bill was Cypress Hill, who just so happened to order the London Symphony Orchestra. 27 years later that comedic bit has now turned into a reality, playing with local orchestras across the country such as the Colorado Symphony and the Oregon Symphony, even traveling overseas to play with the actual London Symphony Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall. When the chance that they would ask my local orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, to play they said yes to the collaboration, and history was made at Steelhouse Omaha as Cypress Hill and the Omaha Symphony played Black Sunday front to back in honor of its 30th anniversary. Local disc jokey DJ Shor-T warmed up the crowd before they went on, playing some gangster rap to set the mood.
When I heard this was happening, I wasn’t sure if the Omaha Symphony was going to pull this off. But they understood the vibe immediately, and I was completely sold. There were people in there who had probably never been to an Omaha Symphony performance, and I thought this was the perfect introduction to those that haven’t. The musicianship was on full volume, and the arrangements of every song they played were so unique. Conductor Ernest Richardson looked like he had a swell time conducting the orchestra to the beat that Cypress Hill was producing. B. Real and Sen Dog brought the energy to their performance. It’s so funny that you have something so formal like an orchestra backing a hip-hop group rapping about marijuana, but it works. B. Real was telling stories about how these tracks came to be and how they ended up on Black Friday. They ended their set with “(Rock) Superstar”, one of their biggest hits. Overall, a solid night of live music. I hope the Omaha Symphony do this again with not just Cypress Hill, but also other music groups of various genres.
Follow our socials, only take a second and is free by finding us on:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
