As if we Wolverines needed another excuse to get rowdy during the week, Mos Def performed at Hill Auditorium on the evening of Martin Luther King Day to a packed house. Personally, I'm a tremendous fan of any musical event that takes place at Hill Auditorium, considering one need not waste any gas money getting there (walking distance from the Grad!) and the fact that a trip to Ashley's post-concert is more or less a guarantee. But Mos Def hasn't released new music in quite some time and rarely performs these days. So this Hill Auditorium appearance, in my eyes, was somewhat monumental. The acclaimed Brooklynite performed with Big Band- an act I had not previously heard of, yet impressed me tremendously.

However, I found several things about the concert to be, well...strange. Or better yet, surprising. Firstly, not a SOUL felt compelled to rise to their feet when Mos came to the stage and started rapping. I was completely shocked that no one felt the burning urge to fist pump until at least three songs into the concert, when two skinny drunk chicks in the front of the auditorium stood up and motioned for the crowd to do the same. Even Ms. Fat Booty didn't get the crowd dancing enough for my liking. Perhaps this was because the concert definitely had a jazz-fueled flow to it, courtesy of the Big Band's music. Fellow patrons and I agreed that, at times, we felt as if we were attending a jazz concert at which Mos Def happened to show up. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing whatsoever - it just threw me for a loop, so to speak.

Toward the end of the concert, some important man from the office of the provost honored Mos Def with an award in honor of MLK day, and bestowed upon Mos the title of "Visiting Professor." Huh? Really?? Even Mos (who, in my mind was totally under the influence of some mind-altering substance) was visibly amused by this title. He told the crowd to refer to him as Professor, and declared that he was re-naming the Big Band "Watermelon."

The concert only ran about an hour and a half and left me wanting more, but it was a great evening regardless. Mos's socially-conscious rhymes were there, as was his ubiquitous Yankees cap. Besides, the early close to the show left more time for my fellow concert-goers and I to hit up State Street.